HUNTINGTON - A team built around its running game, a trio of third-down passes went a long way as Huntington North downed visiting Warsaw 21-18 Friday in the Class 5A Sectional 3 opener.

After completing just 14 passes for 142 yards through the nine-game regular season, Huntington North senior signal caller Aaron Drummond finished with a 3-of-3 passing effort against the Tigers for 91 yards, converting three third-down situations with passes to sophomore Chris Kramer.

Two of the passes led to touchdowns, and the host Vikings had just enough of a cushion after Warsaw put together a two-play, 46-yard drive capped off by a five-yard Daniel Erickson pass to Adam Suchecki with 44 seconds remaining.

Erickson hit senior fullback Tyler Colt with a pass in the end zone for the two-point conversion to cut the Huntington North lead to 21-18, and then the Tigers nearly got the ball back after Jeremy Sharp put down a picture perfect onside kick.

"The kids didn't quit," said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen, whose Tigers spent the majority of the first half on defense trying to stop Huntington North's ball-control running game. "The defense kept playing hard and caused a fumble, and then Dan (Erickson) threw a perfect ball to Adam Suchecki (for a touchdown). Dan played a great game, he was on the money all night. We were real close on the onside kick, the kids never quit, and I'm proud of them for that."

The three-point loss was the third three-point setback in the last three years for the Tigers in sectional action.

Penn topped the Tigers by a field goal in overtime in 2000, as did Fort Wayne Snider in 2001.

Warsaw's season ends at 5-5, while Huntington North improved to 7-3 and will host Homestead Friday in the sectional semfinal. Homestead, which drilled the Vikings 56-13 in the season opener, advanced with a 34-21 win over Marion.

While the Tiger offense made it interesting late in the game, Erickson and Co. spent much of the first half on the sideline.

With Huntington North's ball-control offense pounding out yard after yard on the ground, Warsaw ran just 12 offensive plays in the first half.

After each team's first drive ended in a punt, the host Vikings set up shop on their own 18 and drove 82 yards in 14 plays as Drummond barrelled in from a yard out with 8:51 remaining in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead.

While Huntington North ran time off the clock with its long scoring drive, the Tigers wasted no time in knotting the game at 7 as Colt raced 45 yards through the middle of the Viking defense, putting Warsaw on the board 20 seconds later.

Much like they did on their previous possession, the Vikings ran time off the clock with their next drive, scoring again when Drummond pounded his way in from a yard out with 10 seconds left in the half for a 14-7 lead.

All totaled, Huntington North ran 36 offensive plays in the first 24 minutes of the game, 35 of them being running plays.

For the game, the Vikings rushed the ball 59 times for 230 yards and threw three times for 91 yards.

Warsaw had 24 carries for 145 yards on the ground, and Erickson completed 8 of 19 passes for 138 yards with one interception and one touchdown.

Ian Vining led Huntington North with 19 carries for 97 yards, while Drummond had 25 rushes for 65 yards and Kramer 10 carries for 68 yards.

After stopping the Vikings on their opening driving in the second half, the Tigers cut the deficit to 14-10 when Sharp converted a 29-yard field goal.

Huntington North then went three-and-out, but the Tiger offense went three-and-out as well.

Faced with a third-and-20 situation after sophomore defensive end Shaun Cabrera sacked Drummond for 5-yard loss, the Viking signal caller came back with a 23-yard pass to Kramer, and the drive was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Matt Kaufman a the 2:56 mark.

After an Erickson pass was picked off by David Malicki, the Tiger defense recovered a Vining fumble, and Erickson redeemed himself with a 41-yard pass to Suchecki that was followed by the 5-yard scoring strike to Suchecki."

After Sharp's onside kick attempt was touched by a teammate and went out of bounds, Drummond took a knee twice and ran out the clock - as well as Warsaw's season.

Erickson led the Tiger ground game with 63 yards on 11 carries, while Colt had 62 yards on five carries and junior Thomas Balestri 20 yards on eight carries.

HUNTINGTON NORTH 21, WARSAW 18

Warsaw 0 7 3 8 - 18

Hunt. North 0 14 0 7 - 21

War HN

First downs 12 15

Rushing yards 145 230

Passing yards 138 91

Comp.-Att.-Int. 8-19-1 3-3-0

Total offense 283 321

Fumbles/lost 3/0 2/2

Punts/avg. 5-31.2 5-35

Penalties/yards 2-16 2-10

Scoring

Second Quarter

HN - Aaron Drummond 1 run (Matt Carmien kick) 8:51, 7-0

W - Tyler Colt 45 run (Jeremy Sharp kick) 8:31, 7-7

HN - Drummond 1 run (Carmien kick) :10, 14-7

Third Quarter

W - Sharp 29 field goal 2:34, 14-10

Fourth Quarter

HN - Matt Kaufman 3 run (Carmien kick) 2:56, 21-10

W - Daniel Erickson 5 pass to Adam Suchecki (Colt conversion catch) :44, 21-18

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Warsaw, Erickson 11-63, Thomas Balestri 8-20, Colt 5-62; Hunt. North, Drummond 25-65, Ian Vining 19-97, Chris Kramer 10-68, Kaufman 5-0

Passing - Warsaw, Erickson 8-19-138, 1 TD, 1 INT; Hunt. North, Drummond 3-3-91, O INT

Receiving - Warsaw, Nate Miller 3-35, Antonio Castillo 2-47, Suchecki 2-46, Colt 1-10; Hunt. North, Kramer 3-91 [[In-content Ad]]