Spartans Spoil Warsaw Senior Night
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Homestead gladly played the role of spoiler, as the Spartans topped Warsaw 28-6 in Friday night football action.
Pregame festivities included naming the field at the Tigers Athletic Complex Fisher Field after Warsaw's all-time winningest coach, George Fisher, who coached the Tigers from 1926 until 1952.
Warsaw's previous high school, the current Lakeview Middle School and where Central Park is, also were named Fisher Field.
The Tigers also honored their 25 seniors Friday night.
It was Homestead senior quarterback/safety Jordan Wise, however, who received the most kudos.
Wise completed 14 of 21 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns as he shredded Warsaw's secondary and eluded the Tigers' pass rush all night.
"He did everything we told our kids he could do," said third-year Warsaw coach Troy Akers. "It was good for us to see because, and this isn't anything against Jordan Wise, but our conference is full of Jordan Wises this year."
The Northern Lakes Conference boosts the likes of Concord's Bob Cira, NorthWood's Skyler Titus, Plymouth's Chad Clinton and Wawasee's Joe Leach. Cira and Leach possess college-level talent while Titus led the Panthers to a 3A state title last season.
Wise marched the Spartans down the field on Homestead's first drive and capped off the eight play, 71-yard possession when he handed the ball off to Charles Seals from a yard out for what proved to be the winning score.
During the opening drive, Wise showed how dangerous he could be as he eluded a rush by Warsaw, rolled to his left and threw across his body into the arms of Ryan Wright.
Wise then opened the second quarter with a 77-yard strike to Dercks. The Tigers came on a blitz and left Dercks wide open down the middle of the field as he scampered untouched into the endzone.
Homestead scored three minutes later when Wise found Ryan Wright from 15 yards out after Wright rolled out into the flat and rumbled over several Tiger defenders for the score.
The Spartans drive started at Warsaw's 36-yard line. The Tigers got pinned back deep in their own end on the previous drive as the Tigers' ensuing punt was nearly blocked as Homestead penetrated the Warsaw line.
Homestead capped off its scoring for the evening when Wise completed his third and final touchdown from seven yards out to Desmond Lewis.
Lewis caught four balls for 65 yards while Dercks' one catch for 77 yards led the Spartans in receiving yards.
Wise completed a pass to seven different receivers on the night.
While Homestead's offense looked like a juggernaut and its defense held strong, Warsaw looked out of sorts on both sides of the ball.
Tiger quarterback Tyler Akers was put back on his heels for most of the evening and was forced to scramble as a hard-charging Spartan defense pursued him.
Akers was 10 of 18 for 87 yards through the air and gained just 16 yards on 15 carries. Akers was also sacked four times and had several balls tipped at the line of scrimmage.
Running back Ben Davis III looked good at times but could never string together a big run. Davis was a part of Warsaw's second biggest play of the evening when he caught a Akers pass and rumbled for 20 yards in the first quarter.
A Davis fumble ended a Warsaw drive late in the first half after the Tigers went 30 yards using a hurry-up offense.
Davis ended the game with 56 yards on 14 carries.
The second half saw Homestead pull back the reigns on offense despite keeping the majority of its first-team offense and defense on the field for the entire game.
Warsaw's longest drive of the game came in the third quarter as the Tigers mounted a 16-play, 76-yard drive.
The drive abruptly came to an end as Akers tried to stretch out a minimal gain into some positive yardage resulting in a fumble recovered by a group of Homestead defenders at the Spartans' 7-yard line.
Akers sat out the entire fourth quarter as junior backup Ben Higgins took the reigns of the Tiger offense.
Higgins, 6-foot-3, lacked the mobility of Akers but showed a strong arm as he led Warsaw to its lone score of the evening.
Higgins completed passes of 10 and 24 yards then handed the ball off to Davis who scampered in from nine yards out.
"I was pleased with Ben Higgins," said Akers. "He got a chance in the fourth quarter and took advantage of it. He led us down for the score and showed a lot of poise out there."
Higgins looked sharp against Homestead's first-team defense and his 10-yard completion to Daniel Conrad split two defenders while his 24-yard completion to Blaine Allen had a lot of velocity on it.
Warsaw's defense which held Columbia City to 87 yards of offense on week one gave up 372 yards to Homestead.
The Tigers held Homestead to 96 yards but the Spartans moved away from the run game early in the contest in favor of the aerial attack.
"We're disappointed but it's the second week of the season," said Akers. "We had some breakdowns. Our lack of field position on offense hurt. They just played harder than us tonight."
Warsaw, 1-1 on the season, opens its NLC schedule Friday at Plymouth.
The Rockies have scored 117 points in their first two games of the season while the Tigers have managed just 21.
HOMESTEAD 28, WARSAW 6
Homestead 7 21 0 0 - 28
Warsaw 0 0 0 6 - 6
H W
First downs 14 14
Rushing yards 96 78
Passing yards 276 121
Comp.-Att.-Int. 14-22-0 12-20-0
Total offense 372 199
Fumbles/lost 1-0 2-2
Punts/avg. 4-33.2 4-32.5
Penalties/yards 6-65 3-20
First Quarter
H - Charles Seals 1 run (Ryan Cicero kick) 7-0, 8:03
Second Quarter
H -ÊJordan Wise 77 pass to Brandon Derck (Cicero kick) 14-0, 11:49
H -ÊWise 15 pass to Ryan Wright (Cicero kick) 21-0, 8:15
H -ÊWise 7 pass to Desmond Lewis (Cicero kick) 28-0, 1:42
Fourth Quarter
W -ÊBen Davis III 9 run (kick failed) 7-28, 5:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Homestead, Jordan Wise 8-30, Ross Heckber 5-21, Larry Buchanan 6-20, Charles Seals 6-18, Ryan Wright 2-7; Warsaw, Ben Davis III 14-56, Tyler Akers 15-16, Justin Hanson 4-4, Andrew Grimm 2-3, Ben Higgins 1-(-1).
Passing - Homestead, Wise 14-21-276, 3 TD, 0 INT; Warsaw, Akers 10-18-87, 0 TD, 0 INT, Higgins 2-2-34, 0 TD, 0 INT.
Receiving - Homestead, Derck 1-77, Desmond Lewis 4-65, Ryan Wright 4-63, Patrick Muhler 2-37, Seals 2-22, Buchanan 1-10, Jordan Barnes 1-2; Warsaw, Blaine Allen 3-37, Daniel Conrad 3-22, Davis III 1-20, Hanson 2-9, Corey Chambers 1-17, Grimm 1-10, Chas Simpson 1-6 [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
Homestead gladly played the role of spoiler, as the Spartans topped Warsaw 28-6 in Friday night football action.
Pregame festivities included naming the field at the Tigers Athletic Complex Fisher Field after Warsaw's all-time winningest coach, George Fisher, who coached the Tigers from 1926 until 1952.
Warsaw's previous high school, the current Lakeview Middle School and where Central Park is, also were named Fisher Field.
The Tigers also honored their 25 seniors Friday night.
It was Homestead senior quarterback/safety Jordan Wise, however, who received the most kudos.
Wise completed 14 of 21 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns as he shredded Warsaw's secondary and eluded the Tigers' pass rush all night.
"He did everything we told our kids he could do," said third-year Warsaw coach Troy Akers. "It was good for us to see because, and this isn't anything against Jordan Wise, but our conference is full of Jordan Wises this year."
The Northern Lakes Conference boosts the likes of Concord's Bob Cira, NorthWood's Skyler Titus, Plymouth's Chad Clinton and Wawasee's Joe Leach. Cira and Leach possess college-level talent while Titus led the Panthers to a 3A state title last season.
Wise marched the Spartans down the field on Homestead's first drive and capped off the eight play, 71-yard possession when he handed the ball off to Charles Seals from a yard out for what proved to be the winning score.
During the opening drive, Wise showed how dangerous he could be as he eluded a rush by Warsaw, rolled to his left and threw across his body into the arms of Ryan Wright.
Wise then opened the second quarter with a 77-yard strike to Dercks. The Tigers came on a blitz and left Dercks wide open down the middle of the field as he scampered untouched into the endzone.
Homestead scored three minutes later when Wise found Ryan Wright from 15 yards out after Wright rolled out into the flat and rumbled over several Tiger defenders for the score.
The Spartans drive started at Warsaw's 36-yard line. The Tigers got pinned back deep in their own end on the previous drive as the Tigers' ensuing punt was nearly blocked as Homestead penetrated the Warsaw line.
Homestead capped off its scoring for the evening when Wise completed his third and final touchdown from seven yards out to Desmond Lewis.
Lewis caught four balls for 65 yards while Dercks' one catch for 77 yards led the Spartans in receiving yards.
Wise completed a pass to seven different receivers on the night.
While Homestead's offense looked like a juggernaut and its defense held strong, Warsaw looked out of sorts on both sides of the ball.
Tiger quarterback Tyler Akers was put back on his heels for most of the evening and was forced to scramble as a hard-charging Spartan defense pursued him.
Akers was 10 of 18 for 87 yards through the air and gained just 16 yards on 15 carries. Akers was also sacked four times and had several balls tipped at the line of scrimmage.
Running back Ben Davis III looked good at times but could never string together a big run. Davis was a part of Warsaw's second biggest play of the evening when he caught a Akers pass and rumbled for 20 yards in the first quarter.
A Davis fumble ended a Warsaw drive late in the first half after the Tigers went 30 yards using a hurry-up offense.
Davis ended the game with 56 yards on 14 carries.
The second half saw Homestead pull back the reigns on offense despite keeping the majority of its first-team offense and defense on the field for the entire game.
Warsaw's longest drive of the game came in the third quarter as the Tigers mounted a 16-play, 76-yard drive.
The drive abruptly came to an end as Akers tried to stretch out a minimal gain into some positive yardage resulting in a fumble recovered by a group of Homestead defenders at the Spartans' 7-yard line.
Akers sat out the entire fourth quarter as junior backup Ben Higgins took the reigns of the Tiger offense.
Higgins, 6-foot-3, lacked the mobility of Akers but showed a strong arm as he led Warsaw to its lone score of the evening.
Higgins completed passes of 10 and 24 yards then handed the ball off to Davis who scampered in from nine yards out.
"I was pleased with Ben Higgins," said Akers. "He got a chance in the fourth quarter and took advantage of it. He led us down for the score and showed a lot of poise out there."
Higgins looked sharp against Homestead's first-team defense and his 10-yard completion to Daniel Conrad split two defenders while his 24-yard completion to Blaine Allen had a lot of velocity on it.
Warsaw's defense which held Columbia City to 87 yards of offense on week one gave up 372 yards to Homestead.
The Tigers held Homestead to 96 yards but the Spartans moved away from the run game early in the contest in favor of the aerial attack.
"We're disappointed but it's the second week of the season," said Akers. "We had some breakdowns. Our lack of field position on offense hurt. They just played harder than us tonight."
Warsaw, 1-1 on the season, opens its NLC schedule Friday at Plymouth.
The Rockies have scored 117 points in their first two games of the season while the Tigers have managed just 21.
HOMESTEAD 28, WARSAW 6
Homestead 7 21 0 0 - 28
Warsaw 0 0 0 6 - 6
H W
First downs 14 14
Rushing yards 96 78
Passing yards 276 121
Comp.-Att.-Int. 14-22-0 12-20-0
Total offense 372 199
Fumbles/lost 1-0 2-2
Punts/avg. 4-33.2 4-32.5
Penalties/yards 6-65 3-20
First Quarter
H - Charles Seals 1 run (Ryan Cicero kick) 7-0, 8:03
Second Quarter
H -ÊJordan Wise 77 pass to Brandon Derck (Cicero kick) 14-0, 11:49
H -ÊWise 15 pass to Ryan Wright (Cicero kick) 21-0, 8:15
H -ÊWise 7 pass to Desmond Lewis (Cicero kick) 28-0, 1:42
Fourth Quarter
W -ÊBen Davis III 9 run (kick failed) 7-28, 5:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Homestead, Jordan Wise 8-30, Ross Heckber 5-21, Larry Buchanan 6-20, Charles Seals 6-18, Ryan Wright 2-7; Warsaw, Ben Davis III 14-56, Tyler Akers 15-16, Justin Hanson 4-4, Andrew Grimm 2-3, Ben Higgins 1-(-1).
Passing - Homestead, Wise 14-21-276, 3 TD, 0 INT; Warsaw, Akers 10-18-87, 0 TD, 0 INT, Higgins 2-2-34, 0 TD, 0 INT.
Receiving - Homestead, Derck 1-77, Desmond Lewis 4-65, Ryan Wright 4-63, Patrick Muhler 2-37, Seals 2-22, Buchanan 1-10, Jordan Barnes 1-2; Warsaw, Blaine Allen 3-37, Daniel Conrad 3-22, Davis III 1-20, Hanson 2-9, Corey Chambers 1-17, Grimm 1-10, Chas Simpson 1-6 [[In-content Ad]]