Ridge's Big Plays Spoil Warsaw's HomecomingA team that likes to grind it out and dominate the time of possession, the Northridge Raiders showed off some big-play, quick-strike ability Friday night against the Warsaw Tigers.
In a 24-6 high school football victory at Fisher Field that spoiled the Tigers’ homecoming, Northridge scored touchdowns on runs of 20 and 42 yards, as well as a 66-yard pass.
Northridge coach Tom Wogomon said after the game that style is not his team’s M.O., but it definitely served his squad well Friday night.
The win improved the Raiders to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, while Warsaw fell to 2-3 and 1-2.
“Coming into tonight we said we’re just gonna have to kind of plug on them,” said Wogomon, now in his fifth year at Northridge after spending five years as the head coach at Wawasee.
“And we weren’t able to plug. That’s kind of been what our M.O. is, grind down the field. We did have a 10-minute drive that kind of set the tone in the second half, but those big plays are great for me to see and great for our team to see because that’s not who we are, a big-play offense.”
Warsaw opened the game with possession, but fumbled the ball away on the fifth play.
It took the Raiders just two plays to convert the turnover into a touchdown. Quarterback Nick Hooley ran for one yard, and then running back Conner Graber trotted in from 42 yards out.
After the unfortunate start, the Tigers responded and kept themselves in the game.
Warsaw’s defense stiffened, and while the offense didn’t find the endzone, sophomore Harrison Mevis kicked field goals of 38 and 43 yards in the second quarter and the hosts trailed just 7-6 at halftime.
“We battled,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen, whose team had won the last three meetings with the Raiders. “Our defense kept doing what it’s designed to do, which is bend but not break, and they gave us some chances. We blocked a punt like we had planned on, got a turnover, but we’ve got to figure out how to get seven (points) out of those instead of three.
“But still, only down 7-6 at halftime against a really good football team, I’m pleased. (Senior) Will McGarvey is out (with a foot injury). Bryce Garner is a good running back, but Will is a special running back, and with our inexperience at other spots that hurts and more of the burden falls on (quarterback) Tristan (Larsh).
“Northridge started ramping up the heat and it made it tough. They’re a good football team, well-coached. We’ve just got to keep working on getting better.”
Northridge pushed its advantage to 14-6 on just the fourth play of the second half when Hooley and Brad Schwartz hooked up for a 66-yard scoring strike.
The Raiders later used an 18-play drive that chewed the final 7:37 of the third quarter and the first 2:28 of the final frame off the clock.
Facing third down from Warsaw’s 20-yard line after a holding penalty, Northridge backup quarterback Julius Graber – giving Hooley a breather after he took a few hard hits – pushed the lead to 21-6 with a touchdown run.
The Tigers fumbled the ball away on the ensuing kickoff, and after three consecutive incomplete passes Northridge stretched the lead to 24-6 with a 37-yard Nolan Laughlin field goal.
Along with the two fumbles Warsaw lost, which led to 10 Northridge points, the Tigers were also whistled for 90 yards in penalties.
“We’re good, but we’re not good enough to overcome the mental breakdowns that we keep having, whether it’s in our protection, or whether it’s on defense,” said Jensen.
Northridge finished the game with 362 yards of total offense to Warsaw’s 198.
Hooley, who missed the majority of last season with a leg injury, was 9 of 21 for 193 yards for the Raiders.
Graber carried 10 times for 80 yards, while Schwartz finished with three catches for 94 yards.
For the Tigers, Larsh completed 10 of 23 passes for 123 yards and carried 11 times for 16 yards. Garner led the ground game with 11 carries for 32 yards.
McGarvey, who reached 2,000 career yards in last week’s win at Elkhart Memorial, had 16 yards on one carry Friday and left the game with an injury.
Eli Owen led Warsaw’s receiving corps with three catches for 67 yards; Zach Riley had four catches for 31 yards.
“I’ve got to do some soul searching and find ways I can help Tristan more,” said Jensen. “Because he’s an athlete, and he’s a great kid working hard, and he’s got some great support around him. We’ve just got to figure out what the right formula is.”
Warsaw travels to Goshen Friday, while Northridge hosts defending conference champion NorthWood.
NORTHRIDGE 24, WARSAW 6
NR 7 0 7 10 — 24
W 0 6 0 0 — 6
NR W
1st downs 15 11
Rushing yds 169 75
Passing yds 193 123
Comp-Att-Int 9-21-0- 10-23-0
Total yds 362 198
Fumbles/lost 2/1 2/2
Penalties/yds 6/70 9/90
Punts/Avg 7/25 7/37
First Quarter
NR – Conner Graber 42 run (Nolan Laughlin kick) 9:23, 7-0
Second Quarter
W – Harrison Mevis 38 FG 2:54, 7-3
W – Mevis 43 FG :11, 7-6
Third Quarter
NR – Nick Hooley 66 pass to Brad Schwartz (Laughlin kick) 10:38, 14-6
Fourth Quarter
NR – Julius Graber 20 run (Laughlin kick) 9:32, 21-6
NR – Laughlin 37 FG 9:13, 24-6
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Northridge, Conner Graber 10-80, Tug Modglin 7-33, Julius Graber 4-32, Hooley 11-17, Mason Troyer 3-5, Cam Smith 1-4, Kyle Carson 1-(-2); Warsaw, Bryce Garner 11-32, Tristan Larsh 11-16, Will McGarvey 1-16, Johnny Feldman 1-11
