Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊThe traveling "W" trophy will not be traveling very far.
After Warsaw's football team defeated Wawasee 63-13 Friday night in Syracuse, the Tigers retained ownership of the trophy they have held for the last five years. And Warsaw set at least three school records in the process.
Brad Seiss rushed 26 times for 288 yards, breaking Rod Wildman's record of 281 set in 1973 against Columbia City.
Then Adam Sisson set a new mark for point after touchdown kicks with nine. The previous mark of seven was set by Larry Pinkerton in 1973 when the Tigers played Rochester.
Warsaw's total offense of 631 yards bested the record of 579 set against Manchester in 1973 as well.
After Warsaw scored the first touchdown of the game on a 50-yard Seiss run with 9:27 to play in the first quarter, both the Tigers and Wawasee were scoreless for the remainder of the first quarter.
However, the Tigers set the tone early in the second quarter with a fake punt that turned into a 39-yard touchdown pass from senior tight end Kris Hueber to Brad Seiss to put the Tigers up 14-0 on the Warriors.
The Tigers went on to score three more times in the quarter, twice on passes from Jared Scrafton to Josh Buck (75 yards and 30 yards) and once on another Seiss run (65 yards), putting the Warsaw squad up 35-0 at the half.
"I knew we were ready to play tonight," said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen. "This game is one that we are alway ready to play. We wanted to bring home the 'W' trophy."
Seiss started the second half much like he started the first - with a touchdown run. Seiss scampered nine yards to put the Tigers up 42-0.
However, Wawasee refused to give up. The Warriors got the ball on their 37-yard line to begin their quest for their first touchdown. After quarterback Brent Doty rushed for seven yards and then completed a 7-yard pass to Travis Klenke, Wawasee sat on the Warsaw 48- yard line.
On the next play, Doty connected with Klenke for a 48-yard pass that got the Warriors on the board for the first time in the game. After Chad Wooten's kick sailed through the uprights, Wawasee had reduced Warsaw's lead to 42-7 with 7:03 left in the third frame.
Seiss scored once more in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 49-7 lead going into the final quarter of play.
But the Warsaw scoring onslaught was not finished. Grady Randall ran for two more touchdowns (15 yards and 59 yards) in the fourth quarter.
Doty and Klenke connected once between the Randall scores, but the Tigers had built a lead the Wawasee squad was unable to overcome, and Warsaw earned a 63-13 win.
"Obviously we didn't do the things we needed to tonight," said Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld. "We did a lot of things wrong. Football is a simple game. You need to block and tackle, and we did not do that tonight. Warsaw made some fantastic plays, and they played well. They are a good team."
Warsaw improves to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in the NLC. The Tigers will travel to Nappanee on Friday to play NorthWood, the only other undefeated team in the NLC, for first place. Wawasee falls to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in NLC play. The Warriors play at Mishawaka Marian in a non-conference game Friday.
"The most important thing is that we improved our record to 6-1, and we stayed undefeated in the conference," said Jensen. "That means we'll play for the championship next week."
WARSAW 63, WAWASEE 13
Warsaw 7 28 14 14 - 63
Wawasee 0 0 7 6 - 13
War Waw
First downs 14 13
Rushes-yards 50-433 14-39
Passing yards 188 225
Comp.-att.-int. 5-9-0 21-33-1
Total offense 631 264
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-65 7-62
First Quarter
War - Brad Seiss 50 run (Adam Sisson kick), 7-0 War, 9:27
Second Quarter
War -ÊSeiss 39 pass from Kris Hueber (Sisson kick), 14-0 War, 11:50
War -ÊJosh Buck 75 pass from Jared Scrafton (Sisson kick), 21-0 War, 4:22
War -ÊSeiss 65 run (Sisson kick), 28-0 War, 1:31
War - Buck 30 pass from Scrafton (Sisson kick), 35-0 War, 0:00
Third Quarter
War -ÊSeiss 9 run (Sisson kick), 42-0 War, 8:30
Waw -ÊTravis Klenke 48 pass from Brent Doty (Chad Wooten kick), 42-7 War, 6:23
War -ÊSeiss 4 run (Sisson kick) 49-7 War, 2:48
Fourth Quarter
War -ÊGrady Randall 15 run (Sisson kick), 56-7 War, 8:02
Waw -ÊKlenke 14 pass from Doty (kick failed), 56-13 War, 6:23
War -ÊRandall 59 run (Sisson kick), 63-13 War, :32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Warsaw: Brad Seiss 26-288, Jared Scrafton 10-32, Grady Randall 7-92, David Muta 3-12, Stanton Moore 2-6, Ryan DeGeeter 2-3; Wawasee: Logan Lees 7-22, Brent Doty 7-17
Passing - Warsaw: Scrafton 4-8-0, 149 yards, 2 TDs, Kris Hueber 1-2-1, 29 yards, 1 TD; Wawasee: Brent Doty 20-31-1 226 yards, 2 TDs, Mike Siri 1-2-0 (-1 yards), 0 TD.
Receiving - Warsaw: Josh Buck 2-105, Jon Dock 1-15, Adam Sisson 1-13, Chris Parker 1-16, Seiss 1-39; Wawasee: Travis Klenke 10-112, Bobby Likens 4-40, Josh Roa 1-10, Andrew Packer 2-16, Logan Lees 2-25, Brian Adkins 1-23, Guy Simmons 1-(-1).
