There wasn’t a full moon. It wasn’t quite Friday the 13th. Friday’s Northern Lakes Conference football clash at Fisher Field between the Concord Minutemen and host Warsaw Tigers, however, certainly had a bizarre feel to it. What was actually a conference championship game looked more like a season opener, as the teams combined for 152 yards in penalties, six turnovers, a blocked punt, a blocked field goal, a missed field goal and a blocked extra-point attempt. When all was said and done, Concord left town with a 34-9 win and a share of the conference title. The Minutemen, who have won their last five games in Warsaw, share the NLC crown with Plymouth, which beat NorthWood 38-21. “(Concord coach) Tim (Dawson) and I were talking, it wasn’t pretty,” Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said of the game. “Bottom line, we didn’t consistently get anything going.” The Minutemen improved to 7-2 overall, while Warsaw fell to 6-3. Concord and Plymouth finished the NLC portion of the season with 6-1 records, while Warsaw is 5-2, Wawasee is 4-3, Goshen is 2-5, Elkhart Memorial is 1-6 and Northridge is 0-7. Concord turned the ball over four times in the first half Friday, including fumbles on its first two possessions. Warsaw turned the Minutemen’s first fumble into a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Tristan McClone, taking a 7-0 lead with 7:34 remaining in the first quarter, but couldn’t capitalize on Concord’s other mistakes. The Tigers’ other points came on a safety in the third quarter when Tanner Dickerhoff tackled Concord quarterack Trevor Wilmore in the endzone, cutting the deficit to 21-9 at the time. “We talked about managing the clock, field position and cashing in on opportunities,” said Jensen. “We just didn’t do it. I felt like our defense was playing great, we just didn’t get enough going consistently on offense. It was always something, a penalty, a turnover, something.” The Tigers turned the ball over twice, both times via fumbles, and had six penalties for 47 yards. Offensively, the Tigers tallied 176 yards – 99 through the air and 77 on the ground. McClone, who entered the game 159 yards shy of breaking Rod Wildman’s single-season school record of 1,652 yards, finished with 69 yards on 27 carries. Jason Taylor added 22 yards on three carries. Jake Mangas started the game at quarterback and completed 1 of 5 attempts for 30 yards, while Austin Head, who hadn’t played since an injury in the first half of the game at Wawasee two weeks ago, played the second half. Head completed 7 of 13 passes for 69 yards. When the Minutemen weren’t turning the ball over or committing silly penalites, they were able to move the ball up and down the field. Concord finished the game with 395 yards of offense – 208 through the air and 187 on the ground. “Hats off to Concord,” said Jensen. “They’ve got a great program and Coach Dawson does a great job. They deserve to win the conference.” Wilmore completed 13 of 21 passes for 208 yards with two touchdowns an an interception. He also carried the ball 14 times for 83 yards and a pair of scores. A couple weeks ago, Wilmore was standing on the sideline as the backup quarterback while Ryan McKibbin was the starter. A decision by Dawson to play Wilmore has certainly paid off. In the last two weeks, Wilmore has generated 712 yards of offense with his feet and arm. “He adds a whole new dimension,” Jensen said of Wilmore. “McKibbin is good, but Wilmore adds a whole new dimension. Hats off to Coach Dawson for making the decision to put him in there.” Larry Smith added 51 yards and a touchdown on seven carries for Concord, while DuWhan Alford rushed nine times for 43 yards. Adam Glanders was Concord’s big-play guy in the passing game. He finished the game with 138 yards and two touchdowns on nine catches. The Minutemen have won 20 of their last 21 NLC games. Now they turn their attention to the Class 4A state tournament, as they travel to Kendallville Friday to play the East Noble Knights. Warsaw will host No. 8 Penn in the first round of the Class 5A tournament. “We’ve got to lick our wounds and get on with it,” said Jensen. “If you don’t wanna do it, don’t come back. I know I’ve got a group of kids who will be ready next Friday. We’re gonna study, prepare and be ready for the Kingsmen.”
CONCORD 34, WARSAW 9 C 0 14 7 13 — 34 W 7 0 2 0 — 9
C W 1st downs 17 11 Rushing yds 187 77 Passing yds 208 99 Comp-Att-Int 13-21-1 8-18-0 Total yds 395 176 Fumbles/lost 3/3 2/2 Penalties/yds 11/105 6/47 Punts/avg 1/39 6/26
First Quarter W – Tristan McClone 1 run (Caleb Klusman kick) 7:34, 7-0 Second Quarter C – Trevor Wilmore 20 run (Ryan Tepe kick) 10:43, 7-7 C – Wilmore 27 pass to Adam Glanders (Tepe kick) 7:15, 14-7 Third Quarter C – Wilmore 5 pass to Glanders (Tepe kick) 11:33, 21-7 W – safety 1:44, 21-9 Fourth Quarter C – Wilmore 2 run (Tepe kick) 9:08, 28-9 C – Larry Smith 38 run (kick blocked) 4:49, 34-9 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Concord, Wilmore 14-83, Smith 7-51, DuWhan Alford 9-43, Jerrell Poindexter 2-5; Warsaw, McClone 27-69, Jason Taylor 3-22, Connor McCammack 1-6, Tim Perkey 5-6, Jake Mangas 2-(-13), Austin Head 3-(-13). Passing — Concord, Wilmore 13-21-208, 2 TDs, 1 INT; Warsaw, Head 7-13-69, 0 TD, 0 INT, Mangas 1-5-30, 0 TD, 0 INT Receiving — Concord, Glanders 9-138, Dakota Simon 1-32, DuWhan Alford 1-23, Franko House 1-9, Taylor Miller 1-6; Warsaw, McCammack 4-36, Taylor Cone 3-55, Trevor Pruitt 1-8
