Warriors Continue March To Indy
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
LOWELL - On a night when a hobbled Jordan Swain was underused, it was the arm of Kory Lantz that gave Wawasee a 28-21 win over Lowell Friday and a date with Logansport in the northern 4A semistate.
After a seesaw affair that saw the Warriors never trail, Lowell tied things up at 21-21 with 7:21 left in the third quarter. When quarterback Scott Schulz found fullback Jeff Clemens from 16 yards out on a bootleg, Clemens took the lion's share of offensive output for the Red Devils.
The Warriors and head coach Joe Rietveld made 2000-yard rusher Toby Goetz public enemy No. 1.
"We knew where he was at all times," said Rietveld of Goetz. "We had an extra guy where we thought he was going to be because he's a heck of a player."
Undaunted by Lowell's tying score, the Warriors came back on the ensuing possession and showed why they were favorites to represent the north in Indianapolis over the weekend.
Wawasee took over on its own 35-yard line and ate up some clock in a 10-play drive that culminated when Lantz found speedy receiver Andrew Mock from 29 yards out with 3:36 left in the third stanza, giving the Warriors the lead for good at 28-21.
The Red Devils threatened twice in the final quarter, but got only as close as Wawasee's 48-yard line on their final possession of the evening.
The drive began inauspiciously as Wawasee was flagged for a personal foul penalty to give Lowell an extra 15 yards. Linebacker and backup running back Rob McKibben rudely hampered Lowell's drive with a sack that drove Schulz back five yards.
On fourth down, Schulz' screen pass attempt to Goetz was broken up with 2:30 left in the game. Wawasee took over and once again it was Lantz who led the charge. Lantz broke a 25-yard quarterback keeper to give the Warriors a first down and its first regional championship since 1985.
With the injury to Swain, Lantz knew he and the rest of the offense had to pick up the slack. Swain was still suffering from a back injury suffered in last week's Plymouth game. Rietveld said after the game that had it been a regular season game, Swain wouldn't have played. Swain gave a gutsy performance despite the injury but finished with a season low 50 yards rushing on 13 carries.
"We knew that Swain was hurt; I knew I had to take a load of the ball carriers and knew we had to pick up for him. We knew he was really hurting - he wouldn't tell me, but he was, so as long as I could run the ball and hold on, it'd be all good," said Lantz.
And it is all good for Wawasee, which made a statement early in the game with a gutsy call by Rietveld in the first quarter.
Rietveld, aware of Lowell's run-heavy offense that eats clock, felt his team had to get on the scoreboard early. In Wawasee's first possession of the game, the Warriors faced and converted two fourth-and-short chances. Both came courtesy of Lantz' feet. The second run of three yards set up Lantz' first touchdown of the evening on a 6-yard run with 5:16 left in the opening quarter.
"That was big for us. We always try and start off fast. It was really a big gamble, I just had confidence in our offensive line and we got the first down and moved the change," said Rietveld of his early decision.
Lantz agreed that confidence is one thing this team doesn't lack.
"We knew our passing game is just as good as our running game, so fourth down, third down, we feel confident," he said.
Lantz, who one reporter pointed out after the game has an unorthodox throwing style similar to Brett Favre, was as efficient passing as he'd been all year. He ended the night 10 of 14 for 166 yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
The shifty quarterback's best throw of the night came when he found receiver Ben Champoux for 55 yards and a touchdown on a skinny post up the middle. Swain ran in the 2-point conversion after Champoux had missed an extra-point attempt earlier in the quarter.
Friday night, the Warriors, now 12-1 overall, will host a Logansport team that beat second-ranked and undefeated Muncie Central 20-11. [[In-content Ad]]
LOWELL - On a night when a hobbled Jordan Swain was underused, it was the arm of Kory Lantz that gave Wawasee a 28-21 win over Lowell Friday and a date with Logansport in the northern 4A semistate.
After a seesaw affair that saw the Warriors never trail, Lowell tied things up at 21-21 with 7:21 left in the third quarter. When quarterback Scott Schulz found fullback Jeff Clemens from 16 yards out on a bootleg, Clemens took the lion's share of offensive output for the Red Devils.
The Warriors and head coach Joe Rietveld made 2000-yard rusher Toby Goetz public enemy No. 1.
"We knew where he was at all times," said Rietveld of Goetz. "We had an extra guy where we thought he was going to be because he's a heck of a player."
Undaunted by Lowell's tying score, the Warriors came back on the ensuing possession and showed why they were favorites to represent the north in Indianapolis over the weekend.
Wawasee took over on its own 35-yard line and ate up some clock in a 10-play drive that culminated when Lantz found speedy receiver Andrew Mock from 29 yards out with 3:36 left in the third stanza, giving the Warriors the lead for good at 28-21.
The Red Devils threatened twice in the final quarter, but got only as close as Wawasee's 48-yard line on their final possession of the evening.
The drive began inauspiciously as Wawasee was flagged for a personal foul penalty to give Lowell an extra 15 yards. Linebacker and backup running back Rob McKibben rudely hampered Lowell's drive with a sack that drove Schulz back five yards.
On fourth down, Schulz' screen pass attempt to Goetz was broken up with 2:30 left in the game. Wawasee took over and once again it was Lantz who led the charge. Lantz broke a 25-yard quarterback keeper to give the Warriors a first down and its first regional championship since 1985.
With the injury to Swain, Lantz knew he and the rest of the offense had to pick up the slack. Swain was still suffering from a back injury suffered in last week's Plymouth game. Rietveld said after the game that had it been a regular season game, Swain wouldn't have played. Swain gave a gutsy performance despite the injury but finished with a season low 50 yards rushing on 13 carries.
"We knew that Swain was hurt; I knew I had to take a load of the ball carriers and knew we had to pick up for him. We knew he was really hurting - he wouldn't tell me, but he was, so as long as I could run the ball and hold on, it'd be all good," said Lantz.
And it is all good for Wawasee, which made a statement early in the game with a gutsy call by Rietveld in the first quarter.
Rietveld, aware of Lowell's run-heavy offense that eats clock, felt his team had to get on the scoreboard early. In Wawasee's first possession of the game, the Warriors faced and converted two fourth-and-short chances. Both came courtesy of Lantz' feet. The second run of three yards set up Lantz' first touchdown of the evening on a 6-yard run with 5:16 left in the opening quarter.
"That was big for us. We always try and start off fast. It was really a big gamble, I just had confidence in our offensive line and we got the first down and moved the change," said Rietveld of his early decision.
Lantz agreed that confidence is one thing this team doesn't lack.
"We knew our passing game is just as good as our running game, so fourth down, third down, we feel confident," he said.
Lantz, who one reporter pointed out after the game has an unorthodox throwing style similar to Brett Favre, was as efficient passing as he'd been all year. He ended the night 10 of 14 for 166 yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
The shifty quarterback's best throw of the night came when he found receiver Ben Champoux for 55 yards and a touchdown on a skinny post up the middle. Swain ran in the 2-point conversion after Champoux had missed an extra-point attempt earlier in the quarter.
Friday night, the Warriors, now 12-1 overall, will host a Logansport team that beat second-ranked and undefeated Muncie Central 20-11. [[In-content Ad]]