GOSHEN - On a rain soaked field under dark skies, Warsaw's defense shined and left Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen in a drought Friday.

An evening that saw two 50-minute weather delays for heavy rains and lightning, the skies weren't the only thing filled with electricity as the Tigers made their lenghty stay in the Maple City a sweet one, pancaking the host Redskins 35-0.

"Several times we thought we were gonna play tommorrow," said Tiger assistant coach Tony Boley, filling in for head coach Phil Jensen who left immediately after the game to be with family following the death of his uncle. "Number one was the safety of the kids. We were about ready to get on the bus, we waited long enough and I'm glad we got it in."

So were the few Warsaw fans in attendance, who were treated to a defensive gem.

A unit that Boley described as making a name for itself, the Tiger defense became well known Friday, making itself right at home and dominating Goshen's homecoming.

Warsaw's stingy defense held the Redskins to 90 yards of total offense, picked off three passes and recovered a pair of fumbles en route to its second straight shutout.

The Tigers have given up just 10 points the last three weeks, and barring a collapse against conference foe Plymouth in Week 3, haven't given up multiple touchdowns in any game.

"(Defensive coordinator) Troy (Akers) has been using a lot of different people," Boley said. "The defense is starting to get its own identity. Overall we have good speed on defense. We may not have some of the outstanding athletes we've had, but our overall speed is good. There's some young kids that are really playing well."

The lopsided win improved Warsaw to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the NLC, while Goshen fell to 1-5 and 0-4 under first-year coach Andy Strati.

After a 51-minute weather delay that pushed back the start of the game, the teams hit the field until 2:00 showed on the first-quarter clock and the game was stopped for another 53-minute weather delay.

Once the game got underway the second time, the Tigers wasted no time in setting the tone, scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter for a 21-0 lead at the half.

The first score came with 10:47 remaining in the second stanza when junior tailback Thomas Balestri broke free up the middle for an 18-yard scamper.

Two minutes later the Tigers were on the board again, this time when senior quarterback Daniel Erickson barrelled his way in from a yard out to cap off a 14-yard drive that was kept alive on a third-and-10 play when Erickson found classmate Adam Suchecki open for a 13-yard gain.

After forcing the Redskins to go three-and-out, Erickson hooked up with Suchecki again on the next series, moving the chains on third-and-9 from the 15 with a 14-yard pass. This time senior fullback Tyler Colt pounded his way in from a yard out to put the Tigers up 21-0.

Following yet another Goshen punt, the Tigers found paydirt on the second play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive when Balestri raced to the outside and trotted 85 yards for his second touchdown of the game and a 28-0 Warsaw advantage.

The Tigers scored 11 seconds later when Redskin Carlos Flores fumbled the kickoff and junior Dan Scott returned the fumble 18 yards for a score.

Scott also had an interception in the win, as did Troy Miller and Scott Sands.

Thanks to good field position set up by strong defensive play, the Tigers didn't have to move the ball far to score, with the majority of Warsaw's 244 offensive yards coming on Balestri's two touchdown runs.

"Our field position was pretty good, that of course was set up by the defense," Boley said. "We had pretty good field position and we only had to punt three times."

Balestri finished the game with 127 yards on 13 carries, while Erickson had 22 yards on nine attempts and sophomore Blake Deaton had 34 yards on seven carries late in the game.

Erickson finished the game 3-of-6 passing for 55 yards. Suchecki caught two passes for 27 yards, while fellow senior Nate Miller caught one pass for 28 yards.

Redskin quarterback Jordan Hughes completed just 4 of 12 passes and threw three interceptions.

The lone bright spot for the Redskins on a dark and rainy night was junior fullback Josh Meade, who carried 14 times for 54 yards. Hughes rushed four times for negative 11 yards, while Jon Rolon carried four times for negative five yards.

In all, the Redskins rushed 29 times for 45 yards, while the Tigers had 37 carries for 189 yards.

Warsaw will celebrate its homecoming next Friday against rival Wawasee, with the winner taking the coveted 'W' Trophy. Goshen is on the road at NLC foe Northridge.

WARSAW 35, GOSHEN 0

Warsaw 0 21 14 0 - 35

Goshen 0 0 0 0 - 0

W G

First downs 9 6

Rushing yards 189 45

Passing yards 55 45

Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-6-0 4-12-3

Total offense 244 90

Fumbles/lost 3/1 4/2

Punts/avg. 3-34 6-44

Penalties/yards 3-20 5-45

Scoring

Second Quarter

W - Thomas Balestri 18 run (Jeremy Shark kick) 10:47, 7-0

W - Daniel Erickson 1 run (Sharp kick) 8:23, 14-0

W - Tyler Colt 1 run (Sharp kick) 4:32, 21-0

Third Quarter

W - Balestri 85 run (Sharp kick) 6:38, 28-0

W - Dan Scott 18 fumble return (Sharp kick 6:27, 35-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Warsaw, Balestri 13-127, Erickson 9-22, Blake Deaton 7-34, Colt 4-6, Derek Weaver 2-4, Mark Sudhoff 2-(-4); Goshen, Josh Meade 14-54, Carlos Flores 4-2, Jon Rolon 4-(-5), Jordan Hughes 4-(-11), Josh Jones 2-3, Andy Miller 1-2

Passing - Warsaw, Erickson 3-6-55, 0 INT; Goshen, Hughes 4-12-45, 3 INT

Receiving - Warsaw, Adam Suchecki 2-27, Nate Miller 1-28; Goshen, Greg Zentz 2-20, Rolon 1-22, James Yates 1-3 [[In-content Ad]]