Warsaw Tigers Fall At Concord
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
"It's a great win for our program - to win it outright," Concord coach Tim Dawson said of winning the NLC following his team's 14-3 win over Warsaw Friday. "I just told the guys not to be satisfied."[[In-content Ad]]The Minutemen earned the NLC title in a game that saw eight combined turnovers between the two squads, four for each team.
"It was a game of missed opportunities for us," Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "There were a couple times when we got down inside the 30- or 40-yard line, and if nothing else, we should come away with three points. It didn't happen tonight."
In the second half alone, Warsaw began four drives at the 50-yard line or deeper, coming away with zero points. Of those four drives, only one ended with a punt, the others coming to a halt on a fumble, an interception and a turnover on downs.
The Tigers defense did its part, forcing four turnovers while allowing only 14 points to a team that was averaging 30 points per game coming in.
"I take my hat off to our defense for being able to hold an explosive team down," Akers said. "They're gonna make some plays, we just didn't make enough of them on offense. It's tough when the defense's on the field for the majority of the game."
When the offense was on the field, a rhythm was never found. The Tigers ended the game with 182 yards of total offense, only 78 coming on the ground.
"Part of the knock on us is that teams have been able to run the ball against us the last two weeks," Dawson said. "So our kids stepped up and stopped the running game, and forced Warsaw to throw."
While trying to establish a running game, Warsaw didn't throw its first pass until tight end, and back-up quarterback, Justin Clemens threw an incompletion on a option pass with nine minutes remaining in the opening half. The Tigers' first completion didn't come until senior quarterback Ben Higgins found a hobbled Daniel Conrad for a 50-yard play with under two minutes remaining in the half.
"You gotta give Concord's defense a lot of credit," Akers said. "They came up and made plays when they had to. We were very conservative in the first half, and that's quite honestly, exactly how we wanted the first half to go."
Down 7-0 on their last drive of the half, Conrad's 50-yard reception set the Tigers up at the Concord 33-yard line and another 20-yard pass from Higgins to Clemens helped to bring on sophomore kicker Matt Franco for 28-yard field goal, which he made.
Franco's field goal drew the Tigers to within 7-3, and that score would stand until Concord's first possession of the second half.
After forcing a three-and-out on Warsaw's opening possession, Concord then ran 11 plays on its opening possession of the second half, ending on a 51-yard screen pass from David Yoder to junior JaVontae Hence. After weaving his way through the Tiger defense, Hence found himself diving over the goal line.
"We talked about them putting on a lot of pressure, and they did," Dawson said of the Tiger defense. "But you still have to execute (the screen play). Our linemen did a nice job, then of course, JaVontae is explosive and took it to the house. That was a big play."
The play was the biggest of the second half, as the scoring halted from there.
With a win against Concord, Warsaw would have forced a three-way tie for the NLC title along with Concord and Elkhart Memorial, who all would have ended conference play with 5-2 records. As it was, the Minutemen ruined those plans, hogging the title all to themselves.
Though they did fall in the game, it wasn't for lack of effort by the Tigers. Daniel Conrad was on the field for the first time since he injured his knee against Elkhart Memorial on Sept. 7, and Andy Conrad was also well below 100 percent, rushing for only 44 yards on 15 carries on a bum ankle.
"I really thought they were a week or two away, but they really wanted capture a conference championship," Akers said of the Conrad brothers taking the field. "So you gotta give them credit for wanting to be able to do that."
Along with those two being less than full speed, starting tight end Justin Clemens was also using crutches following the game, having injured his ankle while taking over at quarterback in the fourth quarter.
"We just gotta pray his ankle injury isn't too severe, and he can come back," Akers said, looking ahead to next week's sectional. "He's a two-way player, who's only a sophomore. His name's gonna be heard through this conference over the next two years, that's for sure."
So while Concord celebrated a well-earned conference title, the Tigers received words from their coach on the other end of the field.
"For a team that didn't win a conference game last year, to be playing for a conference championship was quite a feat," Akers said of his guys. "But we're not happy with the result."
"It's a great win for our program - to win it outright," Concord coach Tim Dawson said of winning the NLC following his team's 14-3 win over Warsaw Friday. "I just told the guys not to be satisfied."[[In-content Ad]]The Minutemen earned the NLC title in a game that saw eight combined turnovers between the two squads, four for each team.
"It was a game of missed opportunities for us," Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "There were a couple times when we got down inside the 30- or 40-yard line, and if nothing else, we should come away with three points. It didn't happen tonight."
In the second half alone, Warsaw began four drives at the 50-yard line or deeper, coming away with zero points. Of those four drives, only one ended with a punt, the others coming to a halt on a fumble, an interception and a turnover on downs.
The Tigers defense did its part, forcing four turnovers while allowing only 14 points to a team that was averaging 30 points per game coming in.
"I take my hat off to our defense for being able to hold an explosive team down," Akers said. "They're gonna make some plays, we just didn't make enough of them on offense. It's tough when the defense's on the field for the majority of the game."
When the offense was on the field, a rhythm was never found. The Tigers ended the game with 182 yards of total offense, only 78 coming on the ground.
"Part of the knock on us is that teams have been able to run the ball against us the last two weeks," Dawson said. "So our kids stepped up and stopped the running game, and forced Warsaw to throw."
While trying to establish a running game, Warsaw didn't throw its first pass until tight end, and back-up quarterback, Justin Clemens threw an incompletion on a option pass with nine minutes remaining in the opening half. The Tigers' first completion didn't come until senior quarterback Ben Higgins found a hobbled Daniel Conrad for a 50-yard play with under two minutes remaining in the half.
"You gotta give Concord's defense a lot of credit," Akers said. "They came up and made plays when they had to. We were very conservative in the first half, and that's quite honestly, exactly how we wanted the first half to go."
Down 7-0 on their last drive of the half, Conrad's 50-yard reception set the Tigers up at the Concord 33-yard line and another 20-yard pass from Higgins to Clemens helped to bring on sophomore kicker Matt Franco for 28-yard field goal, which he made.
Franco's field goal drew the Tigers to within 7-3, and that score would stand until Concord's first possession of the second half.
After forcing a three-and-out on Warsaw's opening possession, Concord then ran 11 plays on its opening possession of the second half, ending on a 51-yard screen pass from David Yoder to junior JaVontae Hence. After weaving his way through the Tiger defense, Hence found himself diving over the goal line.
"We talked about them putting on a lot of pressure, and they did," Dawson said of the Tiger defense. "But you still have to execute (the screen play). Our linemen did a nice job, then of course, JaVontae is explosive and took it to the house. That was a big play."
The play was the biggest of the second half, as the scoring halted from there.
With a win against Concord, Warsaw would have forced a three-way tie for the NLC title along with Concord and Elkhart Memorial, who all would have ended conference play with 5-2 records. As it was, the Minutemen ruined those plans, hogging the title all to themselves.
Though they did fall in the game, it wasn't for lack of effort by the Tigers. Daniel Conrad was on the field for the first time since he injured his knee against Elkhart Memorial on Sept. 7, and Andy Conrad was also well below 100 percent, rushing for only 44 yards on 15 carries on a bum ankle.
"I really thought they were a week or two away, but they really wanted capture a conference championship," Akers said of the Conrad brothers taking the field. "So you gotta give them credit for wanting to be able to do that."
Along with those two being less than full speed, starting tight end Justin Clemens was also using crutches following the game, having injured his ankle while taking over at quarterback in the fourth quarter.
"We just gotta pray his ankle injury isn't too severe, and he can come back," Akers said, looking ahead to next week's sectional. "He's a two-way player, who's only a sophomore. His name's gonna be heard through this conference over the next two years, that's for sure."
So while Concord celebrated a well-earned conference title, the Tigers received words from their coach on the other end of the field.
"For a team that didn't win a conference game last year, to be playing for a conference championship was quite a feat," Akers said of his guys. "But we're not happy with the result."
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