Tigers Edge Chargers, Remain Undefeated In NLC Play
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
A player who has spent time in Phil Jensen's doghouse, even more so than his dog at home the Warsaw football coach joked, Ryan Hamilton worked his way out Friday night.
Behind burly blockers Jacob Engler and William Knepper, 510 pounds of table muscle between them, Hamilton and the Tigers ate up yardage on the ground and time off the clock before a 55-yard touchdown pass from Ryan DeGeeter to Mike Thallemer in the fourth quarter propelled them to a 16-13 homecoming win over Northern Lakes Conference foe Elkhart Memorial.
A game that never lacked excitement, Crimson Charger Eric Nielsen's 53-yard field goal attempt with 43 seconds left fell inches short, as Memorial fell to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in conference action. The NLC win was the 16th straight for Warsaw, as the Tigers improved to 3-1 and 2-0 in search of their fourth straight conference crown.
"What a gutty, gutty performance by the kids tonight," Jensen said. "This was the first time in three or four years we've had five or six kids play both ways. It was a combination of bad plays on our part and good plays on Memorial's part, but what a gutty perfomance. This is something that could catapult us into some great things."
Trying to establish their running attack, a phase of the game that has been far outshadowed by DeGeeter's golden right arm, the Tigers ran 7:07 off the clock to start the third quarter as Hamilton ran the ball nine straight times. Warsaw ran five more minutes off the clock with Hamilton and his fullhouse backfield in the fourth quarter, as the 185-pound senior tailback continued to pound the ball forward.
Finishing the game with a hard-fought 87 yards on 21 carries, Hamilton highlighted his performance with a 13-yard touchdown run that brought the Tigers within 13-10 late in the second quarter.
"We've got to be able to run the football," Jensen said. "We made the decision earlier in the week to take Engler and Knepper from the defense and put them in the backfield, and let Hamilton run behind them. We said this is the best we got, try and stop it."
With their duo of workhorse running backs, the Crimson Chargers offerered the same challenge, as junior tailback David Link finished the evening with 19 carries for 127 yards and senior fullback Ben Schenk 15 carries for 88 yards.
A three-yard run by Link, which was followed by a failed P.A.T., gave Memorial a 6-3 lead with 10:19 remaining in the first half. The Crimson Chargers took a 13-3 lead when Nielsen caught an 8-yard pass from senior signal caller Eric Sindle and then split the uprights with his kick attempt at the 5:14 mark of the second stanza.
Memorial threatened late in the game, but a sack by Tiger junior Tyler Reneker on a third-and-7 play from Warsaw's 28 pushed the Chargers back, forcing them into Nielsen's game-winning attempt.
"We knew it was gonna come down to the wire," said Jensen, who now sits behind only George Fisher in all-time wins at Warsaw. "It was inches from going into overtime. Elkhart Memorial is a fantastic addition to our conference. We kept ourselves in position to win the conference outright. To win the NLC outright, most likely you'll have to win them all. We've got Northridge next week, and then in two weeks a showdown with Goshen. We can't afford to overlook anyone."
With a 20-point win over NorthWood, Goshen improved to 2-0 conference action, as the Tigers and Redskins are the only unbeatens in NLC play.
To go with its 100-plus yards on the ground, Warsaw got 170 yards through the air, as DeGeeter completed 10 of 18 passes with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Thallemer caught two passes for 90 yards, highlighted by his 55-yard score, while Nate Miller reeled in six receptions for 69 yards.
Memorial, on the other hand, struggled through the air, going 2 of 14 for 29 yards with two interceptions. The Charger's bread and butter was on the ground, where they gained 192 yards on 38 attempts.
WARSAW 16, ELKHART MEMORIAL 13
Warsaw (3-1, 2-0) 3 7 0 6 - 16
Elk. Memorial (1-2, 1-2) 0 13 0 0 - 0
W EM
First downs 12 15
Rushing yards 102 192
Passing yards 170 29
Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-18-0 2-14-2
Total offense 272 221
Fumbles/lost 1/1 2/0
Punts/avg. 5-36 4-44
Penalties/yards 5-55 3-19
First Quarter
W - Jeremy Sharp 30 field goal 9:52, 3-0
Second Quarter
EM - David Link 3 run (kick failed) 10:19, 6-3
EM - Eric Nielsen 8 catch (Nielsen kick) 5:14, 13-3
W - Ryan Hamilton 13 run (Sharp kick) 2:02, 13-10
Fourth Quarter
W - Mike Thallemer 55 catch from Ryan DeGeeter (kick failed) 11:51, 16-13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw, Hamilton 21-87, DeGeeter 10-15, Balestri 2-4, Nate Miller 1-(-4); Memorial, Link 19-127, Ben Schenk 15-88, Eric Sindle 4-(-23)
Passing - Warsaw, DeGeeter 10-18-170; Memorial, Sindle 2-13-29, 1 INT, Nick Corpe 0-1-0, 1 INT
Receiving - Warsaw, Miller 6-69, Thallemer 2-90, Nick Balestri 1-7, Adam Griggs 1-4; Memorial, Link 1-21, Nielsen 1-8
Whitko Wildcats Make Quick Work Of Manchester Squires
By Dan Riordan, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
NORTH MANCHESTER-It was a beautiful night for football in North Manchester on Friday.
But the night turned ugly quickly for the Manchester Squires and their loyal fans.
The Squires were on the short end of early turnovers which forced them into a passing game early.
The result? A 47-8 Wildcat victory as Whitko moved to 2-0 in the TRC.
The Wildcats were the first to strike on their second possession of the game. On first down, signal caller Brad Walpole went 70 yards downfield, finding senior split end Brett Lukens for the game's first score.
However, it would not be the last.
Two series later Manchester was forced to punt from inside its own 20. An errant long snap sent the ball into the endzone where a pack of Wildcats pounced on the ball extending their lead to 12-0 after two missed PAT tries.
Early in the second quarter, Whitko recovered a Squire fumble and once again made the most of it.
The Wildcats played smash-mouth football running the ball four straight times from Manchester's 27 yard line. The drive was capped off when senior wingback Alan Robbins rolled in from 13 yards out.
On Whitko's very next possession the team drove 63 yards in a shade over three minutes for its fourth score of the evening. This time Walpole found tight end Alex Frantz from 20 yards out to push the score to 26-0 after a successful two-point conversion run by backup quarterback Kevin Feldman.
Whitko's early dominance threw the Squires right out of what they wanted to do offensively.
The Squires have always been a running team by tradition. That was thrown out the window early. Instead of using a run-oriented ball control offense, the Squires were forced to air it out 42 times among three different quarterbacks.
The Manchester offense never looked quite in sync. Junior quarterback Ryan Roth was a paltry 8-of-26 passing for 107 yards with one interception in the first half. The Squires had difficulty maintaining a drive for longer than six plays and were never able to break into Whitko's red zone during the first half.
The closest Manchester came to threatening in the first half was on its final drive. The drive started on the Squire 19-yard line. They managed to work their way down to the Whitko 21-yard line, but the drive stalled like all their others when Roth was sacked for a 13-yard loss to end the half.
Whitko wasted no time putting more points on the board in the second half. In fact the Wildcats scored on their first three possessions of the half.
Junior halfback Brandon Waterson capped off a 28 yard drive with a 6-yard run. The drive was set up by a long kick return by Robbins.
On their next possession, Whitko drove 64 yards, this time with Walpole taking it in himself from 11 yards out for paydirt.
The Wildcats' final scoring drive of the evening saw them start on their own 39 and take only eight plays before backup Dustin Boardman ran in from 39-yards out.
Manchester was able to avoid the shutout when third string quarterback Joe Enger found Nick Poe from 36 yards out. He connected with him once again to make the score 47-8.
Manchester coach Al Bailey knew that Friday night would be tough.
"Whitko has an outstanding team," said Bailey. "They're senior-laden. They're highly motivated and Coach (Bryan) Sprunger does a great job of getting his team ready. There were also some injuries tonight on our end. With (Dustin) Westafer, linebacker Nate Stoops and running back Josh Staton got banged up pretty early and it was quite visible for the whole game."
Bailey hopes to get his team back on track when they travel to North Miami next Friday. Whitko hopes to continue its winning ways when they host Oak Hill on Friday. Manchester hits the road to face North Miami in Denver Friday night.
WHITKO 47, MANCHESTER 8
Whitko 12 14 13 8 - 47
Manchester 0 0 0 8 - 8
W M
First downs 13 9
Rushing yards 54-272 20-33
Passing yards 93 194
Comp.-Att.-Int. 2-6-1 14-43-2
Total offense 365 227
Fumbles/lost 0-0 5-3
Punts/avg. 2-31 5-33.6
Penalties/yards 4-40 4-35
First Quarter
W- Walpole to Lukens 70 pass (kick failed) 6:39 6-0
W-Wilikinson fumble recovery (run failed) 5:18 12-0
Second Quarter
W-Robins 14 run (run failed) 7:46 18-0
W-Walpole to Frantz 23 pass (Feldman run) 2:56 26-0
Third Quarter
W-Waterson 5 run (kick failed) 9:48 32-0
W- Walpole 8 run (Adang kick) 3:54 39-0
Fourth Quarter
W- Boardman 39 run 10:37 47-0
M- Enger to Poe 36 Pass (Enger to Poe pass) 4:17 47-8
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Whitko:Brandon Waterson 12-74, Alan Robins 12-56, Boardman 3-49, Travis Pherigo 5-36, Dane Bause 3-12 Manchester: Staton 6-11, Greer 3-9, Westendorf 2-4,Sommer 1-4, Roth 2-5.
Passing -Whitko: Walpole 2-5-1 93, Feldman 0-1-0. Manchester:Roth 8-26-1 107, Jared Mobley 5-14-1 48, Enger 1-3-0 39.
Receiving -Whitko: Brett Lukens 1-70, Alex Frantz 1-23. Manchester: Dustin Burke 3-60, Straka 2-43, Nick Poe 1-39, Jennen Gaerte 3-35
Concord Hands Wawasee First Loss
By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
DUNLAP -ÊAfter watching six interceptions in two games, Concord's coaching staff decided it was time for a quarterback change Friday night when the Minutemen hosted the 3-0 Wawasee Warriors.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, that change might well have meant the difference as Gavin Wilkinson met the challenge for Concord on homecoming night, directing the the 1-2 Minutemen to a 29-23 win over the Warriors.
Wilkinson was 16-of-20 passing for 128 yards in his first varsity start. He threw for two touchdowns, ran for one and had no interceptions.
The Minutemen jumped out early after intercepting an errant Wawasee pass.
On the sixth play of the resulting drive, Wilkinson scampered nine yards into the endzone to give Concord the early lead.
Wawasee began the second quarter with the ball after forcing a Concord punt. The Warriors then drove 91 yards in eight plays to score. Kory Lantz connected with senior receiver Drew Evans on a 36-yard touchdown pass. Lantz then took the ball in himself for the two-point conversion, and Wawasee had its only lead of the game, 8-7.
Concord then took the ensuing kickoff and drove the length of the field where Wilkinson completed his first touchdown pass. He followed a 30-yard completion by carrying the ball in for the two-point conversion, restoring Concord's lead, 15-8.
The Warriors, who had success running the ball all evening, then drove the ball down inside the Concord 10-yard line before another turnover gave the ball back to Concord.
The Minutemen responded to the good fortune by driving the ball the length of the field again for another touchdown, giving them a 22-8 lead going into halftime.
After trading punts early in the third quarter, the Warriors jumped right back into the game when they drove 80 yards in 10 plays to pull to within a touchdown at 22-15.
Lantz carried the ball for the score from seven yards out with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter.
The Warriors got the ball back and were driving to score when faced with a fourth-and-10 from about the 11 with 2:37 to go in the third.
With the Warriors' long snapper, Trevor Brown, shaking off the effects of a mild concussion, Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld decided to go for it rather than rely on the strong leg of place kicker Ben Champaux and a field goal.
"With Trevor out of the game I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on a back-up," said Rietveld.
Lantz's pass to Evans on fourth down was incomplete and Concord took over the ball on downs.
The momentum that Wawasee had shown in the second half seemed to leave when Concord scored again two possessions later to take a 29-15 lead.
The Warriors scored once more with 3:35 to go in the game when Mike Hall stripped the ball from a Concord runner. Warrior Alex Smith picked up the fumble and returned it six yards to the 48-yard line. The Warriors then drove down to score off a 5-yard run by Lantz. Again, Lantz ran the ball in for a two-point conversion giving Wawasee a glimmer of hope as they trailed 29-23.
But it wasn't to be for the Warriors as Concord held on to an onside kick and ran the clock out for the win.
"This was a game we could have won," said Rietveld. "We have some things to work on. We are headed in the right direction, but tonight was a stumbling block."
The Warrior record now stands at 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Things won't get any easier for the Warriors as they host No. 5 (3A) Northwood (3-1, 1-1 NLC) Friday night.
Bremen Hands Triton 40-0 Loss
Times-Union Staff Report
BREMEN - The defense giving up 307 yards on the ground, Triton fell 40-0 at Northern State Conference rival Bremen Friday.
The host Lions added another 66 through the air for a total of 373 yards. Triton, on the other hand, rushed for 113 yards and was held to 38 through the air.
Bremen improves to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the NSC, while Triton falls to 1-3 and 0-2.
Brad Leeper found the endzone twice for Bremen, scoring on runs of 10 and 71 yards. Ben Bell led Triton's ground game with 32 yards on 12 carries.
The Trojans will be in action again Friday at NSC rival Glenn.
BREMEN 40
TRITON 0
Triton 0 0 0 0 - 0
Bremen 6 21 13 0 - 40
T B
First downs 8 11
Rushing yards 113 307
Passing yards 38 66
Comp.-Att.-Int. 5-16-1 5-14-0
Total offense 151 373
Fumbles/lost 0/0 2/1
Punts/avg. 7-34 2-42
Penalties/yards 3-20 5-40
First Quarter
B - Brad Leeper 10 run (kick failed) 6-0
Second Quarter
B - Sam Yoder fumble return (kick failed) 12-0
B - Jesse Alvarado 1 run (kick failed) 19-0
B - Shawn Hochstetler 20 run (Hochstetler conversion run) 27-0
Third Quarter
B - Leeper 71 run (Sumpter kick) 34-0
B - Yoder 30 punt return (kick failed) 40-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Triton, Ben Bell 12-32, Bryan Watkins 8-31, Bryon Overmeyer 6-26
Receiving - Triton, Kyle Bell 3-20
Passing -ÊBryan Watkins 5-16-33 yards, 1 INT
Valley Falls To Southwood
Times-Union Staff Report
WABASH - After giving up 19 points in the third quarter and being held to just 135 yards of total offense for the game, Tippecanoe Valley fell 33-9 at Three Rivers Conference rival Southwood Friday.
The Vikings, now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the TRC, were held to 82 yards on the ground and 53 through the air. The host Knights, meanwhile, improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the TRC after gaining 135 on the ground and 116 in the air.
Valley was whistled for six penalites and was force to punt six times in the 24-point loss.
The Vikings host TRC foe Northfield next Friday.
SOUTHWOOD 33, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 9
T. Valley 0 9 0 0 - 9
Southwood 7 0 19 7 - 33
TV SW
First downs 9 8
Rushing yards 82 135
Passing yards 53 116
Comp.-Att.-Int. 7-19-1 7-11-1
Total offense 135 251
Fumbles/lost 1/1 1/1
Punts/avg. 5-36 4-44
Penalties/yards 8-64 5-45
First Quarter
SW - Jarrod McKee 34 catch from Zac Beals (Nick Ehret kick) 7-0
Second Quarter
TV - Matt Eby 30 field goal 7-3
TV - Jon Rice 1 run (kick blocked) 9-7
Third Quarter
SW - Bryan Paul 2 run (kick failed) 13-9
SW - Ehret punt return (kick blocked) 19-9
SW - Colby Halderman 15 run (Ehret kick) 26-9
Fourth Quarter
SW - Paul 1 run (Ehret kick) 33-9 [[In-content Ad]]
A player who has spent time in Phil Jensen's doghouse, even more so than his dog at home the Warsaw football coach joked, Ryan Hamilton worked his way out Friday night.
Behind burly blockers Jacob Engler and William Knepper, 510 pounds of table muscle between them, Hamilton and the Tigers ate up yardage on the ground and time off the clock before a 55-yard touchdown pass from Ryan DeGeeter to Mike Thallemer in the fourth quarter propelled them to a 16-13 homecoming win over Northern Lakes Conference foe Elkhart Memorial.
A game that never lacked excitement, Crimson Charger Eric Nielsen's 53-yard field goal attempt with 43 seconds left fell inches short, as Memorial fell to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in conference action. The NLC win was the 16th straight for Warsaw, as the Tigers improved to 3-1 and 2-0 in search of their fourth straight conference crown.
"What a gutty, gutty performance by the kids tonight," Jensen said. "This was the first time in three or four years we've had five or six kids play both ways. It was a combination of bad plays on our part and good plays on Memorial's part, but what a gutty perfomance. This is something that could catapult us into some great things."
Trying to establish their running attack, a phase of the game that has been far outshadowed by DeGeeter's golden right arm, the Tigers ran 7:07 off the clock to start the third quarter as Hamilton ran the ball nine straight times. Warsaw ran five more minutes off the clock with Hamilton and his fullhouse backfield in the fourth quarter, as the 185-pound senior tailback continued to pound the ball forward.
Finishing the game with a hard-fought 87 yards on 21 carries, Hamilton highlighted his performance with a 13-yard touchdown run that brought the Tigers within 13-10 late in the second quarter.
"We've got to be able to run the football," Jensen said. "We made the decision earlier in the week to take Engler and Knepper from the defense and put them in the backfield, and let Hamilton run behind them. We said this is the best we got, try and stop it."
With their duo of workhorse running backs, the Crimson Chargers offerered the same challenge, as junior tailback David Link finished the evening with 19 carries for 127 yards and senior fullback Ben Schenk 15 carries for 88 yards.
A three-yard run by Link, which was followed by a failed P.A.T., gave Memorial a 6-3 lead with 10:19 remaining in the first half. The Crimson Chargers took a 13-3 lead when Nielsen caught an 8-yard pass from senior signal caller Eric Sindle and then split the uprights with his kick attempt at the 5:14 mark of the second stanza.
Memorial threatened late in the game, but a sack by Tiger junior Tyler Reneker on a third-and-7 play from Warsaw's 28 pushed the Chargers back, forcing them into Nielsen's game-winning attempt.
"We knew it was gonna come down to the wire," said Jensen, who now sits behind only George Fisher in all-time wins at Warsaw. "It was inches from going into overtime. Elkhart Memorial is a fantastic addition to our conference. We kept ourselves in position to win the conference outright. To win the NLC outright, most likely you'll have to win them all. We've got Northridge next week, and then in two weeks a showdown with Goshen. We can't afford to overlook anyone."
With a 20-point win over NorthWood, Goshen improved to 2-0 conference action, as the Tigers and Redskins are the only unbeatens in NLC play.
To go with its 100-plus yards on the ground, Warsaw got 170 yards through the air, as DeGeeter completed 10 of 18 passes with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Thallemer caught two passes for 90 yards, highlighted by his 55-yard score, while Nate Miller reeled in six receptions for 69 yards.
Memorial, on the other hand, struggled through the air, going 2 of 14 for 29 yards with two interceptions. The Charger's bread and butter was on the ground, where they gained 192 yards on 38 attempts.
WARSAW 16, ELKHART MEMORIAL 13
Warsaw (3-1, 2-0) 3 7 0 6 - 16
Elk. Memorial (1-2, 1-2) 0 13 0 0 - 0
W EM
First downs 12 15
Rushing yards 102 192
Passing yards 170 29
Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-18-0 2-14-2
Total offense 272 221
Fumbles/lost 1/1 2/0
Punts/avg. 5-36 4-44
Penalties/yards 5-55 3-19
First Quarter
W - Jeremy Sharp 30 field goal 9:52, 3-0
Second Quarter
EM - David Link 3 run (kick failed) 10:19, 6-3
EM - Eric Nielsen 8 catch (Nielsen kick) 5:14, 13-3
W - Ryan Hamilton 13 run (Sharp kick) 2:02, 13-10
Fourth Quarter
W - Mike Thallemer 55 catch from Ryan DeGeeter (kick failed) 11:51, 16-13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw, Hamilton 21-87, DeGeeter 10-15, Balestri 2-4, Nate Miller 1-(-4); Memorial, Link 19-127, Ben Schenk 15-88, Eric Sindle 4-(-23)
Passing - Warsaw, DeGeeter 10-18-170; Memorial, Sindle 2-13-29, 1 INT, Nick Corpe 0-1-0, 1 INT
Receiving - Warsaw, Miller 6-69, Thallemer 2-90, Nick Balestri 1-7, Adam Griggs 1-4; Memorial, Link 1-21, Nielsen 1-8
Whitko Wildcats Make Quick Work Of Manchester Squires
By Dan Riordan, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
NORTH MANCHESTER-It was a beautiful night for football in North Manchester on Friday.
But the night turned ugly quickly for the Manchester Squires and their loyal fans.
The Squires were on the short end of early turnovers which forced them into a passing game early.
The result? A 47-8 Wildcat victory as Whitko moved to 2-0 in the TRC.
The Wildcats were the first to strike on their second possession of the game. On first down, signal caller Brad Walpole went 70 yards downfield, finding senior split end Brett Lukens for the game's first score.
However, it would not be the last.
Two series later Manchester was forced to punt from inside its own 20. An errant long snap sent the ball into the endzone where a pack of Wildcats pounced on the ball extending their lead to 12-0 after two missed PAT tries.
Early in the second quarter, Whitko recovered a Squire fumble and once again made the most of it.
The Wildcats played smash-mouth football running the ball four straight times from Manchester's 27 yard line. The drive was capped off when senior wingback Alan Robbins rolled in from 13 yards out.
On Whitko's very next possession the team drove 63 yards in a shade over three minutes for its fourth score of the evening. This time Walpole found tight end Alex Frantz from 20 yards out to push the score to 26-0 after a successful two-point conversion run by backup quarterback Kevin Feldman.
Whitko's early dominance threw the Squires right out of what they wanted to do offensively.
The Squires have always been a running team by tradition. That was thrown out the window early. Instead of using a run-oriented ball control offense, the Squires were forced to air it out 42 times among three different quarterbacks.
The Manchester offense never looked quite in sync. Junior quarterback Ryan Roth was a paltry 8-of-26 passing for 107 yards with one interception in the first half. The Squires had difficulty maintaining a drive for longer than six plays and were never able to break into Whitko's red zone during the first half.
The closest Manchester came to threatening in the first half was on its final drive. The drive started on the Squire 19-yard line. They managed to work their way down to the Whitko 21-yard line, but the drive stalled like all their others when Roth was sacked for a 13-yard loss to end the half.
Whitko wasted no time putting more points on the board in the second half. In fact the Wildcats scored on their first three possessions of the half.
Junior halfback Brandon Waterson capped off a 28 yard drive with a 6-yard run. The drive was set up by a long kick return by Robbins.
On their next possession, Whitko drove 64 yards, this time with Walpole taking it in himself from 11 yards out for paydirt.
The Wildcats' final scoring drive of the evening saw them start on their own 39 and take only eight plays before backup Dustin Boardman ran in from 39-yards out.
Manchester was able to avoid the shutout when third string quarterback Joe Enger found Nick Poe from 36 yards out. He connected with him once again to make the score 47-8.
Manchester coach Al Bailey knew that Friday night would be tough.
"Whitko has an outstanding team," said Bailey. "They're senior-laden. They're highly motivated and Coach (Bryan) Sprunger does a great job of getting his team ready. There were also some injuries tonight on our end. With (Dustin) Westafer, linebacker Nate Stoops and running back Josh Staton got banged up pretty early and it was quite visible for the whole game."
Bailey hopes to get his team back on track when they travel to North Miami next Friday. Whitko hopes to continue its winning ways when they host Oak Hill on Friday. Manchester hits the road to face North Miami in Denver Friday night.
WHITKO 47, MANCHESTER 8
Whitko 12 14 13 8 - 47
Manchester 0 0 0 8 - 8
W M
First downs 13 9
Rushing yards 54-272 20-33
Passing yards 93 194
Comp.-Att.-Int. 2-6-1 14-43-2
Total offense 365 227
Fumbles/lost 0-0 5-3
Punts/avg. 2-31 5-33.6
Penalties/yards 4-40 4-35
First Quarter
W- Walpole to Lukens 70 pass (kick failed) 6:39 6-0
W-Wilikinson fumble recovery (run failed) 5:18 12-0
Second Quarter
W-Robins 14 run (run failed) 7:46 18-0
W-Walpole to Frantz 23 pass (Feldman run) 2:56 26-0
Third Quarter
W-Waterson 5 run (kick failed) 9:48 32-0
W- Walpole 8 run (Adang kick) 3:54 39-0
Fourth Quarter
W- Boardman 39 run 10:37 47-0
M- Enger to Poe 36 Pass (Enger to Poe pass) 4:17 47-8
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Whitko:Brandon Waterson 12-74, Alan Robins 12-56, Boardman 3-49, Travis Pherigo 5-36, Dane Bause 3-12 Manchester: Staton 6-11, Greer 3-9, Westendorf 2-4,Sommer 1-4, Roth 2-5.
Passing -Whitko: Walpole 2-5-1 93, Feldman 0-1-0. Manchester:Roth 8-26-1 107, Jared Mobley 5-14-1 48, Enger 1-3-0 39.
Receiving -Whitko: Brett Lukens 1-70, Alex Frantz 1-23. Manchester: Dustin Burke 3-60, Straka 2-43, Nick Poe 1-39, Jennen Gaerte 3-35
Concord Hands Wawasee First Loss
By Mike Madison, Times-Union Sports Correspondent
DUNLAP -ÊAfter watching six interceptions in two games, Concord's coaching staff decided it was time for a quarterback change Friday night when the Minutemen hosted the 3-0 Wawasee Warriors.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, that change might well have meant the difference as Gavin Wilkinson met the challenge for Concord on homecoming night, directing the the 1-2 Minutemen to a 29-23 win over the Warriors.
Wilkinson was 16-of-20 passing for 128 yards in his first varsity start. He threw for two touchdowns, ran for one and had no interceptions.
The Minutemen jumped out early after intercepting an errant Wawasee pass.
On the sixth play of the resulting drive, Wilkinson scampered nine yards into the endzone to give Concord the early lead.
Wawasee began the second quarter with the ball after forcing a Concord punt. The Warriors then drove 91 yards in eight plays to score. Kory Lantz connected with senior receiver Drew Evans on a 36-yard touchdown pass. Lantz then took the ball in himself for the two-point conversion, and Wawasee had its only lead of the game, 8-7.
Concord then took the ensuing kickoff and drove the length of the field where Wilkinson completed his first touchdown pass. He followed a 30-yard completion by carrying the ball in for the two-point conversion, restoring Concord's lead, 15-8.
The Warriors, who had success running the ball all evening, then drove the ball down inside the Concord 10-yard line before another turnover gave the ball back to Concord.
The Minutemen responded to the good fortune by driving the ball the length of the field again for another touchdown, giving them a 22-8 lead going into halftime.
After trading punts early in the third quarter, the Warriors jumped right back into the game when they drove 80 yards in 10 plays to pull to within a touchdown at 22-15.
Lantz carried the ball for the score from seven yards out with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter.
The Warriors got the ball back and were driving to score when faced with a fourth-and-10 from about the 11 with 2:37 to go in the third.
With the Warriors' long snapper, Trevor Brown, shaking off the effects of a mild concussion, Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld decided to go for it rather than rely on the strong leg of place kicker Ben Champaux and a field goal.
"With Trevor out of the game I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on a back-up," said Rietveld.
Lantz's pass to Evans on fourth down was incomplete and Concord took over the ball on downs.
The momentum that Wawasee had shown in the second half seemed to leave when Concord scored again two possessions later to take a 29-15 lead.
The Warriors scored once more with 3:35 to go in the game when Mike Hall stripped the ball from a Concord runner. Warrior Alex Smith picked up the fumble and returned it six yards to the 48-yard line. The Warriors then drove down to score off a 5-yard run by Lantz. Again, Lantz ran the ball in for a two-point conversion giving Wawasee a glimmer of hope as they trailed 29-23.
But it wasn't to be for the Warriors as Concord held on to an onside kick and ran the clock out for the win.
"This was a game we could have won," said Rietveld. "We have some things to work on. We are headed in the right direction, but tonight was a stumbling block."
The Warrior record now stands at 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Things won't get any easier for the Warriors as they host No. 5 (3A) Northwood (3-1, 1-1 NLC) Friday night.
Bremen Hands Triton 40-0 Loss
Times-Union Staff Report
BREMEN - The defense giving up 307 yards on the ground, Triton fell 40-0 at Northern State Conference rival Bremen Friday.
The host Lions added another 66 through the air for a total of 373 yards. Triton, on the other hand, rushed for 113 yards and was held to 38 through the air.
Bremen improves to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the NSC, while Triton falls to 1-3 and 0-2.
Brad Leeper found the endzone twice for Bremen, scoring on runs of 10 and 71 yards. Ben Bell led Triton's ground game with 32 yards on 12 carries.
The Trojans will be in action again Friday at NSC rival Glenn.
BREMEN 40
TRITON 0
Triton 0 0 0 0 - 0
Bremen 6 21 13 0 - 40
T B
First downs 8 11
Rushing yards 113 307
Passing yards 38 66
Comp.-Att.-Int. 5-16-1 5-14-0
Total offense 151 373
Fumbles/lost 0/0 2/1
Punts/avg. 7-34 2-42
Penalties/yards 3-20 5-40
First Quarter
B - Brad Leeper 10 run (kick failed) 6-0
Second Quarter
B - Sam Yoder fumble return (kick failed) 12-0
B - Jesse Alvarado 1 run (kick failed) 19-0
B - Shawn Hochstetler 20 run (Hochstetler conversion run) 27-0
Third Quarter
B - Leeper 71 run (Sumpter kick) 34-0
B - Yoder 30 punt return (kick failed) 40-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Triton, Ben Bell 12-32, Bryan Watkins 8-31, Bryon Overmeyer 6-26
Receiving - Triton, Kyle Bell 3-20
Passing -ÊBryan Watkins 5-16-33 yards, 1 INT
Valley Falls To Southwood
Times-Union Staff Report
WABASH - After giving up 19 points in the third quarter and being held to just 135 yards of total offense for the game, Tippecanoe Valley fell 33-9 at Three Rivers Conference rival Southwood Friday.
The Vikings, now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the TRC, were held to 82 yards on the ground and 53 through the air. The host Knights, meanwhile, improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the TRC after gaining 135 on the ground and 116 in the air.
Valley was whistled for six penalites and was force to punt six times in the 24-point loss.
The Vikings host TRC foe Northfield next Friday.
SOUTHWOOD 33, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 9
T. Valley 0 9 0 0 - 9
Southwood 7 0 19 7 - 33
TV SW
First downs 9 8
Rushing yards 82 135
Passing yards 53 116
Comp.-Att.-Int. 7-19-1 7-11-1
Total offense 135 251
Fumbles/lost 1/1 1/1
Punts/avg. 5-36 4-44
Penalties/yards 8-64 5-45
First Quarter
SW - Jarrod McKee 34 catch from Zac Beals (Nick Ehret kick) 7-0
Second Quarter
TV - Matt Eby 30 field goal 7-3
TV - Jon Rice 1 run (kick blocked) 9-7
Third Quarter
SW - Bryan Paul 2 run (kick failed) 13-9
SW - Ehret punt return (kick blocked) 19-9
SW - Colby Halderman 15 run (Ehret kick) 26-9
Fourth Quarter
SW - Paul 1 run (Ehret kick) 33-9 [[In-content Ad]]