Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
His name won't appear in any box score like Rob McKibben's will, but as Troy Akers put it, Ryan Thornburgh was the hero of Friday night's Northern Lakes Conference battle between rivals Wawasee and Warsaw.
Akers, in his second year as head coach at Warsaw, saw first hand what Thornburgh and his offensive line mates did for McKibben and what Wawasee did to the Tigers in a 42-14 thrashing at Tigers Athletic Complex.
"There's the hero of the game right there, (No.) 61," Akers said of Thornburgh, a 6-foot, 230-pound senior guard. "They run every play behind No. 61. He pulls or traps every time they run the ball. McKibben is a great running back, take nothing away from him, he broke tackles and played well, but give credit to Wawasee's offensive line."
Behind the offensive line of seniors Creighton Kaiser and Thornburgh and juniors Todd Jones, Richard Lechlitner and Kyle Champoux, McKibben ran wild on the Tiger defense.
The 5-10, 195 pound senior who spent his first three years with the Warriors as a starting inside linebacker and a backup to the now-graduated Jordan Swain carried the ball 29 times for 269 yards.
He matched the number on his jersey with four touchdowns and easily surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
McKibben entered Friday's battle for the traveling W Trophy with 866 yards and nine touchdowns on 123 carries.
Eighth-year Wawasee head coach Joe Rietveld said earlier in the week there was no secret what the Warriors were going to do - run the football.
He wasn't lying, as Wawasee rushed the ball 47 times for 392 yards.
The Warriors scored all six of their touchdowns with their potent running game.
"He's a work horse," Rietveld said of McKibben. "A lot of credit goes to the offensive line. They opened up a lot of holes."
The 28-point win improved the Warriors to 5-2 overall on the season and to 3-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Warsaw, which trailed 13-0 but scored two first-half touchdowns to take a short lead, fell to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the NLC.
The win was also Wawasee's third straight over their Kosciusko County rivals, cutting Warsaw's advantage in the overall series to 24-12. Since the traveling W Trophy was donated by Patricia and Robert Reiff in 1986, the Tigers have won 13 times, while Wawasee has now won seven times.
The Tigers started the game with the football after Wawasee deferred, and the Tiger offense struggled and went three-and-out.
On Wawasee's first possession of the game, the Warriors capped off an eight-play, 67-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown trot from McKibben. Mike Gunderson's kick gave the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 6:26 remaining in the first quarter.
After Wawasee's defense held the host Tigers to another three-and-out, junior quarterback Joe Leach ran in from four yards out, scoring his sixth rushing touchdown of the season.
The drive started at the Warriors' 18-yard line with 4:44 remaining in the opening quarter, but a holding penalty set Wawasee back five yards.
The penalty, one of seven called on Wawasee, didn't faze the Warriors, as Leach found Lance Zimmerman for a 15-yard pass, which was followed by a 67-yard run by McKibben that set up Leach's scoring scamper.
Wawasee's extra-point kick attempt failed, and Warsaw trailed 13-0 with 3:11 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers' first score of the game came on an 11-yard pass from Mark Sudhoff to Chas Simpson with 1:30 on the first-quarter clock. Jake Rogers' extra-point kick was good.
Warsaw took the lead with 7:36 remaining in the first half when senior fullback Dale Wood powered his way in from a yard out and Rogers converted the extra-point kick.
Warsaw's offense threatened at times after that but couldn't find the end zone.
Wawasee's offense, on the other hand, continued to roll.
McKibben gave the Warriors the lead for good on a 10-yard run with 2:13 remaining in the first half. Andrew Mock's two-point conversion run gave Wawasee a 21-14 advantage.
McKibben later scored on runs of three and 24 yards.
"Rob can make a coach and an offensive line look good," said Rietveld
Sophomore Blake Thompson scored the game's final touchdown on a 39-yard run with 1:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Thompson finished the contest with six carries for 63 yards. Leach carried 11 times for 60 yards.
While Wawasee's offensive line opened holes all evening for McKibben to run through, it also kept the Tiger defense away from Leach, who was not sacked in the contest and who completed 10 of 11 passes for 104 yards.
McKibben caught three passes for 20 yards, while Heath Shock had two catches for 39 yards, Zimmerman two catches for 27 yards, Mock two catches for 16 yards and Austin Bender a catch for two yards.
"McKibben is an outstanding running back, but I thought Joe Leach did a great job running the offense," said Akers, who was a defensive coordinator and a head coach at Wawasee before joining Phil Jensen at Warsaw in 1996.
Sudhoff finished the game with 176 passing yards for Warsaw, completing 8 of 17 passes. He threw one touchdown pass and one interception.
Simpson led Warsaw with five catches for 120 yards. J.W. Maierle had one catch for 30 yards, while Jordan Fuller had one catch for 17 yards and Mitch Reinholt one catch for nine yards.
Simpson also led the Tiger ground game with two carries for 49 yards, 47 of which came on a reverse in the second quarter on the drive that set up Wood's one-yard touchdown run.
"We had opportunities, but things didn't go right," said Akers. "We caught them early with them not being able to keep up with our receivers, but I was not pleased with the second-half effort."
Warsaw hosts NorthWood Friday, while Wawasee entertains Elkhart Memorial for homecoming.
WAWASEE 42, WARSAW 14
Wawasee 13 8 14 7 - 42
Warsaw 7 7 0 0 - 14
Wawa War
First downs 22 10
Rushing yards 47-392 28-128
Passing yards 104 176
Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-11-0 8-17-1
Total offense 496 304
Fumbles/lost 2/0 2/0
Punts/avg. 2-34.5 3-36.0
Penalties/yards 7-40 4-20
First Quarter
Wawa -ÊRob McKibben 11 run (Mike Gunderson kick) 7-0, 6:26
Wawa - Joe Leach 4 run (kick failed) 13-0, 3:11
War - Mark Sudhoff 11 pass to Chas Simpson (Jake Rogers kick) 13-7, 1:30
Second Quarter
War - Dale Wood 1 run (Rogers kick) 14-13, 7:36
Wawa - McKibben 10 run (Andrew Mock conversion run) 21-14, 2:13
Third Quarter
Wawa - McKibben 3 run (Gunderson kick) 28-14, 8:12
Wawa - McKibben 24 run (Gunderson kick) 35-14, 1:39
Fourth Quarter
Wawa - Blake Thompson 39 run (Gunderson kick) 42-14, 1:37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Wawasee, McKibben 29-269, Leach 11-60, Thompson 6-63, Mock 1-0; Warsaw, Sudhoff 8-15, Tyler Hamman 7-21, Wood 5-19, Ben Davis 4-20, Simpson 2-49, Tommy Reinholt 2-4
Passing - Wawasee, Leach 10-11-104, 0 INT; Warsaw, Sudhoff 8-17-176, 1 TD, 1 INT
Receiving - Wawasee, McKibben 3-20, Heath Shock 2-39, Lance Zimmerman 2-27, Mock 2-26, Austin Bender 1-2; Warsaw, Simpson 5-120, J.W. Maierle 1-30, Jordan Fuller 1-17, Mitch Reinholt 1-9
