Tigers Can't Overcome Turnovers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
Upon breaking from the prayer, the Tigers found new energy, but turnovers proved to be too much to overcome, as they fell 14-7.[[In-content Ad]]Following a tackle late in the third quarter, Warsaw sophomore Larry McClelland remained motionless, face down on the ground, until he was transported in an ambulance. After receiving X-rays, McClelland was cleared of serious injury, having sustained what was called a "stinger."
While being placed in the ambulance, McClelland was given a warm applause by those in attendance, just before Goshen and Warsaw resumed play. But once play resumed, mounting mental mistakes were just too much for the Tigers to overcome.
"We had some opportunities," Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "The turnovers just hurt us at inopportune times."
On the night, Warsaw committed four turnovers, two of which were converted into Goshen touchdowns.
"We knew we couldn't turn the ball over," Akers said. "They played a very aggressive, disciplined defense. I gotta credit (Goshen coach) Brent (Baldwin) and his coaching staff. They had a lot of adversity without (starting running back) Najee (Slade) playing in the back field, but (Nicholas) Lewallen had a tremendous game."
Lewallen filled in admirably for Slade, rushing for 127 yards, while junior quarterback Spencer Oversen went 6 for 17 for only 54 yards, but two of those six completions went for touchdowns.
"I'm just real proud of their effort and how hard they played against a very good Warsaw team," Baldwin said.
While Lewallen was controlling the ground game, senior Joshua Ortiz was controlling just about every other aspect of the game for the Redskins. The jack-of-all-trades caught three passes for 51 yards including two touchdowns, rushed for 30 yards on a reverse and even threw a 28-yard pass, which set up a touchdown - one that he scored.
"We came out and played with a lot of enthusiasm," Baldwin said. "Even though we didn't do much offensively in the first half, I thought the defense really played hard."
That defense was undoubtedly focused on Warsaw's standout sophomore running back Andy Conrad.
Entering the Northern Lakes Conference game, Conrad was averaging 122 yards rushing a game. Against the Redskins, the sophomore could only manage 56 yards on 21 carries.
"They came into the game knowing they had to stop Andy," Akers said.
"David Wilson and the rest of our defensive staff really put a nice plan together for him," Baldwin said of stopping Conrad. "So I have to give our defensive guys a lot of credit."
With Conrad neutralized, the weight of the game was placed on senior quarterback Ben Higgins, who was making his first start since injurying his shoulder against Elkhart Memorial two weeks ago. After that time off, Higgins was forced to throw the ball 31 times, completing 12 passes for 99 yards, recording a touchdown as well as two interceptions.
Making things even tougher for Higgins was the fact he's without top wide receiver Daniel Conard, who's out for the season with a knee injury, as well as other top receiving threats.
"Our receiving corps was pretty depleted, not just with Daniel," Akers said. "We had Aaron West out, who's another starter, and Thomas Justice, who was on the field, but was ineffective with an injury. We had to take some punches and give some punches. Tonight, they had one more punch than we did."
Warsaw's opening punch came when Higgins calmly found Conrad for an 18-yard touchdown while a Goshen blitzer was right in his face. After delivering the ball, Conrad weaved his way to the end zone, taking the 7-0 lead with 9:47 remaining in the first half.
Warsaw held its 7-0 advantage into the half, but following a Tigers fumble on the second-half kickoff, Goshen found itself with the ball at the Warsaw 25-yard line. Four plays later, Oversen found Ortiz for his first of two touchdowns, the second coming with 9:12 remaining in the game, resulting in the 14-7 lead.
But down the stretch, Warsaw actually had a golden opportunity.
While attempting to eat up the clock late in the game, Lewallen had the ball stripped from his possession. When Warsaw sophomore Tom Daniels recovered the ball, his team held possession at the Goshen 46-yard line and 1:55 remaining in the game. With the cards set up for them, the Tigers couldn't capitalize on a Goshen pass interference call that set them up at the 31-yard line, eventually turning the ball over on downs.
"We've been banged up and bruised, but I think we're battled tested," Akers said. "I still think there's a lot of football to be played in the Northern Lakes Conference. We have a lot of young kids that are growing up fast."
Those kids will be back at it next Friday at home when Wawasee visits Fisher Field.
"My hat's off to Goshen and their program," Akers said. "We go back to the drawing board and figure out what to do next week."
GOSHEN 14, WARSAW 7
Warsaw 0 7 0 0 - 7
Goshen 0 0 7 7 - 14
W G
First downs 10 10
Rushing yards 86 181
Passing yards 99 82
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-31-2 7-18-0
Total offense 185 263
Fumbles/lost 5-2 1-1
Punts/avg. 5-44 6-38
Penalties/yards 3-20 3-30
Second Quarter
W - Ben Higgins 18 pass to Andy Conrad (Matt Franco kick) 7-0, 9:47
Third Quarter
G - Spencer Oversen 10 pass to Joshua Ortiz (Alejandro Aguilar kick) 7-7, 10:25
Fourth Quarter
G - Oversen 8 pass to Ortiz (Aguilar kick) 7-14, 9:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw, Andy Conrad 21-56, Cody Kindle 6-21, Ben Davis 2-14, Leonard Wells 1-(-2), Ben Higgins 1-(-3); Goshen, Nicholas Lewallen 26-127, Joshua Ortiz 1-30, Chayse Ratliff 4-21, Spencer Oversen 7-3.
Passing - Warsaw, Ben Higgins 12-31-99 1 TD, 2 INTs; Goshen, Spencer Oversen 6-17-54 2 TDs, Joshua Ortiz 1-1-28.
Receiving - Warsaw, Zachary Linky 3-17, Cody Kindle 2-35, Justin Clemens 2-28, Tom Daniels 2-4, Andy Conrad 1-18, Thomas Justice 1-6, Quinn Scheller 1-1; Goshen, Jordan Short 3-51, Alejandro Aguilar 2-27, Chayse Ratliff 1-2, Anthony McKee 1-2.
Upon breaking from the prayer, the Tigers found new energy, but turnovers proved to be too much to overcome, as they fell 14-7.[[In-content Ad]]Following a tackle late in the third quarter, Warsaw sophomore Larry McClelland remained motionless, face down on the ground, until he was transported in an ambulance. After receiving X-rays, McClelland was cleared of serious injury, having sustained what was called a "stinger."
While being placed in the ambulance, McClelland was given a warm applause by those in attendance, just before Goshen and Warsaw resumed play. But once play resumed, mounting mental mistakes were just too much for the Tigers to overcome.
"We had some opportunities," Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "The turnovers just hurt us at inopportune times."
On the night, Warsaw committed four turnovers, two of which were converted into Goshen touchdowns.
"We knew we couldn't turn the ball over," Akers said. "They played a very aggressive, disciplined defense. I gotta credit (Goshen coach) Brent (Baldwin) and his coaching staff. They had a lot of adversity without (starting running back) Najee (Slade) playing in the back field, but (Nicholas) Lewallen had a tremendous game."
Lewallen filled in admirably for Slade, rushing for 127 yards, while junior quarterback Spencer Oversen went 6 for 17 for only 54 yards, but two of those six completions went for touchdowns.
"I'm just real proud of their effort and how hard they played against a very good Warsaw team," Baldwin said.
While Lewallen was controlling the ground game, senior Joshua Ortiz was controlling just about every other aspect of the game for the Redskins. The jack-of-all-trades caught three passes for 51 yards including two touchdowns, rushed for 30 yards on a reverse and even threw a 28-yard pass, which set up a touchdown - one that he scored.
"We came out and played with a lot of enthusiasm," Baldwin said. "Even though we didn't do much offensively in the first half, I thought the defense really played hard."
That defense was undoubtedly focused on Warsaw's standout sophomore running back Andy Conrad.
Entering the Northern Lakes Conference game, Conrad was averaging 122 yards rushing a game. Against the Redskins, the sophomore could only manage 56 yards on 21 carries.
"They came into the game knowing they had to stop Andy," Akers said.
"David Wilson and the rest of our defensive staff really put a nice plan together for him," Baldwin said of stopping Conrad. "So I have to give our defensive guys a lot of credit."
With Conrad neutralized, the weight of the game was placed on senior quarterback Ben Higgins, who was making his first start since injurying his shoulder against Elkhart Memorial two weeks ago. After that time off, Higgins was forced to throw the ball 31 times, completing 12 passes for 99 yards, recording a touchdown as well as two interceptions.
Making things even tougher for Higgins was the fact he's without top wide receiver Daniel Conard, who's out for the season with a knee injury, as well as other top receiving threats.
"Our receiving corps was pretty depleted, not just with Daniel," Akers said. "We had Aaron West out, who's another starter, and Thomas Justice, who was on the field, but was ineffective with an injury. We had to take some punches and give some punches. Tonight, they had one more punch than we did."
Warsaw's opening punch came when Higgins calmly found Conrad for an 18-yard touchdown while a Goshen blitzer was right in his face. After delivering the ball, Conrad weaved his way to the end zone, taking the 7-0 lead with 9:47 remaining in the first half.
Warsaw held its 7-0 advantage into the half, but following a Tigers fumble on the second-half kickoff, Goshen found itself with the ball at the Warsaw 25-yard line. Four plays later, Oversen found Ortiz for his first of two touchdowns, the second coming with 9:12 remaining in the game, resulting in the 14-7 lead.
But down the stretch, Warsaw actually had a golden opportunity.
While attempting to eat up the clock late in the game, Lewallen had the ball stripped from his possession. When Warsaw sophomore Tom Daniels recovered the ball, his team held possession at the Goshen 46-yard line and 1:55 remaining in the game. With the cards set up for them, the Tigers couldn't capitalize on a Goshen pass interference call that set them up at the 31-yard line, eventually turning the ball over on downs.
"We've been banged up and bruised, but I think we're battled tested," Akers said. "I still think there's a lot of football to be played in the Northern Lakes Conference. We have a lot of young kids that are growing up fast."
Those kids will be back at it next Friday at home when Wawasee visits Fisher Field.
"My hat's off to Goshen and their program," Akers said. "We go back to the drawing board and figure out what to do next week."
GOSHEN 14, WARSAW 7
Warsaw 0 7 0 0 - 7
Goshen 0 0 7 7 - 14
W G
First downs 10 10
Rushing yards 86 181
Passing yards 99 82
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-31-2 7-18-0
Total offense 185 263
Fumbles/lost 5-2 1-1
Punts/avg. 5-44 6-38
Penalties/yards 3-20 3-30
Second Quarter
W - Ben Higgins 18 pass to Andy Conrad (Matt Franco kick) 7-0, 9:47
Third Quarter
G - Spencer Oversen 10 pass to Joshua Ortiz (Alejandro Aguilar kick) 7-7, 10:25
Fourth Quarter
G - Oversen 8 pass to Ortiz (Aguilar kick) 7-14, 9:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw, Andy Conrad 21-56, Cody Kindle 6-21, Ben Davis 2-14, Leonard Wells 1-(-2), Ben Higgins 1-(-3); Goshen, Nicholas Lewallen 26-127, Joshua Ortiz 1-30, Chayse Ratliff 4-21, Spencer Oversen 7-3.
Passing - Warsaw, Ben Higgins 12-31-99 1 TD, 2 INTs; Goshen, Spencer Oversen 6-17-54 2 TDs, Joshua Ortiz 1-1-28.
Receiving - Warsaw, Zachary Linky 3-17, Cody Kindle 2-35, Justin Clemens 2-28, Tom Daniels 2-4, Andy Conrad 1-18, Thomas Justice 1-6, Quinn Scheller 1-1; Goshen, Jordan Short 3-51, Alejandro Aguilar 2-27, Chayse Ratliff 1-2, Anthony McKee 1-2.
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