Tigers Take Charge Out Of Carroll
October 29, 2016 at 6:38 a.m.
Tigers Take Charge Out Of Carroll
By Dale [email protected]
Looking healthy, refreshed and hungry for the program’s first sectional championship, the Tigers were dominant in all three phases of the game Friday night as they beat the Carroll Chargers 23-13 at Fisher Field.
Now 6-4 on the season, the Tigers will host the Homestead Spartans, a 66-31 winner over Fort Wayne Northrop, in Friday’s sectional finals.
“What a great effort,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen, whose team, like all 6A teams in the state, had two weeks to prepare for Friday’s game. “Our kids, we’ve asked them all year to play with a grateful heart. We’re so blessed to live in this community and to have the support that we have and the facilities that we have. The fact that they can play this game, and the fact that I can coach this game, we’re just so grateful. And they showed it tonight by the way they played and by the way they practiced this week.
“The week off was tremendous for us ... got us healthy. AJ Villarreal got healthy. He played big up front tonight. It was just a solid performance in all three phases of the game with a lot of heart.”
Villarreal, a senior defensive linemen who had been nursing a rib injury, led a stingy Warsaw defense with six tackles, including three sacks.
The Tigers allowed just 11 first downs and 53 yards rushing.
Carroll only had the ball for 16 minutes of the 48-minute game, and the majority of the Chargers’ 230 yards of total offense came through the air.
“All week we talked about being aggressive,” said Villarreal. “We worked hard this week, and we studied a lot. We watched a lot of film, and it was important to read our keys tonight.
“Honestly, those three sacks, I couldn’t have done it without the outside, because they were helping me out a lot. When I got pushed to the outside, I was just trying to go hard, trying to get to the inside and trying to get to the quarterback.”
Warsaw senior quarterback Michael Jensen, who injured his non-throwing arm during the regular-season finale against Concord, completed 12 of 19 passes for 177 yards and threw touchdown strikes of 43 and 15 yards to classmate Jeremy David.
Jensen has thrown 23 touchdown passes this year and 40 over the past two seasons.
“I was in a sling for a few days in the bye week,” said Michael Jensen. “It was really inconsistent pain. (Athletic trainer) Corey (Branham) did a great job taping it up, putting a compression sleeve over it. The adrenaline carried over and I didn’t feel it much. It was definitely scary the last game.”
While there were a number of underclassmen who made big plays for the Tigers Friday, it was certainly impressive what Warsaw’s seniors did.
Along with the outstanding performances of Villarreal, Jensen and David, seniors Andrew Mevis, Rob Sullivan and twins Devin and D’Andre Street made big plays in the win.
Mevis, who will kick in the Under Armour All-American Game, kicked field goals of 42, 40 and 26 yards, to go with two extra-point kicks and his usual impressive performance in kickoffs and punting.
Sullivan, already a starter on defense, stepped up and played running back when junior Will McGarvey was injured.
Sullivan, who had just 15 carries for 52 yards during the regular season, tallied 80 yards on 24 touches Friday.
Devin Street caught a trio of passes for 40 yards, while D’Andre Street reeled in three passes for 30 yards.
“It was just a great effort by everyone involved,” said Phil Jensen.
The Tigers took a 3-0 lead on Mevis’ first field goal, and then pushed their advantage to 10-0 when Michael Jensen found David in stride for a 43-yard scoring strike.
Carroll cut the deficit to 10-7 in the second quarter when junior Jack Miguel scrambled and found senior Conner Call for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
A pair of field goals by Mevis made it 16-7 in Warsaw’s favor, and then Michael Jensen connected with David again to grow the Tigers’ lead to 23-7 with 5:22 remaining in the game.
Senior Ian Miller threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to classmate Jordan Schmeling, as Carroll cut the Warsaw lead to 23-13 with 1:42 to play.
The Chargers went for a two-point conversion and then an onside kick, but were unsuccessful in both situations.
“Just getting a sectional win, that hasn’t happened too often,” said David. “Now having the chance to get our first sectional title ever, is awesome. Coach always talks about how we have greatness on our team and how he believes in us. We really believe this is the year.”
Nic Novotny led the Chargers’ ground game with 19 carries for 69 yards.
He was the only Carroll player with positive yardage in the running game, as Miguel and Miller combined for three carries and -16 yards.
Miguel completed 13 of 29 pass attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Miller was 1 of 4 for 10 yards with an interception.
Carroll’s Justin Becker caught four passes for 68 yards, while Jonathan Becker hauled in three passes for 41 yards and Schmeling finished with three catches for 35 yards.
The Chargers, who had ended Warsaw’s campaign in four of the previous five years, finished the season with a 6-4 record.
WARSAW 23, CARROLL 13
Car 0 7 0 6 — 13
War 3 10 3 7 — 23
C W
1st downs 11 20
Rushing yds 53 153
Passing yds 177 177
Comp-Att-Int 14-33-1 12-19-0
Total yds 230 330
Fumbles/lost 0/0 0/0
Punts/Avg 5/44 3/36
Penalties/yds 9/80 4/30
First Quarter
W – Andrew Mevis 42 FG 3-0, 5:49
Second Quarter
W – Michael Jensen 43 pass to Jeremy David (Mevis kick) 10-0, 6:16
C – Jack Miguel 6 pass to Conner Call (Jack Shannon kick) 10-7, 3:01
W – Mevis 40 FG 13-7, :17
Third Quarter
W – Mevis 26 FG 16-7, 1:58
Fourth Quarter
W – Jensen 15 pass to David (Mevis kick) 23-7, 5:22
C – Miguel 23 pass to Jordan Schmeling (conversion run failed) 23-13, 1:42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Carroll, Nic Novotny 19-69, Ian Miller 1-(-5), Miguel 2-(-11); War, Rob Sullivan 24-80, Will McGarvey 8-29, Jensen 12-28, Tristan Larsh 4-16
Passing — Carroll, Miguel 13-29-167, 2 TDs, 0 INT, Miller 1-4-10, 0 TD, 1 INT; Warsaw, Jensen 12-19-177, 2 TDs, 0 INT
Receiving — Carroll, Justin Becker 4-68, Jonathan Becker 3-41, Schmeling 3-35, Marshall Pranger 1-12, Connor Tapp 1-20, Call 1-6, Gabriel Klingler 1-5; Warsaw, David 2-58, Devin Street 3-40, D’Andre Street 3-30, Larsh 2-29, Trevor York 2-20
Looking healthy, refreshed and hungry for the program’s first sectional championship, the Tigers were dominant in all three phases of the game Friday night as they beat the Carroll Chargers 23-13 at Fisher Field.
Now 6-4 on the season, the Tigers will host the Homestead Spartans, a 66-31 winner over Fort Wayne Northrop, in Friday’s sectional finals.
“What a great effort,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen, whose team, like all 6A teams in the state, had two weeks to prepare for Friday’s game. “Our kids, we’ve asked them all year to play with a grateful heart. We’re so blessed to live in this community and to have the support that we have and the facilities that we have. The fact that they can play this game, and the fact that I can coach this game, we’re just so grateful. And they showed it tonight by the way they played and by the way they practiced this week.
“The week off was tremendous for us ... got us healthy. AJ Villarreal got healthy. He played big up front tonight. It was just a solid performance in all three phases of the game with a lot of heart.”
Villarreal, a senior defensive linemen who had been nursing a rib injury, led a stingy Warsaw defense with six tackles, including three sacks.
The Tigers allowed just 11 first downs and 53 yards rushing.
Carroll only had the ball for 16 minutes of the 48-minute game, and the majority of the Chargers’ 230 yards of total offense came through the air.
“All week we talked about being aggressive,” said Villarreal. “We worked hard this week, and we studied a lot. We watched a lot of film, and it was important to read our keys tonight.
“Honestly, those three sacks, I couldn’t have done it without the outside, because they were helping me out a lot. When I got pushed to the outside, I was just trying to go hard, trying to get to the inside and trying to get to the quarterback.”
Warsaw senior quarterback Michael Jensen, who injured his non-throwing arm during the regular-season finale against Concord, completed 12 of 19 passes for 177 yards and threw touchdown strikes of 43 and 15 yards to classmate Jeremy David.
Jensen has thrown 23 touchdown passes this year and 40 over the past two seasons.
“I was in a sling for a few days in the bye week,” said Michael Jensen. “It was really inconsistent pain. (Athletic trainer) Corey (Branham) did a great job taping it up, putting a compression sleeve over it. The adrenaline carried over and I didn’t feel it much. It was definitely scary the last game.”
While there were a number of underclassmen who made big plays for the Tigers Friday, it was certainly impressive what Warsaw’s seniors did.
Along with the outstanding performances of Villarreal, Jensen and David, seniors Andrew Mevis, Rob Sullivan and twins Devin and D’Andre Street made big plays in the win.
Mevis, who will kick in the Under Armour All-American Game, kicked field goals of 42, 40 and 26 yards, to go with two extra-point kicks and his usual impressive performance in kickoffs and punting.
Sullivan, already a starter on defense, stepped up and played running back when junior Will McGarvey was injured.
Sullivan, who had just 15 carries for 52 yards during the regular season, tallied 80 yards on 24 touches Friday.
Devin Street caught a trio of passes for 40 yards, while D’Andre Street reeled in three passes for 30 yards.
“It was just a great effort by everyone involved,” said Phil Jensen.
The Tigers took a 3-0 lead on Mevis’ first field goal, and then pushed their advantage to 10-0 when Michael Jensen found David in stride for a 43-yard scoring strike.
Carroll cut the deficit to 10-7 in the second quarter when junior Jack Miguel scrambled and found senior Conner Call for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
A pair of field goals by Mevis made it 16-7 in Warsaw’s favor, and then Michael Jensen connected with David again to grow the Tigers’ lead to 23-7 with 5:22 remaining in the game.
Senior Ian Miller threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to classmate Jordan Schmeling, as Carroll cut the Warsaw lead to 23-13 with 1:42 to play.
The Chargers went for a two-point conversion and then an onside kick, but were unsuccessful in both situations.
“Just getting a sectional win, that hasn’t happened too often,” said David. “Now having the chance to get our first sectional title ever, is awesome. Coach always talks about how we have greatness on our team and how he believes in us. We really believe this is the year.”
Nic Novotny led the Chargers’ ground game with 19 carries for 69 yards.
He was the only Carroll player with positive yardage in the running game, as Miguel and Miller combined for three carries and -16 yards.
Miguel completed 13 of 29 pass attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Miller was 1 of 4 for 10 yards with an interception.
Carroll’s Justin Becker caught four passes for 68 yards, while Jonathan Becker hauled in three passes for 41 yards and Schmeling finished with three catches for 35 yards.
The Chargers, who had ended Warsaw’s campaign in four of the previous five years, finished the season with a 6-4 record.
WARSAW 23, CARROLL 13
Car 0 7 0 6 — 13
War 3 10 3 7 — 23
C W
1st downs 11 20
Rushing yds 53 153
Passing yds 177 177
Comp-Att-Int 14-33-1 12-19-0
Total yds 230 330
Fumbles/lost 0/0 0/0
Punts/Avg 5/44 3/36
Penalties/yds 9/80 4/30
First Quarter
W – Andrew Mevis 42 FG 3-0, 5:49
Second Quarter
W – Michael Jensen 43 pass to Jeremy David (Mevis kick) 10-0, 6:16
C – Jack Miguel 6 pass to Conner Call (Jack Shannon kick) 10-7, 3:01
W – Mevis 40 FG 13-7, :17
Third Quarter
W – Mevis 26 FG 16-7, 1:58
Fourth Quarter
W – Jensen 15 pass to David (Mevis kick) 23-7, 5:22
C – Miguel 23 pass to Jordan Schmeling (conversion run failed) 23-13, 1:42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Carroll, Nic Novotny 19-69, Ian Miller 1-(-5), Miguel 2-(-11); War, Rob Sullivan 24-80, Will McGarvey 8-29, Jensen 12-28, Tristan Larsh 4-16
Passing — Carroll, Miguel 13-29-167, 2 TDs, 0 INT, Miller 1-4-10, 0 TD, 1 INT; Warsaw, Jensen 12-19-177, 2 TDs, 0 INT
Receiving — Carroll, Justin Becker 4-68, Jonathan Becker 3-41, Schmeling 3-35, Marshall Pranger 1-12, Connor Tapp 1-20, Call 1-6, Gabriel Klingler 1-5; Warsaw, David 2-58, Devin Street 3-40, D’Andre Street 3-30, Larsh 2-29, Trevor York 2-20
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