DUNLAP – For the first 22 minutes of Friday’s game at Concord, the Wawasee Warriors gave the Minutemen all they wanted, trailing by a mere seven points two minutes before halftime. Then again, when was the last time Concord nursed a lead into halftime? The Minutemen scored a pair of touchdowns on drives of 61 and 75 yards in a minute and 57 seconds, then took the second half kickoff and drove 77 yards in 1:28 for another touchdown. Concord ran only 10 plays to score the 21 points. Minutemen reserves added three fourth-quarter scores in the 54-7 rout. Wawasee can be left wondering what might have been on a field where the Warriors haven’t left victorious since the 2004 postseason. Early in the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Gage Reinhard found classmate Clayton Cook down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown pass that cut the Concoprd lead to 14-7. After a slow start, in part due to poor field position, the Warrior defenders held Concord’s high octane offense to a single first down over three possessions, and were gaining confidence in the team’s ability to challenge the Class 4A sixth-ranked Minutemen. After giving up a first-quarter touchdown, the Warrior D shut down Concord over a 16 minute stretch. “They got a couple of huge plays on us, then all of a sudden we got our feet underneath us and it turned into a ballgame,” said Wawasee head coach Tom Wogoman. “Then a couple of huge plays right before half and boom! We’re struggling.” Concord began the second-quarter scoring blitz when Ryan McKibbin completed passes of 36 and 35 yards before sneaking the ball over from one yard out for the first TD. Wawasee appeared ready to answer when a pair of Cook receptions took the ball into Concord territory. The turning point was when Concord intercepted Reinhard for the third time in the half, giving the home team one final opportunity with 27 seconds on the clock. Adam Glanders caught a pair of passes, including a tipped pass while on his back three yards short of the end zone. DuWhan Alford powered the ball across the goal line as time expired in the half to stake Concord to a 28-7 lead. “When it’s 21-7, it’s one thing but when they got that last one we just kinda folded the tents up and understood what was going to happen,” said Wogoman. Wawasee hurt its cause with a total of eight turnovers, including four fumbles and an interception returned 99 yards by Concord reserve Nick DeFreese after a nifty tackle-breaking run in the fourth quarter. “You go up against a team that’s as strong as these guys, and as physical as these guys, you’ve got to play good football,” Wogoman said. “Two things happened; turnovers and physicality. It’s that simple.” Concord head coach Tim Dawson applauded his team’s defense after the game. “Our defense put us in a great position and we were able to compliment that by scoring quickly,” he said. “Our offense is still a little inconsistent, but our defense and special teams have played well for us all year.” Both teams will host Northern Lakes Conference games Friday. Concord (4-0, 3-0 in the NLC) entertains Goshen, while Wawasee (2-2, 1-1) will look to rebound against NorthWood. CONCORD 54, WAWASEE 7 W 0 7 0 0 — 7 C 14 14 7 19 — 54
W C 1st downs 9 18 Rushing yds 64 180 Passing yds 198 264 Comp-Att-Int 13-25-4 15-26-0 Total yds 262 444 Fumbles/lost 7/4 2/1 Penalties/yds 1/4 7/55
First Quarter C – DuWhan Alford 34 run (Ryan Tepe kick) 7:34, 7-0 C – Ryan McKibbin 30 pass to Chris Martin (Tepe kick) 5:59, 14-0 Second Quarter W – Gage Reinhard 67 pass to Clayton Cook (Jordan Acton kick) 9:18, 14-7 C – McKibben 1 run (Tepe kick) :58, 21-7 C – Alford 3 run (Tepe kick) :00, 28-7 Third Quarter C – McKibben 60 pass to Adam Glanders (Tepe kick) 10:22, 35-7 Fourth Quarter C – Jackson Marlow 6 run (Tepe kick) 11:10, 42-7 C – Nick DeFreese 99 INT (conversion failed) 6:41, 48-7 C – Jerrell Poindexter 36 run (conversion failed) 2:07, 54-7 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Wawasee, Derrick Sorensen 19-46, Mylon Betts 10-18, Gabe Rhodes 6-4; Concord, Alford 11-88, Poindexter 2-35, McKibbin 4-25, Cullen Fisher 1-18. Passing — Wawasee, Reinhard 13-25-198, 1 TD, 4 INT; Concord, McKibbin 15-26-264, 2 TD, 0 INT. Receiving — Wawasee, Clayton Cook 7-128, Brian Clark 2-34, Rhodes 2-20; Concord, Glanders 4-117, Dakota Simon 3-45, Franko House 3-10, Chris Martin 1-30.
