Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - The Warsaw Tigers football team moved to 3-0 in their 2026 Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) opener, outlasting the NorthWood Panthers 27-22 on Michael Schenck’s two-yard run riding the hip of junior giant Brock Lambert’s lead block with 27 seconds left.
Schenck (22 carries, 79 yards) rushed for far less than his 219 yards the previous Friday, but his shorter runs either sustained drives, set up ensuing touch downs opening the perimeter for Tucker Reed (7 ca./88 yds.) who rolled up three first quarter scoring runs on outside pitches for 3, 30, and 13 yards respectively.
Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis noted, "Michael Schenck showed a lot of guts the entire evening. Tough, tough kid. There is a reason he’s a senior captain.”
The Tigers opened the first stanza with a 21-7 lead with two of their scores following Panther miscues. Jack Bradford, whose final drive interception – his second of the evening – shattered any NorthWood hopes for a comeback victory when the Tiger offense punctuated the contest coming out to take a knee with 16 seconds on the game clock.
Bradford set up Reed’s first score with an interception at the Panther 34-yard line with only 40 ticks off the opening frame clock. The Tigers used the next 5 ½ minutes en route to Reed’s first TD run.
NorthWood only needed 18 seconds to tie the score when Gage Lechleitner found Brandt Sark who beat the Tiger secondary for an 80-yard scoring receptions.
The Tiger offense matched that short drive with a 3-play, 59-second scoring drive set up by junior quarterback Brady Sauer’s penultimate run of 49 yards, followed by Reed’s 30-yard dash on another outside pitch from Sauer.
Tiger noseguard Jacob Stofer recovered a fumble at NorthWood’s 19-yard line eventually leading to Reed’s aforementioned third scoring run at the first period’s two-minute mark.
Warsaw junior quarterback Brady Sauer keeps distance between himself and NorthWood's Spencer Elliott while picking up yardage in the first quarter...Nieter
Bart Curtis summed up the second quarter better than a stat sheet or a reporter’s verbiage could sum it up.
“Here’s the thing,” Curtis remarked. “We were up 21-7 with the ball inside the 20-yard line and we turned it over, next thing you know, it’s 21-14.”
The Panther TD came courtesy of Ethan Miller (12 car., 111 yds., 2 TDs) barreling through two Warsaw linebackers and two defensive backs near the end zone on his 31-yard blast moving Northwood to within one score 21-14.
The teams took to their lockers with this same score intact.
The Panthers capitalized on two of the Tigers’ four red zone turnovers for the evening.
Northwood eventually took the lead on another Miller scoring run, this time a 19-yard score, where he ran through a valiant linebacker meeting him at the endzone line. The 5’10” 210 lb. running back used NorthWood’s classic direct snap play they’ve mastered for at least a decade to score, then he added an extra point conversion run to give the Panthers the lead 22-20 before Sauer, Reed, and Schenk – with the help of at least eight different Warsaw “Wild Hog” linemen – orchestrated the winning drive.
The Tigers moved the ball 80 yards in the last 3:40
Sauer threw one red zone interception in the second half along with the aforementioned red zone fumbles, but – like you’d expect a quarterback and a leader to do – Sauer kept his eye on the windshield instead of staring up at the rearview mirror.
Sauer responded to adversity throughout the evening, played with pain, and made another big run – a 26-yard quarterback keeper – moving the Tigers to midfield en route to their game-winning score.
Sauer shared how he navigated the evening’s challenges turning adversity into opportunity, choosing to acknowledge the unit’s success, and not just his own.
“The teammates,” Sauer said. “It was all about keeping each other’s heads up. Even when stuff went South, everyone was motivated to win that game. I surrounded myself with my teammates all night. They never gave up, so I COULDN’T give up.”
Warsaw’s defense was resourceful too, with Ty Martin – a junior linebacker – adding an interception among its four forced turnovers in the contest.
Head coach, Bart Curtis finished his remarks about the win extolling the advantages of strong senior leadership demonstrated by an incredibly special group of upperclassmen.
“When you have quality seniors… and we have a strong senior class who have been together for a long time… they find ways to get things done. I’m just really excited for our kids because they found a way to get it done.”
NorthWood fell to 1-2 and 0-1 in the NLC. Warsaw will return home Friday September 11 to maintain its winning streak when it hosts Mishawaka for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
