Tigers Fall Behind Early, Fall To Raiders
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Going into the fourth quarter, the Warsaw offense looked completely overmatched, generating just three first downs on 142 total yards. In the fourth, the Tigers racked up eight first downs and 96 yards, scoring two touchdowns in the process.
"(Warsaw) coach (Phil) Jensen teams aren't going to quit," Northridge coach Jonathan Kirkton said.
After getting just 63 yards of offense in the first half, Jensen challenged his team to stick with it in the second half, down 20-0.
"They caused us some problems with their slanting and angling and blitzing linebackers," Jensen said about the Raiders. "We didn't handle that very well in the first half. At halftime, we challenged the kids that hey, they can still make strides. I'm awful proud of them because they didn't quit."
Warsaw got a shot in the arm from sophomore running back Zach Rooney, who ran for a 57-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the second half, giving the Tigers life and cutting Northridge's advantage 20-7.
"That's what we need from him," Jensen said. "We need him going hard, because he has the ability to make plays. He needs to understand that it needs to be all the time, not just some of the time."
Perhaps Rooney could take a lesson from Northridge senior Tyler Priem, who accounted for all of his team's 43 yards on a scoring drive seven minutes later, taking the first play 40 yards down the sideline before capping the two-play drive off with a three-yard touchdown plunge, his third of the day.
"Priem's a player and he's going to make plays," Kirkton said. "We're going to give him the ball as much as we can, and he's going to make plays on defense, too. He was really our only consistent runner all night. He just does so much for us. It's hard to give him the ball every time, but it's hard not to give him the ball every time."
Priem ended the day with 130 rushing yards and two scores on 16 carries and also caught two passes for 17 yards and a score.
Priem also set up his first score by returning the opening kickoff 66 yards to the Warsaw 23-yard line, getting the game off on a sour note for the Tigers.
"Giving up the big, long kickoff return and they score - it's not the way you draw it up when you defer (the kick)," Jensen said.
Outside of Priem's 40-yard run in the third quarter, Warsaw held him and the rest of the Northridge offense down in the second half, allowing just 88 yards in the final 24 minutes.
"Offensively, we couldn't move the ball," Kirkton said.
While Northridge wasn't moving the ball, Warsaw began to take the momentum.
Opening the fourth quarter with the ball, the Tigers used 14 plays to travel 69 yards to the end zone, which ended on a seven-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jeremy Coppes to 6-foot-5 junior Jordan Wray on a fade route, cutting the lead to 27-14.
The Warsaw defense then stepped up on Northridge's ensuing possession, forcing a punt, which sophomore Taylor Cone blocked and senior Jalen Roscoe recovered at the Northridge 23-yard line.
With things looking great with 4:48 to play, the momentum shifted after Northridge junior Austin Bencsics picked off a fade pass to the end zone on Warsaw's first play.
"We just didn't make a football play," Jensen said about the interception. "We're trying to make a hard catch, but at some point, you have to become a defender."
Even after the interception, Warsaw still fought back, scoring on a five-yard touchdown pass from Coppes to senior Keelan Simpson with just 41.7 seconds remaining.
With one last chance, the Warsaw on-side kick went out of bounds, awarding the ball to Northridge, which took two kneels and won its first NLC game of the year.
The loss leaves Warsaw not only in search of its first NLC win, but also its first of the year.
The 0-5 start is the sixth time its happened in school history, the other times being in 1975, 1956, 1933, 1920 and 1919.
Despite the tough start, Jensen isn't getting down on his guys.
"I think their heads are good," he said. "They didn't quit. They came out and fought hard. We just have to become more consistent.
"We have lots of moments," he added. "We have good moments, then we have bad moments. Our problem is, we're not good enough to overcome the bad moments."
The Tigers will look to have more good than bad moments in their next contest, as they host Goshen Friday for homecoming.
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Going into the fourth quarter, the Warsaw offense looked completely overmatched, generating just three first downs on 142 total yards. In the fourth, the Tigers racked up eight first downs and 96 yards, scoring two touchdowns in the process.
"(Warsaw) coach (Phil) Jensen teams aren't going to quit," Northridge coach Jonathan Kirkton said.
After getting just 63 yards of offense in the first half, Jensen challenged his team to stick with it in the second half, down 20-0.
"They caused us some problems with their slanting and angling and blitzing linebackers," Jensen said about the Raiders. "We didn't handle that very well in the first half. At halftime, we challenged the kids that hey, they can still make strides. I'm awful proud of them because they didn't quit."
Warsaw got a shot in the arm from sophomore running back Zach Rooney, who ran for a 57-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the second half, giving the Tigers life and cutting Northridge's advantage 20-7.
"That's what we need from him," Jensen said. "We need him going hard, because he has the ability to make plays. He needs to understand that it needs to be all the time, not just some of the time."
Perhaps Rooney could take a lesson from Northridge senior Tyler Priem, who accounted for all of his team's 43 yards on a scoring drive seven minutes later, taking the first play 40 yards down the sideline before capping the two-play drive off with a three-yard touchdown plunge, his third of the day.
"Priem's a player and he's going to make plays," Kirkton said. "We're going to give him the ball as much as we can, and he's going to make plays on defense, too. He was really our only consistent runner all night. He just does so much for us. It's hard to give him the ball every time, but it's hard not to give him the ball every time."
Priem ended the day with 130 rushing yards and two scores on 16 carries and also caught two passes for 17 yards and a score.
Priem also set up his first score by returning the opening kickoff 66 yards to the Warsaw 23-yard line, getting the game off on a sour note for the Tigers.
"Giving up the big, long kickoff return and they score - it's not the way you draw it up when you defer (the kick)," Jensen said.
Outside of Priem's 40-yard run in the third quarter, Warsaw held him and the rest of the Northridge offense down in the second half, allowing just 88 yards in the final 24 minutes.
"Offensively, we couldn't move the ball," Kirkton said.
While Northridge wasn't moving the ball, Warsaw began to take the momentum.
Opening the fourth quarter with the ball, the Tigers used 14 plays to travel 69 yards to the end zone, which ended on a seven-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jeremy Coppes to 6-foot-5 junior Jordan Wray on a fade route, cutting the lead to 27-14.
The Warsaw defense then stepped up on Northridge's ensuing possession, forcing a punt, which sophomore Taylor Cone blocked and senior Jalen Roscoe recovered at the Northridge 23-yard line.
With things looking great with 4:48 to play, the momentum shifted after Northridge junior Austin Bencsics picked off a fade pass to the end zone on Warsaw's first play.
"We just didn't make a football play," Jensen said about the interception. "We're trying to make a hard catch, but at some point, you have to become a defender."
Even after the interception, Warsaw still fought back, scoring on a five-yard touchdown pass from Coppes to senior Keelan Simpson with just 41.7 seconds remaining.
With one last chance, the Warsaw on-side kick went out of bounds, awarding the ball to Northridge, which took two kneels and won its first NLC game of the year.
The loss leaves Warsaw not only in search of its first NLC win, but also its first of the year.
The 0-5 start is the sixth time its happened in school history, the other times being in 1975, 1956, 1933, 1920 and 1919.
Despite the tough start, Jensen isn't getting down on his guys.
"I think their heads are good," he said. "They didn't quit. They came out and fought hard. We just have to become more consistent.
"We have lots of moments," he added. "We have good moments, then we have bad moments. Our problem is, we're not good enough to overcome the bad moments."
The Tigers will look to have more good than bad moments in their next contest, as they host Goshen Friday for homecoming.
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