Warsaw Rocks Plymouth
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Friday at Fisher Field, Warsaw's sophomore running back Andy Conrad accumulated 125 yards rushing, while older brother senior Daniel Conrad caught eight passes for 172 yards and a touchdown, both contributing to the 40-13 win.[[In-content Ad]]"The Conrad boys in general, I don't care what sport it is, the Conrads have it instilled in their bloodline that they want to play," Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "They've been playing since the day they were born. They love to play."
And against the Rockies, it wasn't only the Conrads that had fun. When Andy Conrad would receive a breather, senior Ben Davis III stepped right in, putting up 63 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
"It's NLC time, and I told everyone that we'd have a three-pronged attack back there (in the backfield)," Akers said of the backfield of Conrad, Davis and junior Cody Kindle. "Tonight, we were able to show we could do that."
The Warsaw offense was able to put up some good numbers, including senior quarterback Ben Higgins' 12-of-18 night for 207 yards and the 67-yard touchdown strike to Daniel Conrad, but it was the defense that led the way.
"It was tremendous to see the defense step up with big plays," Akers said.
The defense began its stand with the second-half kickoff.
Down 7-6, Warsaw prepared to take the field first, but a Plymouth fumble and Warsaw recovery set the Tigers up at the Rockie 23-yard line. With that field position, Davis scored his second touchdown of the night on a 2-yard rumble three plays later, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game at 14-7.
"The frustrating thing is that I believe we played better tonight than we did last week," Plymouth coach John Barron said, referring to his team's 25-12 loss to Rochester. "I just don't think we corrected our mistakes, when it comes to protecting the ball."
Protecting the ball was a huge problem for the Rockies in the third stanza Friday at Fisher Field, as the team lost two fumbles, while sophomore quarterback Gordy Holloway also threw two interceptions.
"I think our quarterback got a little rattled," Barron said. "Those are things going into the season that I knew we'd have to deal with. He's a sophomore and he's going to make a lot of mistakes."
Holloway's last mistake of the quarter came when a screen pass intended for junior running back Austin Hodges was read perfectly by Warsaw senior Brad Waikel. Once the ball descended, Waikel jumped in front of Hodges, recording his second interception on consecutive Plymouth possessions, and ran it 50 yards to paydirt, putting the game out of reach at 34-7 with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter.
Warsaw outscored Plymouth 28-0 in the third quarter, securing the conference victory and resulting in a Gatorade bath for Akers.
"This means we're 1-0 in the conference," Akers said of the win. "We didn't win a conference game last year, and based on the 'fright night' last week (a 31-0 two-quarter loss to Homestead), I'm sure that had a lot of people concerned. We felt, deep down, that we had the kids that are capable of making plays."
And some of those "kids" are seniors who don't like to have visitors celebrate on their field.
"Im just really, really proud of my kids," Akers said. "My seniors had some pretty clear-cut goals, and the first one was to defend the house and win at home. I'm happy for them, I'm happy for our community."
Friday at Fisher Field, Warsaw's sophomore running back Andy Conrad accumulated 125 yards rushing, while older brother senior Daniel Conrad caught eight passes for 172 yards and a touchdown, both contributing to the 40-13 win.[[In-content Ad]]"The Conrad boys in general, I don't care what sport it is, the Conrads have it instilled in their bloodline that they want to play," Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "They've been playing since the day they were born. They love to play."
And against the Rockies, it wasn't only the Conrads that had fun. When Andy Conrad would receive a breather, senior Ben Davis III stepped right in, putting up 63 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
"It's NLC time, and I told everyone that we'd have a three-pronged attack back there (in the backfield)," Akers said of the backfield of Conrad, Davis and junior Cody Kindle. "Tonight, we were able to show we could do that."
The Warsaw offense was able to put up some good numbers, including senior quarterback Ben Higgins' 12-of-18 night for 207 yards and the 67-yard touchdown strike to Daniel Conrad, but it was the defense that led the way.
"It was tremendous to see the defense step up with big plays," Akers said.
The defense began its stand with the second-half kickoff.
Down 7-6, Warsaw prepared to take the field first, but a Plymouth fumble and Warsaw recovery set the Tigers up at the Rockie 23-yard line. With that field position, Davis scored his second touchdown of the night on a 2-yard rumble three plays later, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game at 14-7.
"The frustrating thing is that I believe we played better tonight than we did last week," Plymouth coach John Barron said, referring to his team's 25-12 loss to Rochester. "I just don't think we corrected our mistakes, when it comes to protecting the ball."
Protecting the ball was a huge problem for the Rockies in the third stanza Friday at Fisher Field, as the team lost two fumbles, while sophomore quarterback Gordy Holloway also threw two interceptions.
"I think our quarterback got a little rattled," Barron said. "Those are things going into the season that I knew we'd have to deal with. He's a sophomore and he's going to make a lot of mistakes."
Holloway's last mistake of the quarter came when a screen pass intended for junior running back Austin Hodges was read perfectly by Warsaw senior Brad Waikel. Once the ball descended, Waikel jumped in front of Hodges, recording his second interception on consecutive Plymouth possessions, and ran it 50 yards to paydirt, putting the game out of reach at 34-7 with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter.
Warsaw outscored Plymouth 28-0 in the third quarter, securing the conference victory and resulting in a Gatorade bath for Akers.
"This means we're 1-0 in the conference," Akers said of the win. "We didn't win a conference game last year, and based on the 'fright night' last week (a 31-0 two-quarter loss to Homestead), I'm sure that had a lot of people concerned. We felt, deep down, that we had the kids that are capable of making plays."
And some of those "kids" are seniors who don't like to have visitors celebrate on their field.
"Im just really, really proud of my kids," Akers said. "My seniors had some pretty clear-cut goals, and the first one was to defend the house and win at home. I'm happy for them, I'm happy for our community."
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