Tigers Open Season By Beating Eagles
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
In Friday’s 33-14 victory over the visiting Columbia City Eagles, Warsaw’s varsity football team scored in all three phases of the game and rode workhorse running back Tristan McClone to overcome some season-opening mistakes at Fisher Field.
The effort, said Warsaw head coach Phil Jensen, was there. And the mistakes can be corrected.
“There’s nothing wrong with their effort,” Jensen said of his players. “We did some things that showed we’re accepting some coaching. When you’re trying to win championships and do what we’re trying to do, you’re gonna have an ugly win. Hopefully we got our ugly win out of the way.”
A year after rushing for 295 yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles, McClone carried the ball 38 times Friday for 217 yards and three scores.
McClone, who set a single-season school record with 1,718 yards on the ground last year, scored on runs of 8, 9 and 10 yards
“We showed glimpses of really good things,” said Jensen. “Tristan did what he does, and (Tanner) Balazs showed us he can do some things, but we’ve got to sustain drives. We wanted to go for the knockout punch, and we didn’t do that.”
Following McClone’s third touchdown of the game, the Tigers led 27-7 with 8:33 remaining in the third quarter.
Fourteen seconds later, however, Columbia City scored on a 57-yard pass from Travis Herbst to Justin Bachelder.
It was the second time the Eagles’ duo hooked up, as Herbst tossed a 61 yard scoring strike to Bachelder in the first quarter that tied the game 7-7.
“Defensivley, we gave up the big play,” said Jensen.
The Tigers, however, also responded with a few big plays of their own.
Ethyn Bradley gave Warsaw a 19-7 lead in the second quarter when he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown.
Caleb Heckaman picked off an errant Herbst pass attempt and returned it 24 yards to paydirt, giving the Tigers a 33-14 advantage.
“We had some good moments and we had some awful moments,” said McClone. “We need to be more consistent. We can’t play like this next week at East Noble.”
The Tigers racked up 259 yards on the ground as a team.
Jason Taylor added 46 yards on nine carries, while Balazs carried three times for 12 yards and caught five passes for 55 yards.
Balazs was the only Warsaw player to catch a pass from quarterback Austin Head, who finished the game 5 of 13.
“We need to take a big step up for next week,” said Jensen. “This was a learning experience for us.”
Herbst finished the game 5 of 21 through air for 150 yards. He threw two interceptions, one to Heckaman and the other to Brett Fancil.
Bachelder had two receptions for 118 yards for Columbia City.
Herbst led the Eagles’ ground game with 23 yards on six carries.
Warsaw hits the road Friday, playing at East Noble at 7 p.m. The Tigers and Knights have never met on the football field.
WARSAW 33, COL. CITY 14
CC 7 0 7 0 — 14
W 13 6 8 6 — 33
CC W
1st downs 7 19
Rushing yds 55 259
Passing yds 150 55
Comp-Att-Int 5-22-1 5-13-0
Total yds 205 314
Fumbles/lost 2/2 2/2
Penalties/yds 2/15 3/20
Punts/avg 4/38 3/32
First Quarter
W – Tristan McClone 9 run (Jason Taylor kick) 9:44, 7-0
CC – Travis Herbst 61 pass to Justin Bachelder (Jordan Gregory kick) 4:32, 7-7
W – McClone 10 run (kick failed) :56, 13-7
Second Quarter
W – Ethyn Bradley 82 punt return (conversion failed) 11:29, 19-7
Third Quarter
W – McClone 8 run (McClone conversion run) 8:33, 27-7
CC – Herbst 57 pass to Bachelder (Gregory kick) 8:19, 27-14
Fourth Quarter
W – Caleb Heckaman 28 INT (kick failed) 1:25, 33-14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Col. City, ; Warsaw, .
Passing — Col. City, ; Plymouth, Kyle Lacefield 2-7-11, 0 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving — Warsaw, Cone 2-70, Conner McCammack 1-8, Seth Fouts 1-7; Plymouth, Ruffing 1-6, Drudge 1-5.[[In-content Ad]]
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In Friday’s 33-14 victory over the visiting Columbia City Eagles, Warsaw’s varsity football team scored in all three phases of the game and rode workhorse running back Tristan McClone to overcome some season-opening mistakes at Fisher Field.
The effort, said Warsaw head coach Phil Jensen, was there. And the mistakes can be corrected.
“There’s nothing wrong with their effort,” Jensen said of his players. “We did some things that showed we’re accepting some coaching. When you’re trying to win championships and do what we’re trying to do, you’re gonna have an ugly win. Hopefully we got our ugly win out of the way.”
A year after rushing for 295 yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles, McClone carried the ball 38 times Friday for 217 yards and three scores.
McClone, who set a single-season school record with 1,718 yards on the ground last year, scored on runs of 8, 9 and 10 yards
“We showed glimpses of really good things,” said Jensen. “Tristan did what he does, and (Tanner) Balazs showed us he can do some things, but we’ve got to sustain drives. We wanted to go for the knockout punch, and we didn’t do that.”
Following McClone’s third touchdown of the game, the Tigers led 27-7 with 8:33 remaining in the third quarter.
Fourteen seconds later, however, Columbia City scored on a 57-yard pass from Travis Herbst to Justin Bachelder.
It was the second time the Eagles’ duo hooked up, as Herbst tossed a 61 yard scoring strike to Bachelder in the first quarter that tied the game 7-7.
“Defensivley, we gave up the big play,” said Jensen.
The Tigers, however, also responded with a few big plays of their own.
Ethyn Bradley gave Warsaw a 19-7 lead in the second quarter when he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown.
Caleb Heckaman picked off an errant Herbst pass attempt and returned it 24 yards to paydirt, giving the Tigers a 33-14 advantage.
“We had some good moments and we had some awful moments,” said McClone. “We need to be more consistent. We can’t play like this next week at East Noble.”
The Tigers racked up 259 yards on the ground as a team.
Jason Taylor added 46 yards on nine carries, while Balazs carried three times for 12 yards and caught five passes for 55 yards.
Balazs was the only Warsaw player to catch a pass from quarterback Austin Head, who finished the game 5 of 13.
“We need to take a big step up for next week,” said Jensen. “This was a learning experience for us.”
Herbst finished the game 5 of 21 through air for 150 yards. He threw two interceptions, one to Heckaman and the other to Brett Fancil.
Bachelder had two receptions for 118 yards for Columbia City.
Herbst led the Eagles’ ground game with 23 yards on six carries.
Warsaw hits the road Friday, playing at East Noble at 7 p.m. The Tigers and Knights have never met on the football field.
WARSAW 33, COL. CITY 14
CC 7 0 7 0 — 14
W 13 6 8 6 — 33
CC W
1st downs 7 19
Rushing yds 55 259
Passing yds 150 55
Comp-Att-Int 5-22-1 5-13-0
Total yds 205 314
Fumbles/lost 2/2 2/2
Penalties/yds 2/15 3/20
Punts/avg 4/38 3/32
First Quarter
W – Tristan McClone 9 run (Jason Taylor kick) 9:44, 7-0
CC – Travis Herbst 61 pass to Justin Bachelder (Jordan Gregory kick) 4:32, 7-7
W – McClone 10 run (kick failed) :56, 13-7
Second Quarter
W – Ethyn Bradley 82 punt return (conversion failed) 11:29, 19-7
Third Quarter
W – McClone 8 run (McClone conversion run) 8:33, 27-7
CC – Herbst 57 pass to Bachelder (Gregory kick) 8:19, 27-14
Fourth Quarter
W – Caleb Heckaman 28 INT (kick failed) 1:25, 33-14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Col. City, ; Warsaw, .
Passing — Col. City, ; Plymouth, Kyle Lacefield 2-7-11, 0 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving — Warsaw, Cone 2-70, Conner McCammack 1-8, Seth Fouts 1-7; Plymouth, Ruffing 1-6, Drudge 1-5.[[In-content Ad]]
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