After the Warsaw football team rushed the ball in their 36-14 Northern Lakes Conference home win over Northridge Friday night, the Tigers ran it some more. Amassing 331 rushing yards, 315 of which came between two players, the Tigers (2-3, 2-1 NLC) didn’t throw the ball in the second half against the Northridge Raiders (0-5, 0-3 NLC), helping put them back in the hunt for an NLC championship. Following Plymouth’s 35-0 loss to Elkhart Memorial Friday night, the NLC is cluttered with three one-loss teams (Warsaw, Wawasee, Plymouth), while Concord sits atop the standings at 4-0. After starting the season 0-3, the Tigers look to have found their groove, and the strategy hasn’t been too complicated. “Just pounding the football,” Warsaw coach Phil Jensen said about the game plan against the Raiders and last week at Elkhart Memorial. In their latest victory, pounding the football was the job of seniors Zach Rooney and Peyton Balazs. Rooney ran the ball 32 times for 175 yards and four touchdowns, while Balazs took the brunt of the second-half load with 29 carries for 140 yards and a score. “We felt we had the ability to rotate and keep Zach fresh,” Jensen said. “Peyton’s different than Zach. He’s more shoulders down, here we go north and south. Zach will do that, but he’s always looking for the big seam. To be able to change that up is nice.” In the first quarter, it was all Rooney, who carried the ball on 13 of the Tigers’ 20 plays, going for 78 yards in the frame and scoring on runs of 31 and five yards as Warsaw took a 14-0 lead. After trailing by two scores and being held to three-and-outs and just 17 total yards on its first three possessions, Northridge embarked on its lone scoring drive with 6:17 remaining in the half. Beginning from their own 20, the Raiders marched 80 yards on 12 plays, cutting the lead to 14-6 on a 1-yard run from sophomore quarterback Tanner Love. Warsaw was then called for a personal foul on the extra-point attempt, but instead of retrying a kick, Northridge went for two which they converted, resulting to a 14-8 Warsaw lead at the half. “I felt like our defense played real well, outside of that one series,” Jensen said. “We made some adjustments.” The Tigers did make some adjustments, limiting the Raiders to 34 yards in the second half, 14 of which came on the final two plays of the game. While the Northridge offense stalled out, the Tigers’ chugged along, this time behind Balazs, who ran for 121 yards on 23 carries in the final 24 minutes. “The offensive line picked it up in the second half and started moving bodies,” Jensen said. “We controlled the clock, which is what we want to do.” Controlling the ground game, Warsaw went in front 22-8 six seconds into the fourth quarter when Rooney scored from five yards out, but the Raiders tried to be pesky. On the ensuing kickoff, Northridge senior Austin Bencsics ran right up the middle for a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown, but the extra point was missed, leaving the Raiders behind 22-14 with 11:41 remaining. Down by eight with plenty of time left on the clock, Northridge perfectly executed a pooch kick, recovering it at the Warsaw 33-yard line. But just when things were looking bad for Warsaw, Love mishandled a handoff to his running back on first down, and when Warsaw senior Lance Lybarger pounced on the ball, he sealed it for the Tigers. Following the fumble, Warsaw scored on its next two possessions, one ending on a 34-yard run by Rooney and the other one a five-yard scamper by Balazs. “We got the ball back and took care of business,” Jensen said. “We create adversity, but we’ll get better by working on those things. “Our kids rose to the challenge,” he added. “They’re growing up and I’m real proud of them. I’m really excited.” Running the ball as much as Rooney and Balazs did, they proved they’ve grown up. “They’re going to get (the ball) a lot,” Jensen said about his two runners, who ran the ball on 84 percent of Warsaw’s plays. “They work hard in the weight room. They’ve worked hard on their conditioning and they’re getting more accustomed at what we’re all about.” Next up for the Tigers is a trip to 1-4 (0-3 NLC) Goshen, who is fresh off a 26-10 home loss to Concord. “That’s a good football team with a new coach,” Jensen said about the Redskins. “They’ll be getting better. I know coach (Mike) Cheviron from way back. He’ll have his team ready, but we have to take care of us.”
