FORT WAYNE - Phil Jensen said he didn't know the exact statistics, but what the Warsaw football coach was sure of was the fact that big plays on special teams often lead to momentum swings and, ultimately, victories.
Friday night, it was Jensen's Tigers that appeared to have momentum, methodically working the clock and powering their way to a 10-0 lead at Homestead.The host Spartans, however, blocked a Warsaw punt early in the second quarter and went on to to score 31 unanswered points en route to a 31-17 victory.
"The kids answered the bell," said Jensen. "We got off to a great start and went toe-to-toe with a good team. But for the second week in a row, special teams hurt. I don't know the exact statistics, but when a team blocks a punt, they usually go on to win. That was a huge momentum swing."
Homestead turned the blocked punt into a 24-yard field goal with 7:33 to play in the first half, and then put its first touchdown on the board when Steven Espinoza sped away from the Warsaw defense on 34-yard rush with 2:52 remaining in the half.
"We talk to our kids about that kind of stuff all the time," Homestead coach Chad Zolman said of the blocked punt. "That play really changed the momentum of the game. Traditionally, Warsaw does something like that, get out to a lead or something, and we have to answer. That's why we value this game so much. Warsaw is always a huge test for us."
It was a test that the Spartans certainly passed.
After the teams were deadlocked at 10 after two quarters of play, Homestead put 14 points on the board in the third quarter.
The first score came on a 2-yard run by sophomore quarterback Zach Terrell.
Terrell followed his rushing touchdown with a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior Colin Harruff, and then Espinoza powered his way in from a yard out to give the Spartans a convincing 31-10 advantage with 4:09 remaining in the game.
"That's what good football teams do," said Jensen. "They make plays when they have to. Homestead made plays."
Though he threw a pair of interceptions - passes that were picked off by Tigers Matt Abbitt and Nick Simpson - Terrell was still well in control of the Homestead offense.
He finished the game 13 of 24 for 172 yards and also carried the ball seven times for 21 yards.
"He does a good job controlling his emotions," Zolman said of Terrell, who threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another in last week's season-opening win over Huntington North. "He threw those two picks, but he stayed steady for us."
Harruff was Terrell's favorite target, as the 6-foot-2 senior caught eight passes for 127 yards.
"Harruff has started for three years for us," said Zolman. "He works hard at every thing he does. We've come to expect those things from him."
Espinoza led Homestead's ground game with eight carries for 79 yards, while Cody Appenzeller carried eight times for 48 yards.
To start the game, it was Warsaw senior Andy Conrad that showcased his ability to run the ball.
The 6-1, 200-pound Conrad powered his way to 102 yards in the first quarter alone, the majority of which came on an 81-yard play that put the Tigers at the 1-yard line.
Conrad's long run, a play in which he read his blocks, changed directions and then delivered a number of stiffarms before being brought down from behind, set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by senior quarterback Justin Clemens.
Conrad finished the game with 133 yards on 20 carries.
"Andy ran hard," said Jensen. "Our offensive line is getting better. We made some plays, there's still plenty of positives we can take from this."
After Clemens' touchdown, Abbitt intercepted a Terrell pass on the second play of Homestead's ensuing drive. Abbitt's interception led to a 28-yard field goal by Matt Franco.
The Tigers didn't score again, however, until reserve quarterback Jeremy Coppes connected with Brock Anson for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds remaining in the game.
Coppes had what looked like a 52-yard touchdown run called back, as Coppes' fake handoff fooled the Homestead defense, as well as the officiating crew.
The officials blew the play dead, and though Coppes was in the open field with the ball by himself, he was only credited with a 20-yard gain.
Coppes, who finished the contest with 44 yards on six carries, played the majority of the fourth quarter after Clemens went down with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.
Jensen said it was too early to speculate the severity of Clemens' injury.
Clemens completed 4 of 11 passes for 34 yards.
Three of his completions were caught by senior Zack Linky, who finished the game with 31 receiving yards.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-1 on the season, while Homestead improved to 2-0. The Spartans now own a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series against Warsaw.
The Tigers open Northern Lakes Confernce play Friday by hosting U.S. 30 rival Plymouth.
Last season, Warsaw took a 2-0 record to Plymouth and got roughed up by a physical Plymouth team.
"If you look at last year, we started the season by winning our first two games," said Jensen. "We were off to a great start, and maybe we were thinking we've arrived. But then we went to Plymouth and got our nose bloodied. We're going to find out what we're made of next week. This game (with Homestead) is something we can use to learn from. This could turn out to be a good thing."
Plymouth will enter next week's game with a 2-0 record after beating Bremen 48-6 and beating Rochester 42-7.
