Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Mishawaka - Just one week removed from having their lunch handed to them by Warsaw, the Wawasee Warrior football team rebounded by brown bagging the Mishawaka Marian Knights 41-10 Friday.
One week ago, everything appeared to go wrong. This week, everything went right, including the Warrior run defense.
The front seven of Wawasee allowed only 187 total yards and forced 10 fumbles.
With the Warriors holding a 14-3 halftime lead, the Knights seemed headed for a score on the first drive of the second half, but things changed in a hurry. With the ball on the Warrior 22-yard line, the Wawasee defense forced an errant pitch from Knight quarterback Ryan Gurson. Logan Lees scooped up the ball and went the remaining 65 yards for the score, giving Wawasee a 21-3 lead.
The Wawasee defense forced two more fumbles deep in Marian territory, the second of which was recovered by Peter Chang at the Knight 5-yard line. Senior captain Jimmy Meyer took just one play to give Wawasee a 28-3 cushion.
The next two drives for Wawasee were nearly all Meyer. Meyer carried the ball nine times out of the total 11 Warrior plays.
Meyer scored from 20 yards out then from six to finish the Knights for the evening.
Wawasee totaled 150 yards rushing. In weeks previous, the Warriors have found a tough go of running the football. Meyer changed recent history by leading all ball carriers with 129 yards on the ground. The switch from the fumble-prone Lees to Meyer revitalized the Wawasee ground attack.
The 260-pound Meyer ran over many a Knight defender most of the evening.
As for Wawasee's aerial attack, junior Brent Doty was an efficient 15 of 25 for 127 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Bobby Likens once again led all receivers with nine catch es for 79 yards and one touchdown, while Travis Klenke grabbed six for 48 yards and one touchdown.
The win ends a Warrior four-game losing streak while raising their record to 3-5. Wawasee had two wins the previous season. The win also avenges a 34-0 shutout posted by Marian one year ago.
Wawasee will close out the 2000 regular season next week with its homecoming game against Goshen. Looking ahead to sectional play, Wawasee will play South Bend Washington Oct. 21 at Clay Field in South Bend.
The game was originally scheduled for Oct. 20 but was moved due to the lack of playing field availability in South Bend that evening.
WAWASEE 41
M. MARIAN 10
Wawasee 7 7 21 6 - 41
Marian 3 0 0 7 -Ê10
W MM
Rushes/yards 33-150 42-146
Passing yards 127 41
Comp.-Att.-Int. 15-25-1 3-8-1
Total offense 277 187
Fumbles/lost 2-0 10-5
Punts/avg. 4-37.3 3-34.3
Penalties/yards 3-29 5-75
First Quarter
MM -ÊFitzpatrick 37 field goal 3-0 MM, 9:35
W - Klenke 32 pass from Doty (Wooten kick) 7-3 W, 1:06
Second Quarter
W -ÊLikens 3 pass from Doty (Wooten kick) 14-3 W, 2:56
Third Quarter
W -ÊLees 65 fumble return (Wooten kick) 21-3 W, 9:37
W - Meyer 5 run (Wooten kick) 28-3 W, 3:37
W -ÊMeyer 20 run (Wooten kick) 35-3 W, :03
Fourth Quarter
M -ÊQuiett 9 run (Fitzpatrick kick) 35-10 W, 9:05
W -ÊMeyer 6 run (Kick failed) 41-10 W, 5:18
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Wawasee: Meyer 24-129, Lees 2-13, Doty 2-5, Evans 2-0, Mikel 1-(-5), Klenke 2-8. Marian: Quiett 14-108, DeCicco 5-18, Gurson 15-0, Block 1-0, Lascano 2-8, Krueger 5-12.
Passing - Wawasee: Doty 15-25-1 127. Marian: Gurson 3-7-1 41, Krueger 0-1-0.
Receiving - Wawasee: Likens 9-79, Klenke 6-48. Marian: Hayes 1-27, Davidson 1-9, Quiett 1-5.
