Tigers Seek First Win Against Penn
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
This is the challenge that Warsaw's football team faces this evening:
Penn, an 8-1 team.
Penn, a team ranked No. 4 in Class 5A, whose lone loss came to No. 1 (5A) Ben Davis 14-7.
Penn, a team that has won Class 5A state championships three of the last four years (last year the Kingsmen lost at semistate).
Penn, a team that is 268-43 (.862) during head coach Chris Geesman's 27-year tenure.
Penn, a school Warsaw is 0-7 against, dating back to 1967.
Penn, which has played Warsaw three times in the sectional and won 47-0 (1985), 36-0 (1991) and 42-0 (1994).
Asked what Penn's biggest strength is as a football team, Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said, "That it's Penn."
But this is the challenge Penn faces:
8-1 Warsaw.
Warsaw, a team that claimed a share of the 1999 Northern Lakes Conference title, the first time the Tigers had at least a share of the title since 1992.
Warsaw, which at 8-1 has its best record since the 1982 season, when the Tigers were 9-1 under Kevin Westover.
Warsaw, a team that averaged more than 30 points per game and displayed arguably one of the best offenses in the state during the regular season.
Says Geesman of Warsaw's offense: "Warsaw is one of the very few high school teams I've seen that has a truly balanced offense. They can go to any player. They are an excellent passing team. They are an excellent running team."
Except the Tigers will not be able to go to one key player against Penn, 6-foot-4 senior wide receiver Ross Kesler.
The week of the NorthWood game, Jensen was asked about injuries. He winced. Football coaches don't like bringing the topic up when their team is healthy. Jensen's was at the time. Two different times he rapped his knuckles on wood. "We've been fortunate," he said then.
The fortunate Tigers were dealt an unfortunate injury during the Oct. 8 NorthWood game.
Kesler hurt his back during the NorthWood game and missed the Concord game last week. A CAT Scan conducted Saturday followed by a bone scan Monday revealed a small fracture. Kesler will be sidelined for three to four weeks. Should Warsaw advance to the regional, he possibly could return then.
Kesler is sixth in the state with 94.8 receiving yards per game. He has caught 43 passes for 759 yards. He will be replaced by 6-4 junior Josh Buck, who has caught eight passes for 273 yards.
Jensen put his best spin on drawing Penn in the first round minus his top receiver.
"I think it's to our advantage to play them in the first round," he said. "In the last four years, they won the state championship three times and got beat in the semistate one time. The farther they go, the more momentum they gain."
The Tigers still have 6-4, 180-pound senior quarterback Greg Seiss, 6-6, 225-pound senior tight end Zach Nelson and 6-0, 180-pound sophomore running back Brad Seiss.
Greg Seiss set a school record with 1,659 passing yards this season. He has completed 90 of 146 attempts (62 percent) and thrown 17 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Nelson has caught 12 passes for 200 yards, a 16.7 average. Brad Seiss has rushed 134 times for 694 yards, a 5.2 average. He also has caught 17 passes for 260 yards, a 15.3 average, and scored 14 touchdowns.
Geesman says the Tigers are balanced. Just how balanced? The Tigers have completed 93 of 155 passes for 1,718 yards and rushed 357 times for 1,680 yards.
Coaches hammer on establishing the run, but the Tigers aren't afraid of establishing the passing game to open up the running game.
"I've seen them start out passing on the film I've seen, but I think they could start out running if they wanted to," Geesman said. "I've talked to some who say they are a passing team; I've talked to others who say they are a running team."
Jensen, who has seen Penn twice on TV and traded for two other game tapes, doesn't bother trying to keep the Kesler injury secret. He knows Penn scouted Warsaw's 20-3 win last week over Concord.
"There's not much that gets by them," he said.
Publicly, Jensen claims Warsaw's offense will not change its game plan against Penn to compensate for the injury. Instead, what changes is what he expects out of the people filling in at wide receiver -ÊBuck, Chris Clay and Derrick Richardson. Clay and Richardson have combined to catch six passes this season.
"The next guy steps up," Jensen said. "We will do what we have been doing all year. You don't replace Ross.
"If there is a positive point of this, if you're playing defensive coordinator, the first place you would have tried to stop us was Greg to Ross. Now that option is not there. What do you do? It will force them to play a more balanced game plan."
Penn's game plan will revolve around a defense whose strength is up front on the line and at the linebacker positions. The Kingsmen line up in a 4-4 scheme anchored by senior defensive end Ken Morris and middle linebacker Dan Phillips.
"The Phillips kid is a Divison I football player," Jensen said, "and the Morris kid at defensive end is probably a Division I football player."
The Kingsmen, who play a defense based on players filling their gaps, will try to confuse Warsaw by presenting different looks and occasionally blitzing.
Offensively, Penn runs the ball approximately 70 percent of the time and uses play-action passes to keep defenses honest. The Kingsmen playmakers are 6-0, 170-pound senior running back Jim Lizzi and 5-11, 165-pound senior quarterback Jason Cencelewski. An offensive line with guards and tackles who weigh 250-260 pounds each and a center who weighs 220 blocks for them.
Lizzi has carried the ball 133 times for 1,090 yards, an average of 8.2 yards per carry. Cencelewski has completed 57 of 104 passes (50 percent) and has thrown 14 touchdown passes compared to three interceptions.
"Lizzi is the big playmaker," Jensen said. "He'll go inside or outside. He's not much for running over you, but he runs hard, and he's fast."
Is this Penn team on the level of other Penn teams? Publicly, Jensen says yes, no matter what others say.
"I haven't heard that (Penn is down in 1999) from anybody that I give any credit to knowing too much about football," he said. "It's easy to say that from the bleachers.
"I remember a few years ago at the state championship game. Bloomington South was beating Penn by 13 or 14 points. I told the whole coaching staff, 'Penn's gonna win this football game.' They came back and won the football game."
Whether Warsaw wins will come down to three things.
"We have to limit the number of big plays we give up on defense," Jensen said. "Try to limit the plays over 15 yards. If they go 10 or 12 plays and get points, great. Just don't give up a big play on special teams. What they're trying to do is wear you down until you break down, then get the big play.
"Two, don't help Penn with turnovers or big penalties. Three, keep their defense honest." [[In-content Ad]]
This is the challenge that Warsaw's football team faces this evening:
Penn, an 8-1 team.
Penn, a team ranked No. 4 in Class 5A, whose lone loss came to No. 1 (5A) Ben Davis 14-7.
Penn, a team that has won Class 5A state championships three of the last four years (last year the Kingsmen lost at semistate).
Penn, a team that is 268-43 (.862) during head coach Chris Geesman's 27-year tenure.
Penn, a school Warsaw is 0-7 against, dating back to 1967.
Penn, which has played Warsaw three times in the sectional and won 47-0 (1985), 36-0 (1991) and 42-0 (1994).
Asked what Penn's biggest strength is as a football team, Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said, "That it's Penn."
But this is the challenge Penn faces:
8-1 Warsaw.
Warsaw, a team that claimed a share of the 1999 Northern Lakes Conference title, the first time the Tigers had at least a share of the title since 1992.
Warsaw, which at 8-1 has its best record since the 1982 season, when the Tigers were 9-1 under Kevin Westover.
Warsaw, a team that averaged more than 30 points per game and displayed arguably one of the best offenses in the state during the regular season.
Says Geesman of Warsaw's offense: "Warsaw is one of the very few high school teams I've seen that has a truly balanced offense. They can go to any player. They are an excellent passing team. They are an excellent running team."
Except the Tigers will not be able to go to one key player against Penn, 6-foot-4 senior wide receiver Ross Kesler.
The week of the NorthWood game, Jensen was asked about injuries. He winced. Football coaches don't like bringing the topic up when their team is healthy. Jensen's was at the time. Two different times he rapped his knuckles on wood. "We've been fortunate," he said then.
The fortunate Tigers were dealt an unfortunate injury during the Oct. 8 NorthWood game.
Kesler hurt his back during the NorthWood game and missed the Concord game last week. A CAT Scan conducted Saturday followed by a bone scan Monday revealed a small fracture. Kesler will be sidelined for three to four weeks. Should Warsaw advance to the regional, he possibly could return then.
Kesler is sixth in the state with 94.8 receiving yards per game. He has caught 43 passes for 759 yards. He will be replaced by 6-4 junior Josh Buck, who has caught eight passes for 273 yards.
Jensen put his best spin on drawing Penn in the first round minus his top receiver.
"I think it's to our advantage to play them in the first round," he said. "In the last four years, they won the state championship three times and got beat in the semistate one time. The farther they go, the more momentum they gain."
The Tigers still have 6-4, 180-pound senior quarterback Greg Seiss, 6-6, 225-pound senior tight end Zach Nelson and 6-0, 180-pound sophomore running back Brad Seiss.
Greg Seiss set a school record with 1,659 passing yards this season. He has completed 90 of 146 attempts (62 percent) and thrown 17 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Nelson has caught 12 passes for 200 yards, a 16.7 average. Brad Seiss has rushed 134 times for 694 yards, a 5.2 average. He also has caught 17 passes for 260 yards, a 15.3 average, and scored 14 touchdowns.
Geesman says the Tigers are balanced. Just how balanced? The Tigers have completed 93 of 155 passes for 1,718 yards and rushed 357 times for 1,680 yards.
Coaches hammer on establishing the run, but the Tigers aren't afraid of establishing the passing game to open up the running game.
"I've seen them start out passing on the film I've seen, but I think they could start out running if they wanted to," Geesman said. "I've talked to some who say they are a passing team; I've talked to others who say they are a running team."
Jensen, who has seen Penn twice on TV and traded for two other game tapes, doesn't bother trying to keep the Kesler injury secret. He knows Penn scouted Warsaw's 20-3 win last week over Concord.
"There's not much that gets by them," he said.
Publicly, Jensen claims Warsaw's offense will not change its game plan against Penn to compensate for the injury. Instead, what changes is what he expects out of the people filling in at wide receiver -ÊBuck, Chris Clay and Derrick Richardson. Clay and Richardson have combined to catch six passes this season.
"The next guy steps up," Jensen said. "We will do what we have been doing all year. You don't replace Ross.
"If there is a positive point of this, if you're playing defensive coordinator, the first place you would have tried to stop us was Greg to Ross. Now that option is not there. What do you do? It will force them to play a more balanced game plan."
Penn's game plan will revolve around a defense whose strength is up front on the line and at the linebacker positions. The Kingsmen line up in a 4-4 scheme anchored by senior defensive end Ken Morris and middle linebacker Dan Phillips.
"The Phillips kid is a Divison I football player," Jensen said, "and the Morris kid at defensive end is probably a Division I football player."
The Kingsmen, who play a defense based on players filling their gaps, will try to confuse Warsaw by presenting different looks and occasionally blitzing.
Offensively, Penn runs the ball approximately 70 percent of the time and uses play-action passes to keep defenses honest. The Kingsmen playmakers are 6-0, 170-pound senior running back Jim Lizzi and 5-11, 165-pound senior quarterback Jason Cencelewski. An offensive line with guards and tackles who weigh 250-260 pounds each and a center who weighs 220 blocks for them.
Lizzi has carried the ball 133 times for 1,090 yards, an average of 8.2 yards per carry. Cencelewski has completed 57 of 104 passes (50 percent) and has thrown 14 touchdown passes compared to three interceptions.
"Lizzi is the big playmaker," Jensen said. "He'll go inside or outside. He's not much for running over you, but he runs hard, and he's fast."
Is this Penn team on the level of other Penn teams? Publicly, Jensen says yes, no matter what others say.
"I haven't heard that (Penn is down in 1999) from anybody that I give any credit to knowing too much about football," he said. "It's easy to say that from the bleachers.
"I remember a few years ago at the state championship game. Bloomington South was beating Penn by 13 or 14 points. I told the whole coaching staff, 'Penn's gonna win this football game.' They came back and won the football game."
Whether Warsaw wins will come down to three things.
"We have to limit the number of big plays we give up on defense," Jensen said. "Try to limit the plays over 15 yards. If they go 10 or 12 plays and get points, great. Just don't give up a big play on special teams. What they're trying to do is wear you down until you break down, then get the big play.
"Two, don't help Penn with turnovers or big penalties. Three, keep their defense honest." [[In-content Ad]]