When drawn on a chalkboard, seventh-year Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen says his plays always work.

Friday night against visiting Northern Lakes Conference foe Concord they worked on the field, as the Tigers found their running game and downed the Minutemen 28-23 in the regular season finale.

A team that has survived much of the year via senior Ryan DeGeeter's passing arm, the host Tigers, whom Jensen described earlier in the week as an offense searching for identity, rushed the ball 48 times for 211 yards. Warsaw entered Friday night averaging just over 130 rushing yards per contest.

"Fortunately it worked," Jensen said of his team's running game. "I could stand and draw plays on the chalkboard all day, they always work there. But it's up to the kids to go out and make it happen."

Friday night Jensen's Tigers made it happen, improving to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the rugged NLC along the way. Concord, also struggling to find some offensive consistency, fell to 4-5 and 2-5.

Warsaw, NLC champs the past three years, finished in a tie for second in the conference with NorthWood. Class 5A No. 9 Goshen downed Wawasee 29-13 Friday, ending up 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the NLC.

Trailing 3-0, and momentum's gate clearly swung in Concord's favor, the Tigers came to life when junior Adam Griggs blocked a punt with 5:00 remaining in the first half, giving Warsaw the ball deep in Minutemen territory.

After a Thomas Balestri run, the Tigers responded to a holding penalty with a 27-yard touchdown pass from DeGeeter to Griggs.

The hero of the second quarter for Warsaw, Griggs intercepted an errant Tom Stafford pass on the third play of Concord's next drive, setting up a Ben Kreinbrink 12-yard run to make it 14-3.

The Tigers took a 21-3 advantage with 7:09 left in the third quarter when Balestri, a sophomore making his first varsity start at tailback, took a handoff from DeGeeter, made a couple shifty moves and then scampered 28 yards to paydirt.

Balestri, who normally sees time at the flanker position, finished the game with 65 yards on 16 carries. DeGeeter, the team's leading rusher, ended the evening with 17 carries for 69 yards. Junior Nate Miller, who had but one rushing attempt for one yard prior to last night, finished with five carries for 44 yards.

After John Eaton rushed in from two yards out to cut Warsaw's lead to 21-10, the Fisher Field faithful was hushed when Tiger senior Michael Thallemer was injured while tackling Eaton in front of Warsaw's bench.

After stopping Eaton's 30-plus yard run, Thallemer, a defensive specialist that has turned into a key receiver for the Tigers, Jensen said Thallemer had a stinging sensation in his neck.

Thallemer, who did move his fingers and feet while being tended to, was loaded on a stretcher and left Fisher Field in an ambulance.

"He had feeling in his arms and legs but had a stinging, burning sensation in his neck," Jensen said of Thallemer. "I told the kids to fight like Mike always fights for us, and they did that. The offense went out and got a big touchdown, everyone jelled together."

Clinging to a 21-16 lead after Stafford found junior Beau Butler wide open for a 43-yard touchdown pass, the Tigers responded with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended in an 11-yard touchdown pass from DeGeeter to 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive tackle/tight end William Knepper.

Knepper led the Tigers in receiving with two catches for 31 yards, while Miller had two for 21, Thallemer one for 37, Griggs one for 27 and Balestri one for 16. DeGeeter finished the game 7 of 15 for 132 yard with two touchdowns and one interception.

Eaton scored from five yards out with 2:34 remaining to cut Warsaw's advantage to 28-23, but opting to kick the ball deep instead of an on-side opportunity, the Tigers used its running game and ran out the clock, sending them into next week's sectional game at Fort Wayne Northrop with a running attack and some momentum.

While Warsaw racked up 200-plus yards on the ground, Concord was held to 94 rushing yards on 25 attempts. Eaton led the Concord ground game with 19 carries for 70 yards.

Stafford finished the night with 197 passing yards, completing 10 of 20 passes with one touchdown and one interception. Butler led Concord in receiving with four catches for 112 yards, while Tim Dawson had two catches for 40 yards and Nolan Tallman two catches for 32 yards.

Warsaw opens Class 5A sectional action next week at Fort Wayne Northrop (5-4), a 20-12 winner over Harding. Concord opens class 4A sectional action by hosting Wawasee (4-5).

WARSAW 28,

CONCORD 23

Concord 3 0 7 13 - 23

Warsaw 0 14 7 7 - 28

C W

First downs 8 17

Rushing yards 94 211

Passing yards 132 197

Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-20-1 7-15-1

Total offense 291 343

Fumbles/lost 0/0 0/0

Punts/avg. 3-26 4-35

Penalties/yards 3-25 4-35

Scoring

First Quarter

C - Joel Miller 30 field goal 3-0, 2:29

Second Quarter

W - Ryan DeGeeter 27 pass to Adam Griggs (Jeremy Sharp kick) 7-3, 3:56

W - Ben Kreinbrink 12 run (Sharp kick) 14-3, 1:19

Third Quarter

W - Thomas Balestri 28 run (Sharp kick) 21-3, 7:09

C - John Eaton 2 run (Joel Miller kick) 21-10, 4:54

Fourth Quarter

C - Tom Stafford 43 pass to Beau Butler (conversion failed) 21-16, 11:51

W - DeGeeter 11 pass to William Knepper (Sharp kick) 28-16, 5:49

C - Eaton 5 run (Miller kick) 28-23, 2:34

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Warsaw, DeGeeter 17-69, Balestri 16-65, Kreinbrink 6-23, Miller 5-44, Ryan Hamilton 4-10; Concord, Eaton 19-70, Stafford 4-12, C.J. Shafer 2-12

Passing - Warsaw, DeGeeter 7-15-132, 2 TDs, 1 INT; Concord, Stafford 10-20-197, 1 TD, 1 INT

Receiving - Warsaw, Knepper 2-31, Miller 2-21, Michael Thallemer 1-37, Griggs 1-27, Balestri 1-16; Concord, Butler 4-112, Tim Dawson 2-40, Nolan Tallman 2-32, Shafer 1-9, Drew Raholin 1-4 [[In-content Ad]]