The Warriors Begin Building With 20-0 Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊThe Wawasee football team wears T-shirts bearing the phrase "BUILDING A TRADITION" across the back. The Warriors took a leap toward their ultimate goal Friday night when they defeated the Whitko Wildcats 20-0.
After a turnover, an interception and several punts led to a first-half stalemate, the Whitko Wildcats stayed in the lockerroom a little too long and earned an 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to start the second half. The Whitko third quarter went downhill from there.
Seth Slater gained 10 yards for the Wildcats on the first play of the quarter but fumbled to give Wawasee possession of the football on the Whitko 45-yard-line with 11:45 still remaining in the third.
"We got rattled in the third," said Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger. "We really showed our youth and inexperience. We gained 10 yards on the first play and then fumbled it. We lost our composure. Then they (Wawasee) got rolling and really hurt us."
Wawasee then moved down the field, and with 9:25 left in the quarter Logan Lees ran the ball two yards to score the first Warrior touchdown of the season.
Down 6-0, Whitko took possession of the ball with hopes of scoring to take the lead. However, the Wildcats were forced to punt after just a few plays. To add insult to injury, Travis Klenke returned the punt 62 yards for a touchdown, and Lees ran for the conversion to give Wawasee a 14-0 lead.
"We had a couple opportunities to score in the first half, but we made some mistakes," said Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld. "But in the second we didn't do that. We made plays in the second half."
On their third drive of the quarter, Wawasee took possession of the ball on the Wildcat 31 and moved the ball to the 17 for a first down. Lees then finished the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run to increase the Warrior lead to 20-0.
"In the first half, there were not many holes for him (Lees) to run through," said Rietveld. "In the second half we stepped up and did a good job of creating holes for him."
"The line did a great job tonight," said Lees. "The corners blocked out for me so I could get through. I just took it from there. It feels good."
The Wildcats and Warriors finished the last 16:57 of the game without scoring again, leaving a final tally of 20-0 in Wawasee's favor.
"Like most games, you can trace the major problems back to four plays," said Sprunger. "One, we failed to score near the end of the first half. Two, the fumble at the beginning of the second half. Three, giving up a touchdown on the punt return. And four, getting rattled on one of our punt plays."
Both Sprunger and Rietveld hope their teams will learn important lessons from this game.
"Things aren't always going to go well for you, but you can't lose your composure," said Sprunger. "Games like the one tonight are character builders."
"I want the team to enjoy this game and get used to winning," said Rietveld. "We plan to do a lot of it."
Wawasee 20, Whitko 0
Wawasee 0 0 20 0 - 20
Whitko 0 0 0 0 - 0
Wh Wa
First downs 9 11
Rushes-yards 41-136 31-157
Passing 23 114
Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-10-2 7-15-0
Total offense 159 224
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Punts-ave. 3-31 3-36.7
Penalties-yards 5-35 9-87
Kickoff returns-yards 1-37 4-25.25
Third Quarter
9:25 -ÊLees 2 yd run (Vallow PAT failed), 6-0 Wa
7:13 -ÊKlenke 62 yd punt return (Lees run), 14-0 Wa
4:57 -ÊLees 17 yd run (Meyer PAT failed), 20-0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Whitko: Seth Slater 12-63; Adam Wendel 12-39; Brent Goble 6-34; Jeff Shepherd 6-16. Wawasee: Logan Lees 16-105; Travis Klenke 4-29; Meyer 3-22; Adam Brown 5-17.
Receiving - Whitko: Slater 1-13. Wawasee: Klenke 4-65; Peter Chang 1-16.
Passing - Whitko: Wendel 2-9-23 yards, 2 int. Wawasee: Brown 7-15-114 yards 0 int.
WARSAW 33, COLUMBIA CITY 0
Columbia City 0 0 0 0 - 0
Warsaw 14 12 0 7 - 33
CC War
First Downs 6 19
Rushes-yards 22-32 51-234
Passing yards 67 155
Comp.-Att.-Int. 22-67-1 15-155-0
Total offense 99 389
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 3-34 7-64
Punts-yards 4-45 0-0
First Quarter
W - Greg Seiss 13 run (Gabe Koser kick), 6:24
W - Brad Seiss 9 run (Koser kick) 2:18
Second Quarter
W - B. Seiss 44 run (kick failed), 11:09
W - Ross Kesler 17 catch (PAT failed), :38
Fourth Quarter
W - Jared Scrafton 10 run (Koser kick), 1:26
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Col. City, Joel Cearbaugh 4-9, Seth Hoppe 7-5, Brad Cormany 1-10; Warsaw, B. Seiss 16-108, David Muta 11-38, G. Seiss 7-34, Scrafton 4-31, Mike Moore 10-25
Passing - Col. City, Hoppe 9-22-67-1; Warsaw, G. Seiss 9-14-155-0, Scrafton 0-1-0-0
Receiving - Col. City, Fuller 6-42, Cearbaugh 2-21, Cormany 1-4; Warsaw, Ross Kesler 5-70, Jon Dock 1-39, Nelson 2-29, B. Seiss 1-16 [[In-content Ad]]
SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊThe Wawasee football team wears T-shirts bearing the phrase "BUILDING A TRADITION" across the back. The Warriors took a leap toward their ultimate goal Friday night when they defeated the Whitko Wildcats 20-0.
After a turnover, an interception and several punts led to a first-half stalemate, the Whitko Wildcats stayed in the lockerroom a little too long and earned an 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to start the second half. The Whitko third quarter went downhill from there.
Seth Slater gained 10 yards for the Wildcats on the first play of the quarter but fumbled to give Wawasee possession of the football on the Whitko 45-yard-line with 11:45 still remaining in the third.
"We got rattled in the third," said Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger. "We really showed our youth and inexperience. We gained 10 yards on the first play and then fumbled it. We lost our composure. Then they (Wawasee) got rolling and really hurt us."
Wawasee then moved down the field, and with 9:25 left in the quarter Logan Lees ran the ball two yards to score the first Warrior touchdown of the season.
Down 6-0, Whitko took possession of the ball with hopes of scoring to take the lead. However, the Wildcats were forced to punt after just a few plays. To add insult to injury, Travis Klenke returned the punt 62 yards for a touchdown, and Lees ran for the conversion to give Wawasee a 14-0 lead.
"We had a couple opportunities to score in the first half, but we made some mistakes," said Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld. "But in the second we didn't do that. We made plays in the second half."
On their third drive of the quarter, Wawasee took possession of the ball on the Wildcat 31 and moved the ball to the 17 for a first down. Lees then finished the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run to increase the Warrior lead to 20-0.
"In the first half, there were not many holes for him (Lees) to run through," said Rietveld. "In the second half we stepped up and did a good job of creating holes for him."
"The line did a great job tonight," said Lees. "The corners blocked out for me so I could get through. I just took it from there. It feels good."
The Wildcats and Warriors finished the last 16:57 of the game without scoring again, leaving a final tally of 20-0 in Wawasee's favor.
"Like most games, you can trace the major problems back to four plays," said Sprunger. "One, we failed to score near the end of the first half. Two, the fumble at the beginning of the second half. Three, giving up a touchdown on the punt return. And four, getting rattled on one of our punt plays."
Both Sprunger and Rietveld hope their teams will learn important lessons from this game.
"Things aren't always going to go well for you, but you can't lose your composure," said Sprunger. "Games like the one tonight are character builders."
"I want the team to enjoy this game and get used to winning," said Rietveld. "We plan to do a lot of it."
Wawasee 20, Whitko 0
Wawasee 0 0 20 0 - 20
Whitko 0 0 0 0 - 0
Wh Wa
First downs 9 11
Rushes-yards 41-136 31-157
Passing 23 114
Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-10-2 7-15-0
Total offense 159 224
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Punts-ave. 3-31 3-36.7
Penalties-yards 5-35 9-87
Kickoff returns-yards 1-37 4-25.25
Third Quarter
9:25 -ÊLees 2 yd run (Vallow PAT failed), 6-0 Wa
7:13 -ÊKlenke 62 yd punt return (Lees run), 14-0 Wa
4:57 -ÊLees 17 yd run (Meyer PAT failed), 20-0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Whitko: Seth Slater 12-63; Adam Wendel 12-39; Brent Goble 6-34; Jeff Shepherd 6-16. Wawasee: Logan Lees 16-105; Travis Klenke 4-29; Meyer 3-22; Adam Brown 5-17.
Receiving - Whitko: Slater 1-13. Wawasee: Klenke 4-65; Peter Chang 1-16.
Passing - Whitko: Wendel 2-9-23 yards, 2 int. Wawasee: Brown 7-15-114 yards 0 int.
WARSAW 33, COLUMBIA CITY 0
Columbia City 0 0 0 0 - 0
Warsaw 14 12 0 7 - 33
CC War
First Downs 6 19
Rushes-yards 22-32 51-234
Passing yards 67 155
Comp.-Att.-Int. 22-67-1 15-155-0
Total offense 99 389
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 3-34 7-64
Punts-yards 4-45 0-0
First Quarter
W - Greg Seiss 13 run (Gabe Koser kick), 6:24
W - Brad Seiss 9 run (Koser kick) 2:18
Second Quarter
W - B. Seiss 44 run (kick failed), 11:09
W - Ross Kesler 17 catch (PAT failed), :38
Fourth Quarter
W - Jared Scrafton 10 run (Koser kick), 1:26
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Col. City, Joel Cearbaugh 4-9, Seth Hoppe 7-5, Brad Cormany 1-10; Warsaw, B. Seiss 16-108, David Muta 11-38, G. Seiss 7-34, Scrafton 4-31, Mike Moore 10-25
Passing - Col. City, Hoppe 9-22-67-1; Warsaw, G. Seiss 9-14-155-0, Scrafton 0-1-0-0
Receiving - Col. City, Fuller 6-42, Cearbaugh 2-21, Cormany 1-4; Warsaw, Ross Kesler 5-70, Jon Dock 1-39, Nelson 2-29, B. Seiss 1-16 [[In-content Ad]]