Mistakes Costly For Wawasee Warriors
September 10, 2016 at 6:31 a.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Wawasee had key moments go against them; some were mistakes and others situational. Either way, those moments were enough to extend the streaks, as Concord beat Wawasee 49-40 at Jake Field Friday night.
Mitchell scored touchdowns via a 70-yard punt return, a 48-yard reception and a huge, 75-yard fourth-quarter kickoff return after the Warriors had closed to within two points with about 4-1/2 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Wawasee’s Smith rushed for 311 yards and four scores on 40 carries, and passed for 159 more yards and another touchdown.
Wawasee’s defense also played well enough to win. It held Concord without a first down in the opening quarter, and Concord moved the chains just 12 times in the game. Traditionally, the Minutemen are a high-powered offense, and they did rack up 274 yards total, the majority coming from bruising running back Dominick DeBroka, who gained 128 yards on 16 carries.
The Warrior special teams were the weak link Friday. Wawasee snapped the ball out of the end zone for a safety from punt formation in the second quarter. Late in the half, with Concord punting after a three-and-out, Wawasee was called for running into the kicker. The five-yard penalty gave Concord a first down, and two plays later Mitchell caught the touchdown pass from Jack Lietzan.
After Smith’s third touchdown in the third quarter, Mitchell returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to the Wawasee 25, and the Minutemen scored three plays later to reinflate their lead. After Cole VanLue’s eight-yard touchdown run drew Wawasee within two points in the fourth quarter, the Warriors kicked to Mitchell, and he made them pay again.
“That one was on me. I made the decision to kick that direction,” Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich said. “I thought we could cover it. My assistants tried to talk me out of it, and I didn’t listen, so I have to live with it.”
Smith was also picked off three times, as he threw more passes Friday night (28) than in the three previous games combined. Wawasee also lost a fumble, and thus the turnover battle 4-2.
“Yeah, the special teams and the turnover battle killed us. They say you gotta win the turnover battle and you gotta hit ‘em. I told the boys I thought we were more physical than them, that we did everything we could. But the turnovers killed us.”
Smith got a little help from his friends. Noah Wadkins rushed nine times for 67 yards, and VanLue had four rushes for 31 yards and a score. Paul?Mendoza caught four passes for 79 yards.
On the 2016 Wawasee team, however, Smith is the man.
“I told Tyler ‘this is your team. Put them on your back and see where we go,’ He’s a good football player; he’s a good kid. It kills me that we performed the way we did on offense and (came up short),” Ekovich said. “We need more work on our special teams, and we’ll get that done next week in practice.”
So while close, Ekovich and the Warriors aren’t interested in feeling good after the potential for victory was so close.
“I hate the term moral victory,” said Ekovich. “Absolutely hate it. But Concord’s got a good program, with great athletes and a good team. And we went toe-to-toe. Hopefully this is something we can use to continue to grow and develop.”
Concord improved to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference, and will host goshen Friday. Wawasee fell to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the NLC, and will host conference front-runner NorthWood Friday night.
CONCORD 49, WAWASEE 40
W 7 14 13 7 – 40
C 7 19 10 13 – 49
W C
1st downs 21 12
Rushing yds 452 152
Passing yds 159 112
Comp-Att-Int 9-28-3 5-13-0
Total yds 611 274
Fumbles/lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties/yds 5/45 5/45
Punts/avg. 4/41.0 4/43.8
First Quarter
C – Cedric Mitchell 70 punt return (Josh Gorball kick) 10:39, 7-0
W – Tyler Smith 30 run (Ryan Edington kick) 2:27, 7-7
Second Quarter
C – Safety: Wawasee snapped ball out of end zone 11:21, 9-7
C – Gorball 35 FG 7:45, 12-7
C – Dominick DeBroka 14 run (Gorball kick) 6:12, 19-7
W – Smith 1 run (Edington kick) 4:06, 19-14
C – Mitchell 48 pass from Jack Lietzan (Gorball kick) 1:32, 26-14
W – Jacob Hand 25 pass from Smith (Edington kick) :12.3, 26-21
Third Quarter
C – Gorball 41 FG 10:56, 29-21
W – Smith 3 run (Edington kick) 5:36, 29-28
C – Lietzan 16 run (Gorball kick) 4:25, 36-28
W – Smith 7 run (kick blocked) :50.6, 36-34
Fourth Quarter
C – Lietzan 13 run (pass failed) 11:43, 42-34
W – Cole VanLue 8 run (run failed) 4:40, 42-40
C – Mitchell 75 kickoff return (Gorball kick) 4:29, 49-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Wawasee, Smith 40-311, Alec Rosbrugh 2-41, Noah Wadkins 9-67, VanLue 4-31, Dylan Hepler 1-2; Concord, Lietzan 5-23, DeBroka 16-128, Mitchell 1-1
Passing – Wawasee, Smith 9-28-159 yds, 1 TD, 3 Int; Concord, Lietzan 5-13-112 yds. 1 TD, 0 Int.
Receiving – Wawasee, Paul Mendoza 4-79, Wadkins 1-7, Rosbrugh 2-29, Hand 2-44.
Wawasee had key moments go against them; some were mistakes and others situational. Either way, those moments were enough to extend the streaks, as Concord beat Wawasee 49-40 at Jake Field Friday night.
Mitchell scored touchdowns via a 70-yard punt return, a 48-yard reception and a huge, 75-yard fourth-quarter kickoff return after the Warriors had closed to within two points with about 4-1/2 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Wawasee’s Smith rushed for 311 yards and four scores on 40 carries, and passed for 159 more yards and another touchdown.
Wawasee’s defense also played well enough to win. It held Concord without a first down in the opening quarter, and Concord moved the chains just 12 times in the game. Traditionally, the Minutemen are a high-powered offense, and they did rack up 274 yards total, the majority coming from bruising running back Dominick DeBroka, who gained 128 yards on 16 carries.
The Warrior special teams were the weak link Friday. Wawasee snapped the ball out of the end zone for a safety from punt formation in the second quarter. Late in the half, with Concord punting after a three-and-out, Wawasee was called for running into the kicker. The five-yard penalty gave Concord a first down, and two plays later Mitchell caught the touchdown pass from Jack Lietzan.
After Smith’s third touchdown in the third quarter, Mitchell returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to the Wawasee 25, and the Minutemen scored three plays later to reinflate their lead. After Cole VanLue’s eight-yard touchdown run drew Wawasee within two points in the fourth quarter, the Warriors kicked to Mitchell, and he made them pay again.
“That one was on me. I made the decision to kick that direction,” Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich said. “I thought we could cover it. My assistants tried to talk me out of it, and I didn’t listen, so I have to live with it.”
Smith was also picked off three times, as he threw more passes Friday night (28) than in the three previous games combined. Wawasee also lost a fumble, and thus the turnover battle 4-2.
“Yeah, the special teams and the turnover battle killed us. They say you gotta win the turnover battle and you gotta hit ‘em. I told the boys I thought we were more physical than them, that we did everything we could. But the turnovers killed us.”
Smith got a little help from his friends. Noah Wadkins rushed nine times for 67 yards, and VanLue had four rushes for 31 yards and a score. Paul?Mendoza caught four passes for 79 yards.
On the 2016 Wawasee team, however, Smith is the man.
“I told Tyler ‘this is your team. Put them on your back and see where we go,’ He’s a good football player; he’s a good kid. It kills me that we performed the way we did on offense and (came up short),” Ekovich said. “We need more work on our special teams, and we’ll get that done next week in practice.”
So while close, Ekovich and the Warriors aren’t interested in feeling good after the potential for victory was so close.
“I hate the term moral victory,” said Ekovich. “Absolutely hate it. But Concord’s got a good program, with great athletes and a good team. And we went toe-to-toe. Hopefully this is something we can use to continue to grow and develop.”
Concord improved to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference, and will host goshen Friday. Wawasee fell to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the NLC, and will host conference front-runner NorthWood Friday night.
CONCORD 49, WAWASEE 40
W 7 14 13 7 – 40
C 7 19 10 13 – 49
W C
1st downs 21 12
Rushing yds 452 152
Passing yds 159 112
Comp-Att-Int 9-28-3 5-13-0
Total yds 611 274
Fumbles/lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties/yds 5/45 5/45
Punts/avg. 4/41.0 4/43.8
First Quarter
C – Cedric Mitchell 70 punt return (Josh Gorball kick) 10:39, 7-0
W – Tyler Smith 30 run (Ryan Edington kick) 2:27, 7-7
Second Quarter
C – Safety: Wawasee snapped ball out of end zone 11:21, 9-7
C – Gorball 35 FG 7:45, 12-7
C – Dominick DeBroka 14 run (Gorball kick) 6:12, 19-7
W – Smith 1 run (Edington kick) 4:06, 19-14
C – Mitchell 48 pass from Jack Lietzan (Gorball kick) 1:32, 26-14
W – Jacob Hand 25 pass from Smith (Edington kick) :12.3, 26-21
Third Quarter
C – Gorball 41 FG 10:56, 29-21
W – Smith 3 run (Edington kick) 5:36, 29-28
C – Lietzan 16 run (Gorball kick) 4:25, 36-28
W – Smith 7 run (kick blocked) :50.6, 36-34
Fourth Quarter
C – Lietzan 13 run (pass failed) 11:43, 42-34
W – Cole VanLue 8 run (run failed) 4:40, 42-40
C – Mitchell 75 kickoff return (Gorball kick) 4:29, 49-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Wawasee, Smith 40-311, Alec Rosbrugh 2-41, Noah Wadkins 9-67, VanLue 4-31, Dylan Hepler 1-2; Concord, Lietzan 5-23, DeBroka 16-128, Mitchell 1-1
Passing – Wawasee, Smith 9-28-159 yds, 1 TD, 3 Int; Concord, Lietzan 5-13-112 yds. 1 TD, 0 Int.
Receiving – Wawasee, Paul Mendoza 4-79, Wadkins 1-7, Rosbrugh 2-29, Hand 2-44.
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