Coach Phil Jensen's challenge to his Warsaw football team was simple – have fun. The Tigers certainly did that, as they beat Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge 14-7 at Fisher Field in a Homecoming game that started Friday night and was finished Saturday afternoon because of a lengthy delay for lightning. The Tigers, now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the NLC, trailed 7-0 at halftime Friday when school and game officials postponed the remainder of the game. They came out Saturday and answered Jensen's challenge to have fun, scoring on a pair of Michael Jensen touchdown passes, making key defensive stops and snapping a three-game losing streak. “The challenge that I had for them was simply have fun,” said the elder Jensen. “We've had enough drama, we've had enough heartache, we've had enough disappointment. I told them this weekend is all about having fun, no matter what happens. And you know what, they came out today and played like it. They had some fun, and hopefully now we get going on Monday and keep getting better.” En route to their first conference win of the season, which dropped Northridge to 3-2 overall 1-2 in the league standings, the Tigers flipped the script on the Raiders. Northridge opened the game Friday night with a touchdown drive that took 9:24 off the clock, a drive that was capped off by a 1-yard Dean Ridenour plunge into the endzone. On Saturday, it was Warsaw that dictated the flow of the game. “We did to them what they did to us last night,” said Warsaw's fiery coach. “(Northridge coach Tom Wogomon) was thinking kick us down in the endzone, back us up, field position becomes important. Last night we did the same thing to them, and they marched right down the field and put it to us. And then today, we did it not once but twice ... two key drives. That was big.” Warsaw tied the game when Jensen connected with junior classmate Jeremy David on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 9:29 left in the third quarter. With 5:30 remaining in the third quarter, Jensen and senior Riley Rhoades connected on the game-winning touchdown pass from four yards out. To go with its offensive execution, Warsaw also got some impressive play from its defense, including sacks from linebacker Dylan Childers and lineman Drew Brock, and an interception from Landan Perry. Returning after missing two games because of an injury, Childers led the Tigers with nine tackles, while Lane McClone added 8.5 tackles, Perry had eight stops and Brandon Reinholt and Brock chipped in with five tackles each. Offensively, Warsaw tallied 287 total yards to Northridge's 258. Jensen, a week after completing 35 of 70 passes for 430 yards in a loss at Memorial, led the Tigers to the win this week by completing 11 of 20 passes for 121 yards with two scores and no interceptions. Thomas Hickerson caught two of Jensen's passes for 46 yards, while Rhoades reeled in three passes for 32 yards. David and D’Andre Street finished the game with two catches each, tallying 18 and 16 yards, respectively. Will McGarvey led the Tigers' ground game with 17 carries for 90 yards, while Jensen tucked the ball and ran three times for 45 yards and Rob Sullivan added 31 yards on eight carries. For Northridge, Matt Miller completed 3 of 9 passes for 17 yards. He threw one interception. Miller led the Raiders in rushing with 87 yards on 22 carries, while Ridenour rushed 21 times for 86 yards and the team's only touchdown. Miller was making his first start, replacing sophomore Nick Hooley, who broke his foot in a Week 4 loss at Plymouth. Warsaw travels to Goshen this week, while Northridge entertains NorthWood. After not winning a game last season, and posting just three wins over the past three seasons, Goshen is 4-1 this year. The Redskins suffered a heart-breaking loss Saturday, falling 24-20 to Concord after giving up a touchdown in the final seconds. Warsaw has won the last seven meetings against Goshen. The elder Jensen knows his team can't afford to overlook them, however. “We know we're out of the conference race,” said Jensen. “Right now, it's got to be about us. We had a great healing moment today. Now let's see how good we can get. How much can we grow? If something freaky happens (in the conference), great, something freaky happens. But right now, let's just keep getting better.”
WARSAW 14, NORTHRIDGE 7 NR 7 0 0 0 — 7 War 0 0 14 0 — 14
Nr War 1st downs 17 12 Rushing yds 241 166 Passing yds 17 121 Comp-Att-Int 3-9-1 11-20-0 Total yds 258 287 Fumbles/lost 0/0 1/0 Penalties/yds 7/60 3/25 Punts/avg 5/45 4/41
First Quarter NR – Dean Ridenour 1 run (Cam Nickell kick) 2:36, 7-0 Third Quarter W – Michael Jensen 5 pass to Jeremy David (Andrew Mevis kick) 9:29, 7-7 W – Jensen 4 pass to Riley Rhoades (Mevis kick) 5:30, 1407 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Northridge, Matt Miller 22-87, Ridenour 21-86, Hunter Crisp 6-28, Brody Miller 7-28, Zack Welker; Warsaw, Will McGarvey 17-90, Jensen 3-45, Rob Sullivan 8-31. Passing — Northridge, M. Miller 3-9-17, 1 INT; Warsaw, Jensen 11-20-121, 2 TDs, 0 INT. Receiving — Northridge, Welker 1-9, Kurtis Hochstetler 1-4, Bryce Johnson 1-4; Warsaw, Thomas Hickerson 2-46, Rhoades 3-32, David 2-18, D’Andre Street 2-16, Sterling Hay 1-9
