Warsaw Takes Control Of NLC
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE - Of the 504 yards junior tailback Brad Seiss has rushed for the past two weeks, none were as important to Warsaw as the last 1-1/2 he pounded out at Northern Lakes Conference rival NorthWood Friday in a 29-28 overtime win.
Down 28-27 after Seiss scored on a three-yard plunge to counter a 1-yard score from NorthWood's Jesse Fink, Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen decided to go for the two-point conversion rather than an extra-point kick.
"(Defensive coordinator) Troy (Akers) told me to go for two," Jensen said. "He said if we went for the hard count they would jump (offside). I feel more comfortable about 1-1/2 yards against NorthWood than three. We ran a set at them they've never seen before, and Brad Seiss made a great effort."
Tiger senior quarterback Jared Scrafton went with the hard count, and sure enough, he drew the Panthers offside.
With the ball moved half the distance to the goal, Seiss then took his 37th handoff of the game and squirted over the goal line behind a powerful offensive line that paved the way for his 310-yard game a week ago, giving Warsaw its first win over the Panthers since a 10-9 decision in 1990.
The win improves Warsaw's record to 7-1, but more importantly 5-0 in NLC action; NorthWood falls to 6-2 and 4-1.
"We talked about it a little bit," Jensen said of his decision to go for the win rather than a tie and a second overtime. "You don't get many chances to beat NorthWood at home."
Said NorthWood coach Rich Dodson: "Warsaw has good athletes with nice size. NorthWood is known for small, squatty guys who have to play their butts off. We just don't have that (Warsaw's size) walking down the hallway. We have to play with what we got."
NorthWood took a 14-0 lead at the 4:05 mark of the second stanza when senior signal caller Mike Blosser hooked up with junior running back Jesse Fink for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Casey Lehman's kick was good.
Scrafton put the Tigers on the board for the first time with 1:13 remaining in the first half on an 11-yard run, the first of three touchdowns on the night for the 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior. Adam Sisson's kick was good, and Warsaw trailed 14-7.
"I would've felt a lot better going in ahead two (touchdowns) instead of one," Dodson said of Warsaw's late first-half touchdown. "Their quarterback made a big play. He was the playmaker on that drive. This was certainly a big game, and they had the momentum (at that point)."
On Warsaw's first scoring drive, one that started on its 23, Scrafton rushed for 35 yards and hooked up with Sisson for a key 38-yard catch that moved Warsaw to NorthWood's 26.
While Scrafton only managed a 1-of-9 performance through the air, he rushed the ball 11 times for 56 yards. Seiss, who came in averaging 7.3 yards per carry, finished the evening with 194 yards on 37 carries, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
Fink led the Panther rushing attack with his 52 yards on eight carries. Blosser added 41 yards on 11 carries, while Ben Lehman tallied 21 yards on 12 carries. Through the air Blosser was 8 of 18 for 139 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Senior Willy Will led the Panther receiving corps with three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Starting the second half at their 48-yard line, the Tigers ran the ball nine consecutive times - with Seiss pounding out three runs of eight yards or more on the drive. Scrafton scored his second touchdown of the game, a 2-yard scamper with 8:15 left in the third to tie the game at 14 with Sisson's extra-point kick.
The Panthers were forced to go three-and-out on their next possession, giving Warsaw the ball back at the 35-yard line with 6:39 on the third-quarter clock.
Scrafton led the Tigers on a 12-play, 65-yard drive - all runs - that took 6:26 off the clock and ended with Scrafton going in from one yard out to give Warsaw its first lead of the game, 21-14, with Sisson's kick.
The Panthers knotted the game at 21 on a four-play drive when Blosser found senior receiver Eric Flickinger for a 21-yard touchdown strike at the 11:13 mark of the final frame. Casey Lehman's kick was good.
Warsaw senior Greg Scalet recovered a Panther fumble with 3:11 remaining in regulation, giving the Tigers the ball on the 47-yard line. On third-and-four inside NorthWood's 20, Scrafton made it near the 5-yard line, giving Warsaw an opportunity to pick up the win in regulation, but the play was called back on an illegal procedure call against the Tigers.
On fourth-and-eight, Sisson attempted a 40-yard field goal that was blocked by the interior of NorthWood's rush.
NorthWood set up shop on its own 30-yard line with 20 seconds left in regulation and was whistled for a 5-yard penalty on the first play of the drive, before Fink rattled off a 15-yard gain that moved the ball to the Panther 40. Blosser spiked the ball on the next play, stopping the clock to set up a last-second pass that went incomplete, setting up the overtime finish.
"It was a great football game," Jensen said. "I'm so proud of the kids. The biggest difference in this group is they never quit. It's just a great program win. Everybody's happy now. This is the kind of win where you'll see the benefits five, 10 years from now. It's hard to beat NorthWood at NorthWood."
The win over NorthWood is just the seventh in 32 tries for Warsaw, which will host Concord Friday. A win by the Tigers would give them their first outright NLC crown since 1990.
NorthWood will play at NLC rival Plymouth Friday.
WARSAW 29, No. 3 (3A) NORTHWOOD 28 OT
Warsaw (7-1) 0 7 14 0 8 - 29
NorthWood (6-2) 0 14 0 7 7 - 28
W NW
First downs 15 11
Rushes/yards 57-266 31-114
Passing yards 38 139
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-9-0 8-18-2
Total offense 304 253
Fumbles/lost 0-0 1-1
Punts/avg. 3-39 2-35
Penalties/yards 4-40 3-11
Second Quarter
NW - Willy Will 15 catch (Casey Lehman kick) 7-0 NW, 7:29
NW - Jesse Fink 21 catch (C. Lehman kick) 14-0 NW, 4:05
W - Jared Scrafton 11 run (Adam Sisson kick) 14-7 NW, 1:13
Third Quarter
W - Scrafton 2 run (Sisson kick) 14-14, 8:15
W - Scrafton 1 run (Sisson kick) 21-14 W, :23
Fourth Quarter
NW - Eric Flickinger 21 catch (C. Lehman kick) 21-21, 11:13
Overtime
NW - Fink 1 run (C. Lehman kick) 28-21 NW
W - Brad Seiss 3 run (Seiss converstion run) 29-28 W
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw: Seiss 37-194, Scrafton 11-56, Grady Randall 5-9. NorthWood: Fink 8-52, Mike Blosser 11-41, Ben Lehman 12-21
Passing - Warsaw: Scrafton 1-9-38-0. NorthWood: Blosser 8-18-139-2.
Receiving - Warsaw: Sisson 1-38. NorthWood: Willy Will 3-63, Jeremy Greenlee 2-28, Fink 1-21, Flickinger 1-21. [[In-content Ad]]
NAPPANEE - Of the 504 yards junior tailback Brad Seiss has rushed for the past two weeks, none were as important to Warsaw as the last 1-1/2 he pounded out at Northern Lakes Conference rival NorthWood Friday in a 29-28 overtime win.
Down 28-27 after Seiss scored on a three-yard plunge to counter a 1-yard score from NorthWood's Jesse Fink, Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen decided to go for the two-point conversion rather than an extra-point kick.
"(Defensive coordinator) Troy (Akers) told me to go for two," Jensen said. "He said if we went for the hard count they would jump (offside). I feel more comfortable about 1-1/2 yards against NorthWood than three. We ran a set at them they've never seen before, and Brad Seiss made a great effort."
Tiger senior quarterback Jared Scrafton went with the hard count, and sure enough, he drew the Panthers offside.
With the ball moved half the distance to the goal, Seiss then took his 37th handoff of the game and squirted over the goal line behind a powerful offensive line that paved the way for his 310-yard game a week ago, giving Warsaw its first win over the Panthers since a 10-9 decision in 1990.
The win improves Warsaw's record to 7-1, but more importantly 5-0 in NLC action; NorthWood falls to 6-2 and 4-1.
"We talked about it a little bit," Jensen said of his decision to go for the win rather than a tie and a second overtime. "You don't get many chances to beat NorthWood at home."
Said NorthWood coach Rich Dodson: "Warsaw has good athletes with nice size. NorthWood is known for small, squatty guys who have to play their butts off. We just don't have that (Warsaw's size) walking down the hallway. We have to play with what we got."
NorthWood took a 14-0 lead at the 4:05 mark of the second stanza when senior signal caller Mike Blosser hooked up with junior running back Jesse Fink for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Casey Lehman's kick was good.
Scrafton put the Tigers on the board for the first time with 1:13 remaining in the first half on an 11-yard run, the first of three touchdowns on the night for the 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior. Adam Sisson's kick was good, and Warsaw trailed 14-7.
"I would've felt a lot better going in ahead two (touchdowns) instead of one," Dodson said of Warsaw's late first-half touchdown. "Their quarterback made a big play. He was the playmaker on that drive. This was certainly a big game, and they had the momentum (at that point)."
On Warsaw's first scoring drive, one that started on its 23, Scrafton rushed for 35 yards and hooked up with Sisson for a key 38-yard catch that moved Warsaw to NorthWood's 26.
While Scrafton only managed a 1-of-9 performance through the air, he rushed the ball 11 times for 56 yards. Seiss, who came in averaging 7.3 yards per carry, finished the evening with 194 yards on 37 carries, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
Fink led the Panther rushing attack with his 52 yards on eight carries. Blosser added 41 yards on 11 carries, while Ben Lehman tallied 21 yards on 12 carries. Through the air Blosser was 8 of 18 for 139 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Senior Willy Will led the Panther receiving corps with three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Starting the second half at their 48-yard line, the Tigers ran the ball nine consecutive times - with Seiss pounding out three runs of eight yards or more on the drive. Scrafton scored his second touchdown of the game, a 2-yard scamper with 8:15 left in the third to tie the game at 14 with Sisson's extra-point kick.
The Panthers were forced to go three-and-out on their next possession, giving Warsaw the ball back at the 35-yard line with 6:39 on the third-quarter clock.
Scrafton led the Tigers on a 12-play, 65-yard drive - all runs - that took 6:26 off the clock and ended with Scrafton going in from one yard out to give Warsaw its first lead of the game, 21-14, with Sisson's kick.
The Panthers knotted the game at 21 on a four-play drive when Blosser found senior receiver Eric Flickinger for a 21-yard touchdown strike at the 11:13 mark of the final frame. Casey Lehman's kick was good.
Warsaw senior Greg Scalet recovered a Panther fumble with 3:11 remaining in regulation, giving the Tigers the ball on the 47-yard line. On third-and-four inside NorthWood's 20, Scrafton made it near the 5-yard line, giving Warsaw an opportunity to pick up the win in regulation, but the play was called back on an illegal procedure call against the Tigers.
On fourth-and-eight, Sisson attempted a 40-yard field goal that was blocked by the interior of NorthWood's rush.
NorthWood set up shop on its own 30-yard line with 20 seconds left in regulation and was whistled for a 5-yard penalty on the first play of the drive, before Fink rattled off a 15-yard gain that moved the ball to the Panther 40. Blosser spiked the ball on the next play, stopping the clock to set up a last-second pass that went incomplete, setting up the overtime finish.
"It was a great football game," Jensen said. "I'm so proud of the kids. The biggest difference in this group is they never quit. It's just a great program win. Everybody's happy now. This is the kind of win where you'll see the benefits five, 10 years from now. It's hard to beat NorthWood at NorthWood."
The win over NorthWood is just the seventh in 32 tries for Warsaw, which will host Concord Friday. A win by the Tigers would give them their first outright NLC crown since 1990.
NorthWood will play at NLC rival Plymouth Friday.
WARSAW 29, No. 3 (3A) NORTHWOOD 28 OT
Warsaw (7-1) 0 7 14 0 8 - 29
NorthWood (6-2) 0 14 0 7 7 - 28
W NW
First downs 15 11
Rushes/yards 57-266 31-114
Passing yards 38 139
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-9-0 8-18-2
Total offense 304 253
Fumbles/lost 0-0 1-1
Punts/avg. 3-39 2-35
Penalties/yards 4-40 3-11
Second Quarter
NW - Willy Will 15 catch (Casey Lehman kick) 7-0 NW, 7:29
NW - Jesse Fink 21 catch (C. Lehman kick) 14-0 NW, 4:05
W - Jared Scrafton 11 run (Adam Sisson kick) 14-7 NW, 1:13
Third Quarter
W - Scrafton 2 run (Sisson kick) 14-14, 8:15
W - Scrafton 1 run (Sisson kick) 21-14 W, :23
Fourth Quarter
NW - Eric Flickinger 21 catch (C. Lehman kick) 21-21, 11:13
Overtime
NW - Fink 1 run (C. Lehman kick) 28-21 NW
W - Brad Seiss 3 run (Seiss converstion run) 29-28 W
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw: Seiss 37-194, Scrafton 11-56, Grady Randall 5-9. NorthWood: Fink 8-52, Mike Blosser 11-41, Ben Lehman 12-21
Passing - Warsaw: Scrafton 1-9-38-0. NorthWood: Blosser 8-18-139-2.
Receiving - Warsaw: Sisson 1-38. NorthWood: Willy Will 3-63, Jeremy Greenlee 2-28, Fink 1-21, Flickinger 1-21. [[In-content Ad]]