Out Of Leftfield (commentary)

By Daniel Riordan, Times-Union Sports Writer

As a Warsaw High School grad, and more importantly as a sportswriter, I shouldn't have a rooting interest in Wawasee's 4A state final game against Indianapolis Roncalli Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the RCA Dome.

But I do.

This team is just fun to watch. It's not three yards and a cloud of dust or mind-numbing doses of student body right.

Wawasee's offense is more reminiscent of the Indianapolis Colts than your typical high school.

The Warriors' lowest point total was 21 in the fourth game of the season against Concord, their only loss this year. Wawasee paid the Minutemen back in the opening round of sectional play to the tune of 48-9.

You have the combination of running back Jordan Swain and quarterback Kory Lantz, a duo that will remain synonomous in Syracuse for years to come. When it is all said and done, Swain and Lantz may go down as the most prolific quarterback/running back duo in state history.

Swain has run for more than 5,000 yards in his carreer as a four-year starter, while Lantz should eclipse the 5,000-yard passing mark sometime in the second half against Roncalli.

This team is equal parts tangibles and intangibles. The Warriors seem completely oblivious to any sort of pressure or nerves.

There was a play last week against Logansport in the semistate that defines this team.

The Berries grounded their way down field and got in the endzone for the first time all evening. The touchdown brought Logansport to within one score. On Wawasee's very next play, Swain rumbled his way 71 yards for a touchdown that Logansport never recovered from.

The play, a simple run off right tackle, was a total team effort. Lantz made adjustments at the line, the offensive line and tight end Ryan Kauchak blocked back Logansport's defensive front and downfield the wide receivers, namely Ryan Christner, gave Swain an unobstructed view of the endzone.

Christner, along with receivers Ben Champoux and Andrew Mock, give Wawasee an added dimension they've lacked in the past. All three are downfield threats that don't allow opposing defenses to crowd the box.

What's perhaps most interesting about this team is that besides Swain, nobody on this team is being looked at by D-1 schools to play football.

Some, like Kauchak, have the physical tools to play college football but get overlooked at a school with an enrollment of 998 tucked away in this quite lake community.

Roncalli has as many as seven kids who will be playing at places like Michigan State and Purdue.

The Rebels, unlike Wawasee, get the pick of the litter from every high schooler in the greater Indianapolis area.

But this isn't a David versus Goliath matchup.

While the Rebels are bigger at spots and the two-time defending 4A champs, this Warrior team isn't a sacrificial lamb.

These kids aren't "just happy to be here." Talk to this Wawasee team and they will tell you they expect to win and it's not lip service.

Forget the fact that about a third of the time in 4A, it's an open enrollment or parochial school that wins the state title.

Those teams that have fallen to Roncalli-type schools just didn't have the firepower this Wawasee team has.

And it's not just on offense. The Warriors' defense has kids who deliver hits that belie their size.

Linebackers Jeremy Curry and Rob McKibben delivered hits to Logansport that could be heard from a closed door press box while safties Tom Brown and Michael Conrad hit like linebackers. Cornerbacks Cole Garland and Kyle Spitler along with Brown and Conrad have allowed just 88 yards passing per game.

The defensive line of Wawasee is as tough and physical as any in the Northern Lakes Conference, the measuring stick league of tough linemen.

On special teams, Champoux is a kicker who hit a 50-yard field goal this year and Mock is a return man who on the RCA Dome turf could be dangerous.

So after your tryptophan hangover is gone and the holiday relatives have gone home, keep Saturday afternoon open and watch this Warriors team.

You won't regret it.