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Fresh off the program’s first ever appearance in the state title game, the 2025 season was an up and down one for the Warsaw football team. The Tigers compiled a 6-4 record, going 5-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference before falling 45-28 to eventual semi-state participant Concord in the opening round of 5A sectional play.
A major component in the team’s inconsistency last season came with the fact that a majority of the impact players that helped Warsaw make the trip down to Indianapolis graduated following the 2024-25 school year. This left a lot of empty roster spots available for kids with not a ton of experience to fill them. Heading into 2026, that group, which includes over a dozen returning starters, will look to showcase some of that experience and mold it into success.
“We’ve got a lot of returning experience, and we’ll find out pretty quickly if it’s good experience or bad experience, because it was both last year,” Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis said. “We’ve got to be another year older, another year better and another year stronger, not just another year older.”
Curtis, who is entering his 36th season as a high school football coach, and ninth with the Tigers, has to be happy with the fact that perhaps his strongest returns at any position come in the form of his running backs and full backs. With rushing yards accounting for just a tick under 90% of the team’s total offense last season, the fact that the Tigers are returning seniors Michael Schenck (eleven touchdowns), Wyatt Harman (400+ yards) and Tucker Reed (13 yards per carry) is music to Curtis’ ears.
“We’ve got three dudes back and a little bit of speed for a change. These guys are not only fast, but they’re tough runners too,” Curtis said. We’re going to be the team that we usually are. The defense is going to be the one that determines who carries the ball based on how they react to the snap.”
While some positions have clear-cut starters and depth charts, there are a ton of position battles taking place at Tiger camp. Curtis mentioned athletes vying for spots on both the offensive and defensive lines, both of which being groups the Warsaw head coach pointed out will need to be much improved from last year for the orange and black to have a shot at some postseason success.
Another spot that will feature a new face getting reps is the most important one on the field: quarterback. While the man under center for the Tigers will drop back to pass less than most QBs in the Hoosier state, Warsaw’s signal caller has the crucial job of handling the snap properly before making the right read for the team’s triple-option offense. As of now, senior Ethan Rivich is battling an ankle injury, leaving a majority of the battle to juniors Brady Sauer and Mark Haynes, who has a season of starting experience for Wawasee before transferring.
“Pretty much every position has some extreme competition going on, and this is just one of those,” Curtis said. “Nothing is going to be handed to these guys. That can only make you better.”
The Tigers will begin the 2026 campaign by welcoming a pair of Fort Wayne schools to Fisher Field over the first two weeks of the season. Warsaw and Snider will open up the season against each other for the second straight year. The Tigers were victorious on the road last season, winning 38-30. An added wrinkle to this year’s matchup is that with Warsaw switching over to 5A Sectional 11, Snider is now a potential playoff opponent. Fort Wayne South Side as well as Fort Wayne Wayne make up the rest of the bracket.
From a possible future postseason opponent to a previous one, the Tigers will take on Northrop the following week. It’ll be the first ever regular season meeting for the two schools, but they have met six times in the postseason back when Warsaw was competing in 6A. The last meeting between the Tigers and Bruins came in 2013, a 40-20 Warsaw win.
From there, the team begins NLC play with a trip to Andrews Field to take on NorthWood. That’s followed up by a home game against Curtis’ old team Mishawaka before the Tigers travel to Wawasee to battle for the “W” Trophy. The team then returns home for its final two home games against Goshen and Plymouth before facing off against Concord at the new Jake Field and wrapping up the regular season at Northridge.
“I would say that Concord, Mishawaka, NorthWood and Northridge are four schools that stick out to you. Then you have new coaches at Goshen, Plymouth and Wawasee, so you don’t know what to expect there. Thankfully, Warsaw doesn’t have a new coach. My swipe card worked this morning.”
On paper, it’s certainly a schedule that can pose some challenges for the Tigers. But if you ask Curtis, he’s counting on it.
“There were quite a few times last year where things weren’t going our way and we got real quiet and had that thousand-yard stare. We should pray for adversity. We should pray for battle scars. When things are going bad, that builds your toughness and I think some of the best teams we’ve had here have fought through the fire,” the Warsaw head coach said. “Everything we do, we do it to get ready for November. One sectional title equals five conference titles. Every preparation, every hard hit, every adjustment, it’s so we’re playing our best football when it matters most.”
