If the Northern Lakes Conference were a 7-on-7 league, or if Phil Jensen was managing a fantasy football team, the Warsaw Community High School coach wouldn't be so concerned with finding some linemen.
As it is, the NLC has some tradition-rich programs that play a physical style of football, and Jensen and his staff of assistants know they need some muscle up front in the trenches."We've got a lot of talent on the perimeter, both offensively and defensively," said Jensen, who is in the second season of his second stint with the Tigers. "We're not a 7-on-7 team, we've got to find some kids to block and tackle. If that was the case, if we were a 7-on-7 team, we've got a lot of talent coming back."
Warsaw was 5-5 overall last season and 3-4 in the NLC.
The Tigers return eight of 11 starters on offense, including quarterback Justin Clemens, running back Andy Conrad, receivers Zack Linky and Lucas Denlinger and tight end Jaylan Roscoe.
"We've got our leading receiver back (Linky)," said Jensen, who is 87-48 in his 14th season overall and 58-36 in his 10th season at Warsaw. "We've got a very good quarterback and a very good running back coming back. We've got an athletic tight end in Jaylan Roscoe and other experienced receivers with Lucas Denlinger and Keelan Simpson. We're pretty good at the skilled positions, we need to find some guys to block for them."
Among those that could see significant playing time on the offensive line are Zach Fulton, Joe Gibbs, Jake Johnson, Tyler Larrew, Larry McClelland, Austin Jones, Zac Erba and Keegan Bruner.
Among the most experienced returners on defense are backs Tom Daniels, Brendan Barber, Nick Simpson and Matt Abbitt. Experienced defensive linemen include Josh Anglin and McClelland.
"Defensively, we're the same way," said Jensen. "We've got experience on the perimeter, guys in the secondary, guys on the end. We need to find some guys up front in the middle."
Jensen lists Plymouth, Concord and NorthWood as the teams to beat in the conference, but with some protection from the offensive line and some pressure from the defensive line, the Tigers very well could be in the mix.
"Weíve got a group of kids that had a lof of success when they were younger," said Jensen. "That doesn't mean they're automatically going to have success at the varsity level. We've got to show up and work hard every day. Plymouth is our first conference game, that's a big one for us. We'll find out right away how we stack up. Last year they showed us our weakness, and I mean weakness. We just weren't strong enough. We're stronger now than we were a year ago, and we'll find out right away how we stack up. Plymouth is a great football program."
The Tigers open up NLC play by hosting Plymouth Sept. 4.
Warsaw opens the season Friday by hosting Columbia City, followed by a trip to Homestead in Week 2.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around the program," said Jensen. "By no means does that mean we've arrived, but we've got good numbers. We've got 79 kids in the top three kids and 62 freshmen. Our junior high numbers are up and we had 250 kids at our Pee Wee camp. We talk so much about being a champion on and off the field. I'm a firm believer that if you do the right things, the wins and losses will take care of themselves."
