Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen said he would have liked to be happier, but even in a loss he couldn't be more proud of his team.
The Tigers fell 24-21 to the visiting Huntington North Vikings Friday in a first-round Class 5A Sectional 3 game at Fisher Field.After closing out the regular season with lopsided losses to NorthWood and Concord, giving up 54 and 55 points, respectively, Jensen felt like his players came together, played hard and represented themselves well.
"This was a great, inspired effort by our young men," said Jensen, whose team finished the season with a 5-5 record. "I couldn't be prouder of them. I'd like to be happier right now, but I couldn't be more proud of them."
Huntington North coach Rief Gilg had to be proud of his team too, as the Vikings improved to 8-2 on the season and advanced to next week's sectional semifinal game.
Huntington North will play Fort Wayne South, a 34-7 winner over Fort Wayne Northrop. In the other Class 5A Sectional 3 semifinal next week, Fort Wayne Snider, a 41-14 winner over Homestead, will battle Fort Wayne North, which beat Carroll 35-13.
The Tigers and Vikings have met four times in sectional play, with Warsaw winning in 2002 and Huntington North winning in 2003, 2004 and last night.
In their most recent win over Warsaw, the Vikings scored 14 unanswered points in the first half and also got a key 29-yard field goal from Mitch Vezeau to build a 17-14 lead at halftime.
"Huntington North is a very good football team," said Jensen. "They've got a good running back, a good quarterback, some good receivers. This was a game with two similar schools size-wise, kid-wise. Their quarterback did a good job of controlling the offense. We're working at it. It wasn't for a lack of effort on our part. I couldn't be more proud of these kids."
The host Tigers got on the board first, as junior quarterback Justin Clemens powered his way in from 33 yards out. Matt Franco's kick gave Warsaw a 7-0 lead with 7:17 to play in the first quarter.
Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Huntington North quarterback Clinton Myers barrelled his way in for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns, giving the Vikings a 14-7 lead with 11:10 remaining in the first half.
With 8:36 to play in the second quarter, Clemens plunged in from two yards out to tie the score at 14-all with Franco's extra-point kick.
The Vikings took a 3-point lead into the locker room after Vezau connected on a 29-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half.
Joey West gave Huntington North a 24-14 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run, the first touchdown in the game not scored by a quarterback, with 8:03 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Warsaw's Andy Conrad countered with a 5-yard touchdown that the deficit to three at 24-21 with 4:46 to play.
The Tigers stopped the Vikings short on a fourth-and-6 play to get the ball back with 1:29 remaining in the game, but a Warsaw pass attempt on fourth-and-2 fell incomplete and Huntington North ran the clock out and escaped Fisher Field with a postseason win.
Heath Frame led Huntington North with a game-high 160 yards on 28 carries.
For Warsaw, Clemens led the way with 18 carries for 140 yards.
Conrad, in limited action because of a shoulder injury, rushed nine times for 38 yards.
Clemens also completed 8 of 20 passes for 98 yards, the majority of which went to Jalen Roscoe, who caught four passes for 70 yards.
Warsaw's Zack Linky caught three passes for 24 yards, while Cody Kindle had one reception for four yards.
