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GOSHEN - Just call it deja vu all over again.
The scenario that played itself out at Friday's Goshen Jamboree was all too familiar for Wawasee fans. The Warriors, led by tailback Shawn Johnson, made enough big plays to make for some excitement. However, they also gave up enough plays defensively to end up on the short end of the stick.
Wawasee put together a mini goal-line stand to play Concord to a scoreless tie in its first quarter. Then against Jimtown, the Warriors fell 14-6.
Coming off a 1-8 campaign a year ago, Wawasee showed it could be in a lot of games with its scoring punch this season. Whether or not the Warriors can consistently stop their opponents remains to be seen. In the two quarters, Wawasee gave up a combined 260 yards of total offense.
But of course jamborees don't really count. Coaches use the two quarters to evaluate players in game-like situations.
Warrior coach Gene Mitz wanted to get a closer look at his team - on film - before evaluating his team's jamboree performance.
"That will tell us a lot," Mitz said. "I wasn't pleased with the foolish penalties."
Against the Jimmies, Wawasee was flagged for three personal fouls. The 15-yard penalties weren't all the fireworks in the 12-minute period.
Jimtown took the opening possession of the quarter and marched - more like sprinted - 70 yards on four plays. The final scoring run came on a 51-yard scamper by senior Bill Sharp.
The PAT was good and Jimtown led, 7-0, at the 10:36 mark.
The Warriors, showing they had a little firepower of their own, then went on a scoring march. Fullback Scott Ousley culminated the drive with a four-yard effort to make it 7-6 with 6:39 remaining.
But the Warriors were flagged for a personal foul after the touchdown and the two-point conversion attempt - from 18 yards out - failed.
The scoring drive included a 32-yard run by Johnson, an 18-yard run from quarterback Ryan Mikel and a key third down pass conversion from Mikel to Luke Matz.
Mikel had two nice runs around the left end, picking up 14 yards on another effort.
"Ryan Mikel is a threat on the perimeter as a quarterback," Mitz said.
All total, Johnson rushed the ball 14 times for 64 yards, including 40 yards on four attempts versus the Jimmies. That was the good news. The bad news was that Wawasee gave up more big plays than it made.
After closing the gap to 7-6, Jimtown put together three running plays of 13 yards or more before quarterback Courtney Lehman found Jim House on a 36-yard scoring pass. The extra point made it 14-6 with 3:56 to play, and that's the way the scoring ended.
"We played inconsistent as a team," Mitz said.
It was an accurate assessment. Stuck in between the big plays it gave up, Wawasee's defense did have its bright moments.
Tyler Amick provided good run defense and a solid pass rush from the defensive line. Chad McClintic played a decent linebacker, and Luke Matz had his moments playing end. Johnson also showed he is going to be an impact player on defense in the backfield, making a touchdown saving tackle on a 28-yard pass play against the Minutemen that brought the ball to the Warrior four.
Two plays later, Matz ended the only real scoring threat in his team's quarter against Concord with a fumble recovery on the Wawasee seven-yard line after Amick stopped Jimtown on a first-and-goal rush attempt.
The Warriors had only one first down against Concord.
Wawasee opens its regular season at Fort Wayne Carroll Friday.
