Spartans Top Tigers In Sectional Final
November 5, 2016 at 7:04 a.m.
Spartans Top Tigers In Sectional Final
By Dale [email protected]
The Class 6A No. 11 Spartans certainly won the war in the trenches, blocking and tackling their way into next week’s regional matchup with No. 7 Carmel, a 23-10 winner over No. 15 Fishers.
Homestead, which raced out to a 28-0 lead and later pulled away after the Tigers cut the deficit to 31-20, racked up 426 yards of total offense to Warsaw’s 217.
The Spartans were particularly impressive in the running game, as they rushed for 314 yards behind a big, strong offensive line.
Homestead’s defense, led by an active front line, held the Tigers to 45 yards on the ground.
“Homestead is really good,” said an emotional coach Phil Jensen, whose Warsaw team finished the season with a 6-5 record. “They’re very physical on both sides of the ball. They’ve got tremendous team speed. And we just couldn’t find a rhythm. That’s a credit to their coaching staff, a credit to their kids.”
With the win, the Spartans improved to 9-2 this season and 11-6 in the all-time series against Warsaw.
With its fifth sectional title in school history, Homestead won back-to-back championships for the first time.
The Tigers have played in five sectional championship games, but haven’t won one.
“We were young last year, and we’ve still got some young kids, but this group has been through a lot of wars, that older group,” said Homestead coach Chad Zolman. “I think they understand speed comes from desire and want-to. You don’t have to be the fastest guy to get to the play first, you gotta be smart and have desire to make plays. I think they understand that, and the wars we’ve been through this season, and in the conference, have helped with that.”
The Tigers trailed 31-7 at halftime, with their touchdown coming on a 76-yard pass and catch from senior Michael Jensen to classmate Jeremy David.
A 6-yard Jensen-to-David score, which was followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt, cut Homestead’s advantage to 31-13.
Junior Will McGarvey brought the Tigers even closer, trimming the deficit to 31-20 with a 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the third quarter, a score set up by a Zach Riley interception of Homestead quarterback Jiya Wright.
Warsaw forced Homestead to punt on its next possession, and things looked good for the Tigers, who had a chance cut the deficit to as few as three points.
Things went terribly wrong, however, when the Tigers fumbled and Homestead recovered.
The Spartans scored seven plays later and outscored Warsaw 21-7 after that critical turnover.
“They never quit,” Jensen said of his players. “They never quit on the season, never quit on each other, and they didn’t quit tonight. We just got beat by a better football team. There’s no shame in that, as long as you come out and give it your best effort. We had a great effort this week in practice, and we had a great effort tonight. I just couldn’t help them find the answer. I couldn’t find the answer.”
Wright, a backup quarterback until senior Drew Keszie was injured in the first game of the season, rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns and also completed 10 of 19 pass attempts for 112 yards and two scores for Homestead.
Sophomore tailback Jordan Presley carried the ball 17 times for 112 yards in the win.
“He’s pretty good,” Jensen said of Wright. “He runs the ball well. He throws it well enough, too. He’s well-coached. They’ve got a nice offensive line, and that helps when you’ve got a sophomore running back and a junior quarterback. It helps them develop over time. Most of those offensive linemen are three-year starters for them.”
For Warsaw, Jensen completed 9 of 24 passes for 172 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed 11 times, including a 3-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. A number of sacks by Homestead’s active front left Jensen with -7 yards rushing in the loss.
Jensen finished the season with 2,044 passing yards and a single-season school record of 25 touchdown passes, along with six rushing TDs.
David caught four passes for 90 yards, including the two scores, while senior D’Andre Street caught one pass for 49 yards and junior Tristan Larsh made two catches for 33 yards.
McGarvey finished the evening with 12 carries for 46 yards and a score, and finished the season with 1,065 yards and six TDs.
“I love them, and I’m proud of them. And I thanked them,” said Phil Jensen when asked to comment about his players, particularly the 20-person senior class he’s been close to over the years because of his son.
HOMESTEAD 52, WARSAW 27
Hom 7 21 3 21 — 52
War 0 7 13 7 — 27
H W
1st downs 22 10
Rushing yds 314 45
Passing yds 112 172
Comp-Att-Int 10-19-1 9-24-1
Total yds 426 217
Fumbles/lost 2/1 3/1
Punts/Avg 2/27 4/31
Penalties/yds 10/110 6/50
First Quarter
H – Conrad Keszei 1 run (Noah Knepper kick) 5:55, 7-0
Second Quarter
H – Jiya Wright 7 pass to Matt Anderson (Knepper kick) 10:30, 14-0
H – Trevin Taylor fumble recover in end zone (Knepper kick) 4:16, 21-0
H – Wright 10 pass to Brock Billings (Knepper kick) 1:01, 28-0
W – Michael Jensen 76 pass to Jeremy David (Andrew Mevis kick) :39, 28-7
Third Quarter
H – Knepper 25 FG 7:11, 31-7
W – Jensen 6 pass to David (conversion run failed) 3:16, 31-13
W – Will McGarvey 1 run (Mevis kick) 2:23, 31-20
Fourth Quarter
H – Wright 1 run (Knepper kick) 8:13, 38-20
H – Wright 25 run (Knepper kick) 4:17, 45-20
W – Jensen 3 run (Mevis kick) 3:30, 45-27
H – Wright 48 run (Knepper kick) 2:37, 52-27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Homestead, Wright 18-147, Jordan Presley 17-112, Brayden Layton 4-23, Jake Archbold 4-17, Grant Raber 3-14, Keszei 1-1; Warsaw, McGarvey 12-46, Tristan Larsh 1-3, Bryce Garner 1-2, Rob Sullivan 2-1, Jensen 11-(-7)
Passing — Homestead, Wright 10-19-112, 2 TD, 1?INT; Warsaw, Jensen 9-24-172, 2 TD, 1 INT
Receiving — Homestead, Anderson 3-37, Keszei 2-31, Raber 1-18, Presley 1-14, Billings 2-19; Warsaw, David 4-90, D’Andre Street 1-49, Larsh 2-33, Trevor York 1-3
The Class 6A No. 11 Spartans certainly won the war in the trenches, blocking and tackling their way into next week’s regional matchup with No. 7 Carmel, a 23-10 winner over No. 15 Fishers.
Homestead, which raced out to a 28-0 lead and later pulled away after the Tigers cut the deficit to 31-20, racked up 426 yards of total offense to Warsaw’s 217.
The Spartans were particularly impressive in the running game, as they rushed for 314 yards behind a big, strong offensive line.
Homestead’s defense, led by an active front line, held the Tigers to 45 yards on the ground.
“Homestead is really good,” said an emotional coach Phil Jensen, whose Warsaw team finished the season with a 6-5 record. “They’re very physical on both sides of the ball. They’ve got tremendous team speed. And we just couldn’t find a rhythm. That’s a credit to their coaching staff, a credit to their kids.”
With the win, the Spartans improved to 9-2 this season and 11-6 in the all-time series against Warsaw.
With its fifth sectional title in school history, Homestead won back-to-back championships for the first time.
The Tigers have played in five sectional championship games, but haven’t won one.
“We were young last year, and we’ve still got some young kids, but this group has been through a lot of wars, that older group,” said Homestead coach Chad Zolman. “I think they understand speed comes from desire and want-to. You don’t have to be the fastest guy to get to the play first, you gotta be smart and have desire to make plays. I think they understand that, and the wars we’ve been through this season, and in the conference, have helped with that.”
The Tigers trailed 31-7 at halftime, with their touchdown coming on a 76-yard pass and catch from senior Michael Jensen to classmate Jeremy David.
A 6-yard Jensen-to-David score, which was followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt, cut Homestead’s advantage to 31-13.
Junior Will McGarvey brought the Tigers even closer, trimming the deficit to 31-20 with a 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the third quarter, a score set up by a Zach Riley interception of Homestead quarterback Jiya Wright.
Warsaw forced Homestead to punt on its next possession, and things looked good for the Tigers, who had a chance cut the deficit to as few as three points.
Things went terribly wrong, however, when the Tigers fumbled and Homestead recovered.
The Spartans scored seven plays later and outscored Warsaw 21-7 after that critical turnover.
“They never quit,” Jensen said of his players. “They never quit on the season, never quit on each other, and they didn’t quit tonight. We just got beat by a better football team. There’s no shame in that, as long as you come out and give it your best effort. We had a great effort this week in practice, and we had a great effort tonight. I just couldn’t help them find the answer. I couldn’t find the answer.”
Wright, a backup quarterback until senior Drew Keszie was injured in the first game of the season, rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns and also completed 10 of 19 pass attempts for 112 yards and two scores for Homestead.
Sophomore tailback Jordan Presley carried the ball 17 times for 112 yards in the win.
“He’s pretty good,” Jensen said of Wright. “He runs the ball well. He throws it well enough, too. He’s well-coached. They’ve got a nice offensive line, and that helps when you’ve got a sophomore running back and a junior quarterback. It helps them develop over time. Most of those offensive linemen are three-year starters for them.”
For Warsaw, Jensen completed 9 of 24 passes for 172 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed 11 times, including a 3-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. A number of sacks by Homestead’s active front left Jensen with -7 yards rushing in the loss.
Jensen finished the season with 2,044 passing yards and a single-season school record of 25 touchdown passes, along with six rushing TDs.
David caught four passes for 90 yards, including the two scores, while senior D’Andre Street caught one pass for 49 yards and junior Tristan Larsh made two catches for 33 yards.
McGarvey finished the evening with 12 carries for 46 yards and a score, and finished the season with 1,065 yards and six TDs.
“I love them, and I’m proud of them. And I thanked them,” said Phil Jensen when asked to comment about his players, particularly the 20-person senior class he’s been close to over the years because of his son.
HOMESTEAD 52, WARSAW 27
Hom 7 21 3 21 — 52
War 0 7 13 7 — 27
H W
1st downs 22 10
Rushing yds 314 45
Passing yds 112 172
Comp-Att-Int 10-19-1 9-24-1
Total yds 426 217
Fumbles/lost 2/1 3/1
Punts/Avg 2/27 4/31
Penalties/yds 10/110 6/50
First Quarter
H – Conrad Keszei 1 run (Noah Knepper kick) 5:55, 7-0
Second Quarter
H – Jiya Wright 7 pass to Matt Anderson (Knepper kick) 10:30, 14-0
H – Trevin Taylor fumble recover in end zone (Knepper kick) 4:16, 21-0
H – Wright 10 pass to Brock Billings (Knepper kick) 1:01, 28-0
W – Michael Jensen 76 pass to Jeremy David (Andrew Mevis kick) :39, 28-7
Third Quarter
H – Knepper 25 FG 7:11, 31-7
W – Jensen 6 pass to David (conversion run failed) 3:16, 31-13
W – Will McGarvey 1 run (Mevis kick) 2:23, 31-20
Fourth Quarter
H – Wright 1 run (Knepper kick) 8:13, 38-20
H – Wright 25 run (Knepper kick) 4:17, 45-20
W – Jensen 3 run (Mevis kick) 3:30, 45-27
H – Wright 48 run (Knepper kick) 2:37, 52-27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Homestead, Wright 18-147, Jordan Presley 17-112, Brayden Layton 4-23, Jake Archbold 4-17, Grant Raber 3-14, Keszei 1-1; Warsaw, McGarvey 12-46, Tristan Larsh 1-3, Bryce Garner 1-2, Rob Sullivan 2-1, Jensen 11-(-7)
Passing — Homestead, Wright 10-19-112, 2 TD, 1?INT; Warsaw, Jensen 9-24-172, 2 TD, 1 INT
Receiving — Homestead, Anderson 3-37, Keszei 2-31, Raber 1-18, Presley 1-14, Billings 2-19; Warsaw, David 4-90, D’Andre Street 1-49, Larsh 2-33, Trevor York 1-3
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