COLUMBIA CITY - Bullied by U.S. 30 rival Warsaw for more than a decade, the Columbia City Eagles took their frustration out on the Tigers Friday night at Max Gandy Athletic Field.
Making big plays in all three phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams - the host Eagles beat Warsaw 35-16 in the season opener for both high school football teams."This was a total team win for us," said second-year Columbia City coach Randy Hudgins, whose team snapped a 12-game losing streak to Warsaw. "We created opportunities with our defense and made big plays on offense. We're light years ahead of last year."
Senior quarterback Logan Rehrer had a part in all five of Columbia City's touchdowns, throwing for four of them and running for another.
He threw scoring strikes of 44 and 18 yards to classmate Thomas De La Cruz in the first quarter, giving the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
His 3-yard pass to junior Connor Slavich made it 21-7 in the second quarter, while his 1-yard plunge gave Columbia City a 28-7 advantage in the third quarter.
After the Tigers cut the lead to 28-16 with a safety - Columbia City's Jared Murphy intercepted a pass in the end zone, came out and then stepped back into the end zone - and a 1-yard touchdown run by Tyler Adams, Rehrer found Slavich from 30 yards out with 1:49 remaining in the game to account for the final score.
Rehrer finished the game 11 of 20 for 189 yards. He threw one interception.
"Logan has made an effort to improve," said Hudgins. "He understands the mental aspect, and he understands he has to be a leader for us. I can't say enough about what he's done."
While Rehrer and the offense game Columbia City's fans reason to cheer, so did the Eagles' defensive unit, which came up with five interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Murphy led the effort with three interceptions.
Columbia City High School's student broadcasters kept saying it over the airwaves in the press box, and the Eagles back it up on the field - Friday's game featured "a completely different Columbia City team."
"Rehrer is a good quarterback," said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen. "I'm happy for him and them, but we've got to play better than that. I thought I was a better coach than that. We've had a problem the last three years, we're a good frontrunner, but if something bad happens we start looking around for someone to help us. We start wondering what's gonna happen next. It's my job as a coach to fix that."
The Tigers turned the ball over on their first three possessions and allowed Columbia City to score on its first two drives of the game.
"You've gotta fight, you've gotta compete," said Jensen. "When we face a little adversity we start looking around and hope someone is gonna take care of things. That's something we're gonna have to work on."
While Rehrer has been a starter for four seasons now, Warsaw quarterback Jeremy Coppes was making just his second varsity start under center.
He finished Friday's contest 8 of 22 through the air for 135 yards with five interceptions and one touchdow pass.
His 26-yard scoring strike to classmate Ryan Lowe cut the lead to 14-7 in the second quarter.
Coppes also carried the ball 22 times for 49 yards.
Adams led the Warsaw ground game with 14 carries for 98 yards.
Senior tight end Jalen Roscoe led the Tigers in receiving with four catches for 45 yards.
For Columbia City, De La Cruz led the way with four catches for 80 yards, while Slavich made four receptions for 60 yards.
Losing the season opener for just the third time since 1989, the Tigers - a team looking for an identity after graduating a number of offensive and defensive standouts from last year's sectional runner-up team - will try and turn things around in Week 2 when they host Homestead.
