Tigers Get First Football Sectional TitleGoing into Friday night, the Warsaw football program was 0-12 against the Penn Kingsmen.
They left Fisher Field with a 1-12 mark and a 6A sectional championship, taking home the trophy with a 35-18 win over long-time nemesis Penn.
The Tigers didn’t throw a single pass, choosing instead to run the ball and keep the clock moving. They used the strength of 100-yard rushing games by Juan Jaramillo (146 yards and a touchdown), Wyatt Amiss (140 yards and a TD) and Blake Marsh (101 yards and three touchdowns) and a tremendous defensive effort to claim the crown.
After the defense limited Penn to a punt on their opening possession, the Tiger offense proceeded to mount a 9-minute scoring drive that included a three successful fourth-down conversions, courtesy of Jaramillo.
In its entirety, the drive lasted 20 plays and was punctuated by Blake Marsh’s 9-yard score less than a minute into the second quarter.
The Kingsmen pushed back with several long runs before junior Kyle Riffel scored on a 1-yard run. The score sat at 7-6 after senior Tommy Castline missed the PAT.
On the first play of Warsaw’s next possession, Jaramillo fumbled at the 34, putting Penn in prime position to score. However, after an outstanding layout by junior Aaron Greene that knocked junior Nick Favilla’s third-down pass incomplete, Castline missed a yard field goal that would have given Penn the lead.
Unlike their first lengthy drive, Warsaw scored their second touchdown of the game in only five plays. These included runs of 25, 28 and 15 yards by Amiss, the last of which went for a score with 4:19 left in the second quarter.
After receiving the ball off a turnover on downs with 18 seconds to go in the half, Amiss ran the ball up the middle for what appeared to be the final play of the quarter as the clock ran out. But a horse-collar tackle gave the Tigers the ball at the 19 and time for one final play.
Missouri-bound kicker Harrison Mevis, though, had his kick blocked – Penn’s eleventh blocked kick of the year.
The Penn offense took advantage of several Warsaw misplays to score two quick touchdowns in the third quarter and take the lead. After Jaramillo lost a fumble on their first drive of the period, Favilla threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior Tiegan Bothun. The two-point attempt fell incomplete, but Penn scored on the first play of its next possession – a 30-yard pass to Bothun – when a blocked Warsaw punt gave Penn the ball at the 30.
“I could feel it slipping away at that point,” said Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis, “but these kids weren’t about to let that happen; they rose up.”
Right after the Kingsmen went on top, Jaramillo broke out a 77-yard touchdown run to retake the lead. Marsh capped off the next Tiger possession with a five-yard run that pushed the lead to 28-18.
Faced with a still-potent Penn offense, the Warsaw defense elevated their level of play in the fourth quarter. The Tigers forced two key turnovers – an interception and fumble recovery by Luke Anderson – to keep Penn off the scoreboard.
To put the game out of reach, Marsh ran for a 42-yard touchdown with 2:40 remaining to make the final score 35-18.
Although fumbles were Curtis’ only major issue with the game – the Tigers lost three – he thought that they also might have fueled a second-half flurry by Jaramillo.
“He was playing ticked after those fumbles,” said Curtis. “You’d obviously rather not have them, but in a way, they worked out for us.”
Curtis continued on to praise their defense and stated how proud he was of his team for pushing back after giving up the lead.
“I’m a lucky coach,” said Curtis. “Penn has a benchmark football program. If you can compete with them, you’re doing something right. I’m excited about what this win means for these kids and this community.”
The 12th-ranked Tigers travel to No. 4 Merrillville (11-1), a 10-9 winner over host Crown Point, in Friday’s regional contest. Game time and ticket information will be available early next week.
WARSAW 35, PENN 18
P 0 6 12 0 – 18
W 0 14 14 7 – 35
W — Blake Marsh 8 run (Harrison Mevis kick)
P — Kyle Riffel 1 run (kick failed)
W — Wyatt Amiss 15 run (Mevis kick)
P — Tiegan Bothun 17 pass from Nick Favilla (pass failed)
