He's the center of the offensive line, yet Warsaw Community High School senior Mike Schlitt is far from being the center of attention.
He's touched the ball more times this season than running back Andy Conrad, a 1,000-yard rusher for the Tigers, but one won't find Schlitt's or his fellow offensive linemen's names in a newspaper box score.No, the life of an offensive linemen is far from glorious.
But what Schlitt, who earned All-Northern Lakes Conference Honorable Mention honors this season, and his buddies senior Brad Shroyer and juniors Jimmy Dove, Kyle Allison, Doug Caverly and Alex Nulf have done is worth recognizing.
"I don't care what anybody says, the offensive line wins football games, so does the defensive line," said Warsaw line coach Matt Thacker, who moved from Southport and played his senior season of 1994 for the Tigers. "They don't get enough credit, but I'm telling you, that's who wins football games."
Warsaw's line will have to be on top of its game Friday, as the Tigers (7-4) host the eighth-ranked Fort Wayne Snider Panthers in the championship game of Class 5A Sectional 3.
The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. at Fisher Field. The sectional championship appearance is just the second in school history for the Tigers, who lost to Snider in the 2002 title tilt.
Friday's game marks the first time Warsaw has hosted a sectional championship game in football.
"My class is the only class in Warsaw history to host a sectional championship game," said Schlitt. "We want to leave our legacy. We're playing in the sectional championship game, and we're excited about it, but we want Warsaw football to get to the point where it's like 'Oh, we're playing in a sectional championship,' and it becomes a routine to play for a sectional championship."
Schlitt, a very enthusiastic Notre Dame and Indianpolis Colts fan, said one of the most important things about a winning team is team chemistry.
Warsaw head coach Troy Akers gave Schlitt credit for organizing gatherings in the offseason. Schlitt said he and his offensive line mates would eat together at Pizza Hut, and that they have started at eating together at Wings Etc.
While it may sound small, the idea is to spend time together and promote unity and chemistry.
"All the great teams have great team chemistry," said Schlitt. "One of my friends, Chris Neely, played on the conference championship team (for Warsaw) in 1990. He told me, 'It's not that we're better than you guys, we just had great team chemistry.' I think that's the most important aspect for a great team, you have to have great team chemistry."
What the Tigers will be up against Friday night is a Snider team that averages 44 points per game, while giving up just 11 points per contest.
The Panthers will come to Fisher Field Friday evening with a 10-1 record, the only blemish a 32-13 setback to Class 4A No. 1 Fort Wayne Dwenger on Oct. 5.
Since that loss, the Panthers have outscored Fort Wayne Wayne, Fort Wayne North and Huntington North by a combined score of 155-9.
"There were some factors in that game," Akers said. "First of all, Dwenger is a very good team. And secondly, Snider had some guys banged up. But yeah, I think Dwenger woke up a sleeping giant. They had some kids banged up, but what that did was build depth. They have kids that can make big plays. They have kids on offense that can take it to the house."
One player Akers was talking about in particular is senior running back Brent Bostic, a four-year varsity player for coach Russ Isaac's squad.
In last week's win at Huntington North, which entered the game with a 9-1 mark, Bostic led the Snider rushing attack with 148 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown run.
Ivan Negahban added 100 yards rushing, including a 60-yard touchdown run.
"They've got some kids that are average mixed in with some kids that are very explosive," Akers said of the Panthers, who in the past 17 years under Isaacs sport a very impressive 182-29 record. "Not that they have any weaknesses, but we have some kids that could start for Snider."
Akers said his players, after beating Fort Wayne Northrop 48-16 in the sectional opener and then beating Fort Wayne South 14-7 last week, know what to expect as far as Snider's speedy players.
The difference between those schools and Snider, Akers said, is Snider will be more disciplined and has a great coaching staff.
Under Isaacs, Snider has won 11 sectional titles, seven regional crowns, three semistate championships and the 1992 state championship.
All that said though, Akers said his team needs to show up Friday night and "play to win."
"It's important in any game or any sport or any activity, the objective is to play to win," said Akers. "If we play as fast as we can, as hard as we can, as long as we can, I think we have as good a chance as anybody. I think that belief is a big thing. The kids have to believe they can win. The kids need to realize they have an opportunity to write a whole new chapter in Warsaw football history. The script has been there, it just hasn't been written yet."
