NAPPANEE - Because of NorthWood High School's football tradition and what the program has stood for over the years, Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said he enjoys going to Andrews Field in Nappanee.
Friday night, however, the Panthers weren't very hospitable, as they beat the Tigers 22-9 in Northern Lakes Conference action."It's a great atmosphere here," Jensen said of playing at Andrews Field, where Warsaw has won just once in the last 20 years. "Football matters here, and their kids play that way. It's a great environment. We haven't had had a lot of wins here, but because of what NorthWood's program stands for, the history and the way they do things, this is one of the places I like to come."
With touchdown runs of 3 and 4 yards, respectively, from Coy Brown and Derek Diemer, the Panthers took a 14-0 lead and never looked back, as they improved to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the NLC.
Warsaw, which cut the lead to 14-3 with a 39-yard field goal by Scott Smyth as time expired in the second quarter, fell to 1-7 overall and 1-5 in the NLC.
"I've said this before, but there's a disconnect between me and the kids," said Jensen. "It's something we've got to fix, we've got to get better. The players know they're going to hear it from their buddies, they're going to hear it in the hallways at school, they're going to hear it in the community. We've just got to get better."
Entering Friday's game, the Tigers were averaging just under 13 points per game. NorthWood's defense held Warsaw's offense out of the end zone, as the Tigers' points came on Smyth's field goal and a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Cameron Fritzel.
While Jensen wasn't happy his team gave up 271 yards on the ground to the Panthers, the Warsaw skipper was disappointed once again with his team's mental mistakes.
"The mental mistakes just continue to hurt us," said Jensen. "We can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We're not good enough to overcome those mistakes. I was happy, though, that in the second half we played with a sense of something. We played a little harder in the second half. In the first half we looked like a bunch of zombies out there."
In the first two quarters of play, Warsaw managed just four first downs and allowed NorthWood junior Coy Brown to rack up 125 yards rushing and a touchdown on 15 carries. Brown ran for a 22-yard touchdown in the second quarter but it was negated by a holding penalty.
"He's a good running back," Jensen said of Brown, who finished the game wtih 29 carries for 192 yards. "He ran for over 200 yards last week against (Elkhart) Memorial."
Diemer finished the game with 13 carries for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns. After scoring the game's first touchdown on a 4-yard run with 4:21 remaining in the second quarter, he added a 22-yard touchdown with 6:53 to play in the fourth quarter.
In all, the Panthers amassed 271 yards on the ground on 48 carries. NorthWood quarterback Zac Coleman completed 6 of 10 passes for 43 yards, as the Panthers finished the game with 314 yards of total offense.
The Tigers, on the other hand, had just 131 yards of total offens - 107 on the ground and 24 through the air.
The majority of Warsaw's offense came from senior quarterback Jeremy Coppes, who carried the ball 22 times for 87 yards and completed 2 of 13 passes for 24 yards.
Coppes threw one interception, while Coleman tossed two picks.
The Panthers, who haven't had a losing season since 1972, finish the regular season at Plymouth Friday.
The Tigers, who trail NorthWood 32-10 in the all-time series, host Concord in the regular season finale.
"We've got a whole other challenge next Friday," said Jensen. Concord doesn't care that we're 1-7. They're going to come to Warsaw and take it right at us."
