SYRACUSE – Out with the old, in with the new. That’s what Wawasee did with an all-ground game offense, as the host Warriors eventually pulled away for a 21-7 win over Griffith Friday night. Wawasee had zero passing yards, and only attempted two passes. Warrior junior quarterback Tyler Smith and junior running back Noah Watkins used a lot more grit than finesse in combining for 221 of Wawasee’s 278 yards on the ground. Smith scored all three Warrior touchdowns. The new system is taking a lot of getting used to, not just for Warrior fans, but for players and coaches as well. While Wawasee caught a few breaks, the win can but attributed to the conditioning work put in during the offseason. “The biggest thing for us is (the offense) is new for the coaches, too, just as much as it’s new for the kids,” Warrior head coach Josh Ekovich said. “It took a while to break (Griffith’s) code. That’s the biggest thing for us as a coaching staff is ‘break the code.’ It took longer than it should have, but obviously at the end of the game in the fourth quarter we held the ball for 10 minutes, ran the clock, gave our boys a little bit of a rest in between each play and finish each play pretty well.” After Smith scored his first touchdown with about four minutes left in the first quarter, the rest of the half and most of the third quarter was a bit of a stalemate. At the end of the third stanza, Wawasee recovered a Panther fumble, but penalties stalled the ensuing drive. After back-to-back flags on Wawasee, the second one was declined, the officials lost track of the downs, and the Warriors were shorted a play. Wawasee turned the ball over on downs to open the final frame, and Griffith struck quickly, with quarterback Troy Cullen finding wideout Joey Martoccio for a 65-yard catch and run that tied the game. The play accounted for 42 percent of the Panther offense on the night. “Our secondary really rose up in key situations, with the exception of the big play,” Ekovich said. “Our D-line was obviously solid. What it came down to is we hit harder than they did, and no matter what position on the field, we hit harder. The Warriors took the ensuing kickoff and drove 80 yards in nine plays, capped with Smith’s 4-yard touchdown run. Griffith then went three-and-out, and Wawasee drove 51 yards in nine plays for the game clincher; Smith’s 31-yard TD run on 4th and 12. Ekovich said he wasn’t surprised his team won, even without a passing attack. Griffith had all its defenders within five yards of the line of scrimmage on every play after the first quarter, and while it wasn’t pretty, it worked for the Warriors. “Honestly, that’s our system; if the pass is there we’ll throw it. But we’re not there yet. We’ve spent so much time running the ball this summer,” Ekovich said. “If you combine all the time we spent on passing, it comes out to maybe two hours worth the whole summer and the whole preseason. That stuff will come, when the confidence in the running game gets a little (higher). “There were some things that were wide open, and last year they would have been gimmies, but right now we’re just not there yet, so we’re focused on the little things we can do, do them well, and the passing game will come.” The Warrior coach had high praise for the juniors who carried the load for Wawasee. “(Smith’s) a tough individual,” Ekovich said. “He ran hard, he probably ran 110 plays today between offense and defense. I’ll tell you what; these kids are in shape and it shows that they put in the work this summer.” Watkins had a 60-yard run in the first quarter, and was caught from behind. “I told (Watkins) ‘that’s why we wanted you to run track. But if you’d have run faster you’d have scored.’ He’s a bruising back and he runs hard. That’s the mantra our kids have right now. We’re not a flashy team, we’re not going to have the ‘oohs and ahs’ that we’ve had the last couple of years. We’re going to grind it out and hopefully it sends us a long way this year.” Wawasee will take its 1-0 record to Ligonier and take on West Noble on Friday.
