MIDDLEBURY — Big plays and a late defensive stand gave the Warsaw football team a much-needed victory at Northridge Friday night. Winning the Northern Lakes Conference game 24-21, the Tigers (3-2, 2-1 NLC) kept their conference hopes alive by implementing an offensive game plan that featured just one first-half run, that being a quarterback sneak. Putting the game in senior quarterback Jake Mangas’ hands, Warsaw coach Phil Jensen avoided Northridge’s staunch run defense and tested its secondary. “We thought they were going to pass on us, but my goodness,” Northridge coach Tom Wogomon said. “We have a good run defense with our front four, and I think Phil knew that. They did a great job.” Completing 25 of 40 attempts, Mangas threw for 268 yards and two scores. “Going into a big game like this, my natural instinct is, ‘We have to run the ball and run the ball and shorten the game,’” Jensen said. “Tonight, I felt like we couldn’t do that. With our athletes, our strength is in our perimeter and Jake’s a smart quarterback.” Mangas’ favorite target was junior Riley Rhoades, who caught 10 passes for 157 yards, the brunt of which came on a 67-yard touchdown with 10:18 remaining in the game that put the Tigers on top 24-14. “That play is drawn to get a first down, but with our athletes in space, Riley Rhoades catches the ball, makes a move down the sideline and shows that 400 (meter) speed, getting it to the end zone,” Jensen said. That big play was one of many for Warsaw, with the first being a blocked punt by junior Ross Armey following Northridge’s first series, which set the Tigers up with a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line. In great field position, Mangas hit junior Brock Riley on a slant for a score, putting the road team in front 7-0. The lead increased to 14-0 with 6:13 remaining in the first half after junior Landan Perry intercepted a Payton Carson pass and returned it 26 yards for a score. Not going away from its game plan of running the ball, Northridge managed to fight back, drawing within 17-14 after a 3-yard score by senior Cam Ridenour with 42 seconds left in the third. Feeling the heat, Rhoades then caught his long TD score on third-and-14, giving his team some breathing room, which it ended up needing desperately. After the Warsaw defense forced a three-and-out, the Tigers’ offense sputtered too, going three-and-out, but on the punt attempt, the snap sailed over sophomore Andrew Mevis’ head. Once Northridge had recovered the ball, it was set up at the Warsaw 12-yard line, and the Raiders needed just one play as senior Christian Miller ran it right up the middle to cut the score to 24-21 with 6:48 left on the clock. Looking to hold off the Raiders’ comeback, the Warsaw offense again struggled and had to punt after three plays, giving the ball back to Northridge 60 yards away from the end zone with 5:20 to play. Sticking to its ground game, Northridge got the ball down to the Warsaw 19, but then the Tigers’ defense stood up, forcing a turnover on downs after Wogomon opted to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the 14. Wogomon originally planned to kick a 31-yard field goal, but thought better of it, after seeing his kicker miss a couple extra points in previous games, although he was 3-for-3 against Warsaw. “We just aren’t consistent there enough,” he said. “I thought about doing it, then called a timeout. I think it was the right move for us to go for it.” After getting the ball back with 1:17 left in the game, Mangas ran the ball for three of Warsaw’s 11 total attempts, although one was a sneak and the other two were in the victory formation. “It’s a big win,” Jensen said. “It keeps us with one loss in the conference. Something may happen with Plymouth (who’s 3-0 in the NLC and has beaten Warsaw), you never know, but our focus right now is with Goshen (who we play Friday night at home).” Although Northridge did run for 244 yards and had Ridenour go for 92 and Miller for 96, it was without its most dynamic back in senior Travis Schlabach. Injuring his ankle in Week 4’s 35-19 loss to Plymouth, Schlabach tried to give it a go prior to Friday’s game, but could not. “We thought he could go, thought he could go and went all the way into tonight,” Wogomon said. “He tried to go on it, but said he wasn’t there yet.” Wogomon pointed out Miller performed very well in Schlabach’s absence, but Warsaw’s physicality in the first half put his team in a hole it couldn’t dig out of. “Plain and simple, Warsaw just came out here and played a more physical game than we did,” he said.
WARSAW 24, NORTHRIDGE 21 W 7 7 3 7 — 24 N 0 7 7 7 — 21
W N 1st downs 14 15 Rushing yds -24 244 Passing yds 268 30 Comp-Att-Int 25-40-0 3-9-1 Total yds 244 274 Fumbles/lost 4/1 1/0 Penalties/yds 4/30 6/65 Punts/avg 5/42.4 3/34.0
First Quarter W – Jake Mangas 9 pass to Brock Riley (Lucas Klusman kick) 9:34, 7-0. Second Quarter W – Landan Perry 26 interception return (Klusman kick) 6:13, 14-0. N – Payton Carson 13 pass to Jake Wargo (Cam Nickell kick) 5:33, 14-7. Third Quarter W – Klusman 44 field goal 5:24, 17-7. N – Cam Ridenour 6 run (Nickell kick) 0:42, 17-14. Fourth Quarter W – Mangas 67 pass to Riley Rhoades (Klusman kick) 10:18, 24-14. N – Christian Miller 12 run (Nickell kick) 6:48, 24-21.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Warsaw, Ethyn Bradley 2-(-2), Mangas 9-(-22); Northridge, Miller 16-96, Ridenour 16-92, Carson 15-51, Dean Ridenour 1-5. Passing — Warsaw, Mangas 25-40, 268 yds, 2 TDs; Northridge, Carson 3-9, 30 yds, TD, INT. Receiving — Warsaw, Rhoades 10-157, Riley 5-31, Sterlin Hay 2-29, Jeremy David 3-19, Bradley 2-18, Kyle Mangas 2-11, Thomas Hickerson 1-3; Northridge, David Welker 1-20, Wargo 1-13, D. Ridenour 1-(-3).
