Impressive Comeback Falls Just Short For Wawasee Warriors
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - Though the calendar said it was Halloween, Friday's Class 4A sectional semifinal matchup of Wawasee and top-ranked East Noble was more of a fireworks show.
A game that saw its share of long runs and passes - with the two teams combining for nearly 900 yards of offense - the outcome was decided by mere inches and East Noble escaped Syracuse with a 38-36 win.
Trailing 38-14 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors scored 22 points in a span of just under three minutes and were ever so close to tying the game but junior running back Jordan Swain was stopped just short of the goal line on what would have been the Warriors' third consecutive two-point conversion.
After Warrrior quarterback Kory Lantz ran in from five yards out to spark the impressive comeback with 4:52 remaining in the game, the cool-under-pressure 6-foot-1, 175 pound junior connected with classmate Ben Champoux on the two-point conversion pass.
After Wawasee's defense stiffened up and forced a potent East Noble offense to go three-and-out, Lantz ran 15 yards for a touchdown and brought his team within eight points, 38-30, when he ran in the conversion with 2:22 remaining.
"The kids never gave up," said Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld. "We needed something to happen. We got the fumble, it bounced around a couple times, and then it bounced our way, God was on our side on that play."
On East Noble's ensuing drive, quarterback Jeff Wedding fumbled the ball, and after a handful of players tried to get their hands on it, Warrior sophomore linebacker Rob McKibben picked it up around the 20-yard line and ran it in to paydirt, sending the Wawasee players, coaches and fans into a frenzied celebration.
The Warriors, who reached into their bag of tricks to score on the previous two conversion attempts, went with a more traditonal set in trying to tie the game with a handoff to Swain.
Swain, who came in to Friday's game averaging 6.4 yards per carry, was stopped just inches from the endzone, and this time it was the Knights and their fans who burst into celebration with 2:05 still remaining on the clock.
Wawasee failed to recover the onside kick, but the Warrior defense again shut down the Knights, and Lantz and Co. had one more shot with 56 ticks remaining.
Swain caught a 9-yard pass on the first play of the drive, and then Lantz threw an incomplete pass before he ran for the first down, putting his team at its own 41-yard line.
After an incomplete pass to stop the clock, Lantz connected on a five-yard rout to senior Kyle Vanlaningham to make it third-and-5 from the 46. Champoux caught a Lantz pass on the next play, but lost a yard on the play, setting up a fourth-and-6 situation.
With one last chance to end East Noble's perfect season, the Warriors' comeback bid ended with an incomplete pass.
The loss ended Wawasee's season at 7-4, while East Noble improved to 11-0 and will host Plymouth Friday in the Class 4A Sectional 10 championship game.
Plymouth (8-3) advanced by beating DeKalb 10-0.
Though the Warriors found themselves down big midway through the fourth quarter, they were able to move the ball effectively the entire game on a defense that gave up 39 points in its last seven games.
Ultimately what cost Wawasee was five turnovers, four of which came in the first half.
The Warriors fumbled the ball three times in the first 24 minutes of play, and East Noble recovered all three. Lantz also threw a pair of interceptions, both of which were picked off by East Noble senior Eric Rhodes.
After coming out so sharp, putting together a 14-play drive that took 6:30 off the clock and resulted in a 3-yard touchdown run and 7-0 lead to start the game, those costly turnovers led to a 28-14 deficit at the half.
"We felt at halftime, even though we gave up those turnovers, that we were still in it," Rietveld said. "If we hadn't given up the fourth touchdown right before the half."
East Noble took a 35-14 lead when Wedding hooked up with tight end Adam Taulbee for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 7:02 left in the third.
The Knights followed that up with a John Bowen 24-yard field goal.
With Wedding showing off both his skills as a rusher and a passer, the Knights looked to be in control, but in the end left Syracuse breathing a sigh of relief.
Wedding finished the game with 15 carries for 112 yards on the ground, all the while completing 12 of 17 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
"Their quarterback is one of the best I've seen in a while," Rietveld said of Wedding. "I don't know that he's gonna go to Florida State or Miami, but he did a great job tonight."
Sophomore running back Konrad Mundon led the Knight ground game with 23 carries for 121 yards.
To go with his two interceptions, Rhodes caught seven passes from Wedding for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Lantz finished with 127 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, and also completed 17 of 27 passes for 122 yards. Sophomore Michael Conrad was 1-of-1 passing, converting a 43-yard bomb to Champoux on a fake punt attempt.
Swain finished with 44 yards on 13 carries, while Champoux had seven receptions for 76 yards.
Prior to this year's seven-win season - a campaign that marked the first time Wawasee beat Goshen for the Indian Trophy and Warsaw for the W Trophy in the same year - the Warriors finished with four wins in three straight seasons.
It goes without saying that Wawasee turned the corner this year in football, as the freshman team also enjoyed multiple successes and put together its first undefeated season in nearly 30 years.
"I'd like to think so," said Rietveld when asked if the future was bright for Wawasee football. "You're still dealing with kids, but they pushed and they pushed hard. We finally got over the hump this year and got past four wins. Hopefully we'll get over another hump next year."
Swain, Lantz, Champoux, tightend Ryan Kauchak and a number of other skilled position players return for the Warriors next year.
NO. 1 EAST NOBLE 38, WAWASEE 36
E. Noble 7 21 7 3 - 38
Wawasee 7 7 0 22 - 36
W EN
First downs 18 22
Rushing yards 215 280
Passing yards 165 235
Comp.-Att.-Int. 18-28-2 12-17-1
Total offense 380 515
Fumbles/lost 3/3 1/1
Punts/avg. 1-37 2-34.5
Penalties/yards 0-0 9-60
SCORING
First Quarter
W - Jordan Swain 3 run (Ben Champoux kick) 5:30, 7-0 W
EN - Jeff Wedding 30 pass to Eric Rhodes (Cody Schneider kick) 2:09, 7-7
Second Quarter
EN - Wedding 1 run (Schneider kick) 11:57, 14-7 EN
EN - Nate Kostielney 4 run (Schneider kick) 9:25, 21-7 EN
W - Lantz 1 run (Champoux kick) 1:14, 21-14 EN
EN - Wedding 4 pass to Rhodes (Schneider kick) :08, 28-14 EN
Third Quarter
EN - Wedding 18 pass to Adam Taulbee (Schneider kick) 7:02, 35-14 EN
Fourth Quarter
EN - John Bowen 24 field goal 9:18, 38-14 EN
W - Lantz 5 run (Lantz conversion pass to Champoux) 4:52, 38-22 EN
W - Lantz 15 run (Lantz conversion run) 2:22, 38-30 EN
W - Rob McKibben 20 fumble return (conversion failed) 2:05, 38-36 EN
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Wawasee, Lantz 13-127, Swain 13-44, McKibben 2-32, Champoux 2-12; East Noble, Konrad Mundon 23-121, Wedding 15-112, Kostielney 5-17, Schneider 3-14, Derrick Fisher 3-9, L.C. Rossman 3-2, Rhodes 1-5
Passing - Wawasee, Lantz 17-27-122, 2 INTs, Michael Conrad 1-1-43; East Noble, Wedding 12-17-235, 3 TDs, 1 INT
Receiving - Wawasee, Champoux 7-76, Swain 5-36, Michael Kerby 3-38, Kyle Vanlaningham 2-13, Ryan Kauchak 1-2; East Noble, Rhodes 7-124, Taulbee 2-29, Adam Kurtz 1-63, Rossman 1-10, Kyle Wert 1-9 [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - Though the calendar said it was Halloween, Friday's Class 4A sectional semifinal matchup of Wawasee and top-ranked East Noble was more of a fireworks show.
A game that saw its share of long runs and passes - with the two teams combining for nearly 900 yards of offense - the outcome was decided by mere inches and East Noble escaped Syracuse with a 38-36 win.
Trailing 38-14 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors scored 22 points in a span of just under three minutes and were ever so close to tying the game but junior running back Jordan Swain was stopped just short of the goal line on what would have been the Warriors' third consecutive two-point conversion.
After Warrrior quarterback Kory Lantz ran in from five yards out to spark the impressive comeback with 4:52 remaining in the game, the cool-under-pressure 6-foot-1, 175 pound junior connected with classmate Ben Champoux on the two-point conversion pass.
After Wawasee's defense stiffened up and forced a potent East Noble offense to go three-and-out, Lantz ran 15 yards for a touchdown and brought his team within eight points, 38-30, when he ran in the conversion with 2:22 remaining.
"The kids never gave up," said Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld. "We needed something to happen. We got the fumble, it bounced around a couple times, and then it bounced our way, God was on our side on that play."
On East Noble's ensuing drive, quarterback Jeff Wedding fumbled the ball, and after a handful of players tried to get their hands on it, Warrior sophomore linebacker Rob McKibben picked it up around the 20-yard line and ran it in to paydirt, sending the Wawasee players, coaches and fans into a frenzied celebration.
The Warriors, who reached into their bag of tricks to score on the previous two conversion attempts, went with a more traditonal set in trying to tie the game with a handoff to Swain.
Swain, who came in to Friday's game averaging 6.4 yards per carry, was stopped just inches from the endzone, and this time it was the Knights and their fans who burst into celebration with 2:05 still remaining on the clock.
Wawasee failed to recover the onside kick, but the Warrior defense again shut down the Knights, and Lantz and Co. had one more shot with 56 ticks remaining.
Swain caught a 9-yard pass on the first play of the drive, and then Lantz threw an incomplete pass before he ran for the first down, putting his team at its own 41-yard line.
After an incomplete pass to stop the clock, Lantz connected on a five-yard rout to senior Kyle Vanlaningham to make it third-and-5 from the 46. Champoux caught a Lantz pass on the next play, but lost a yard on the play, setting up a fourth-and-6 situation.
With one last chance to end East Noble's perfect season, the Warriors' comeback bid ended with an incomplete pass.
The loss ended Wawasee's season at 7-4, while East Noble improved to 11-0 and will host Plymouth Friday in the Class 4A Sectional 10 championship game.
Plymouth (8-3) advanced by beating DeKalb 10-0.
Though the Warriors found themselves down big midway through the fourth quarter, they were able to move the ball effectively the entire game on a defense that gave up 39 points in its last seven games.
Ultimately what cost Wawasee was five turnovers, four of which came in the first half.
The Warriors fumbled the ball three times in the first 24 minutes of play, and East Noble recovered all three. Lantz also threw a pair of interceptions, both of which were picked off by East Noble senior Eric Rhodes.
After coming out so sharp, putting together a 14-play drive that took 6:30 off the clock and resulted in a 3-yard touchdown run and 7-0 lead to start the game, those costly turnovers led to a 28-14 deficit at the half.
"We felt at halftime, even though we gave up those turnovers, that we were still in it," Rietveld said. "If we hadn't given up the fourth touchdown right before the half."
East Noble took a 35-14 lead when Wedding hooked up with tight end Adam Taulbee for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 7:02 left in the third.
The Knights followed that up with a John Bowen 24-yard field goal.
With Wedding showing off both his skills as a rusher and a passer, the Knights looked to be in control, but in the end left Syracuse breathing a sigh of relief.
Wedding finished the game with 15 carries for 112 yards on the ground, all the while completing 12 of 17 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
"Their quarterback is one of the best I've seen in a while," Rietveld said of Wedding. "I don't know that he's gonna go to Florida State or Miami, but he did a great job tonight."
Sophomore running back Konrad Mundon led the Knight ground game with 23 carries for 121 yards.
To go with his two interceptions, Rhodes caught seven passes from Wedding for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Lantz finished with 127 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, and also completed 17 of 27 passes for 122 yards. Sophomore Michael Conrad was 1-of-1 passing, converting a 43-yard bomb to Champoux on a fake punt attempt.
Swain finished with 44 yards on 13 carries, while Champoux had seven receptions for 76 yards.
Prior to this year's seven-win season - a campaign that marked the first time Wawasee beat Goshen for the Indian Trophy and Warsaw for the W Trophy in the same year - the Warriors finished with four wins in three straight seasons.
It goes without saying that Wawasee turned the corner this year in football, as the freshman team also enjoyed multiple successes and put together its first undefeated season in nearly 30 years.
"I'd like to think so," said Rietveld when asked if the future was bright for Wawasee football. "You're still dealing with kids, but they pushed and they pushed hard. We finally got over the hump this year and got past four wins. Hopefully we'll get over another hump next year."
Swain, Lantz, Champoux, tightend Ryan Kauchak and a number of other skilled position players return for the Warriors next year.
NO. 1 EAST NOBLE 38, WAWASEE 36
E. Noble 7 21 7 3 - 38
Wawasee 7 7 0 22 - 36
W EN
First downs 18 22
Rushing yards 215 280
Passing yards 165 235
Comp.-Att.-Int. 18-28-2 12-17-1
Total offense 380 515
Fumbles/lost 3/3 1/1
Punts/avg. 1-37 2-34.5
Penalties/yards 0-0 9-60
SCORING
First Quarter
W - Jordan Swain 3 run (Ben Champoux kick) 5:30, 7-0 W
EN - Jeff Wedding 30 pass to Eric Rhodes (Cody Schneider kick) 2:09, 7-7
Second Quarter
EN - Wedding 1 run (Schneider kick) 11:57, 14-7 EN
EN - Nate Kostielney 4 run (Schneider kick) 9:25, 21-7 EN
W - Lantz 1 run (Champoux kick) 1:14, 21-14 EN
EN - Wedding 4 pass to Rhodes (Schneider kick) :08, 28-14 EN
Third Quarter
EN - Wedding 18 pass to Adam Taulbee (Schneider kick) 7:02, 35-14 EN
Fourth Quarter
EN - John Bowen 24 field goal 9:18, 38-14 EN
W - Lantz 5 run (Lantz conversion pass to Champoux) 4:52, 38-22 EN
W - Lantz 15 run (Lantz conversion run) 2:22, 38-30 EN
W - Rob McKibben 20 fumble return (conversion failed) 2:05, 38-36 EN
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Wawasee, Lantz 13-127, Swain 13-44, McKibben 2-32, Champoux 2-12; East Noble, Konrad Mundon 23-121, Wedding 15-112, Kostielney 5-17, Schneider 3-14, Derrick Fisher 3-9, L.C. Rossman 3-2, Rhodes 1-5
Passing - Wawasee, Lantz 17-27-122, 2 INTs, Michael Conrad 1-1-43; East Noble, Wedding 12-17-235, 3 TDs, 1 INT
Receiving - Wawasee, Champoux 7-76, Swain 5-36, Michael Kerby 3-38, Kyle Vanlaningham 2-13, Ryan Kauchak 1-2; East Noble, Rhodes 7-124, Taulbee 2-29, Adam Kurtz 1-63, Rossman 1-10, Kyle Wert 1-9 [[In-content Ad]]