Warsaw Gets Defensive For Third-Straight NLC WinA week after setting school passing records, the Warsaw football team’s defense was the focus in Friday night’s 24-0 home win over Goshen. Holding the Goshen Redskins (0-6, 0-4 Northern Lakes Conference) to 88 total yards, the Warsaw Tigers (4-2, 3-1 NLC) defense forced 16 negative plays, led by senior Caleb Wooldridge’s three-sack performance. “Ben Plummer, Caleb Wooldridge, Mike Miotto – they were just flat-out getting after it,” Warsaw head coach Phil Jensen said. “I looked at (senior starting quarterback) Jake (Mangas) at one point and said, ‘Man, I’m glad we’re not blocking our defensive line tonight.’ They were on fire.” Living in the Goshen backfield, the Tigers had seven sacks in the win, and stopped Goshen sophomore running back Jeff Stoll for a loss another six times. The brunt of the Goshen offense came on its first possession, as it moved the ball 27 yards before punting. Along with the Goshen offense finding some success, its defense was as well. After watching Warsaw senior quarterback Jake Mangas complete 25 of 44 passes, both school records, a week ago at Northridge, Goshen hung tough early, limiting the Tigers to 30 first-quarter yards. “They got to see a lot of our offense last week,” Jensen said. “Their coaching staff did a great job of making some adjustments. We came out empty (in the backfield) and they were ready for that.” Even with the offense grounded a bit, Warsaw broke into the scoring column after junior Landan Perry blocked a punt, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Ethyn Bradley. The blocked punt was the second for Warsaw in as many weeks, as last week’s at Northridge also came in the first quarter and set up the Tigers’ initial score in a 24-21 victory. In another deja vu from a week ago, Mangas and junior wide receiver Riley Rhoades connected on a 10-yard pass, which Rhoades then reversed field to take 53 yards to the end zone, giving his team a 14-0 lead with 3:48 left in the half. Getting the ball back two minutes later, Warsaw needed just one play to go 70 yards, as Mangas hit sophomore tight end Jeremy David on a seam route and he took it all the way. Instead of sitting on a 21-0 lead, the Tigers called a pair of timeouts as its defense was shutting down Goshen, getting the ball back to its offense with 29 seconds on the clock. Beginning at its own 30-yard line, Warsaw got down to the Goshen 30, where senior kicker Caleb Klusman converted a 47-yard field goal as time expired. “Our kicking game, it’s been huge for us all year long,” Jensen said. In the second quarter, Mangas excelled, completing 7 of 10 passes for 222 yards and a score. In all, he was 13 of 24 for 240 yards. “He played great as a sophomore when he came in at the end of the year after our quarterback (Austin Head) got hurt,” Jensen said of the 6-foot-3, 180-pound quarterback. “He accepted his role last year as our backup, and didn’t play a lot of (junior varsity), because we couldn’t risk him playing in that game. He’s just taken to the offense and done a fantastic job with it.” Helping Mangas’ numbers were receivers with run-after-the-catch ability, as Rhoades finished the game with four receptions for 85 yards, David had the 70-yard catch and four other receivers caught one pass for at least 12 yards. “We’re trying to run a controlled passing game,” Jensen said. “We know we have five or six kids that can touch the football and go the distance. One of the problems with this type of offense is, there’s not enough footballs.” With the offense proving its point, Jensen allowed his special teams and defense to finish the game, as Goshen mustered 34 second-half yards, with 49 coming in the late stages with reserves in the game. “In the second half, it was, ‘Hey, we’re going to let the clock run and let the defense and special teams keep doing their jobs.’,” Jensen said. The win is Warsaw’s third-straight and keeps it in the running in the conference, as Concord and Plymouth are both 4-0, with those two meeting this Friday and Warsaw hosting Concord on Oct. 17. Regardless of conference standings, Jensen just seems pleased with the way his guys are conducting themselves. “We take great pride in who we are, who we represent and how we do things,” he said. “They’re growing up in that category.” Up next to Warsaw is its rivalry game at Wawasee (3-3, 1-3 NLC).
WARSAW 24, GOSHEN 0 G 0 0 0 0 — 0 W 7 17 0 0 — 24
G W 1st downs 7 10 Rushing yds 23 86 Passing yds 65 240 Comp-Att-Int 7-18-0 13-24-1 Total yds 88 326 Fumbles/lost 3/2 2/2 Penalties/yds 7/35 4/30 Punts/avg 10/39.8 7/28.7
First Quarter W – Ethyn Bradley 1 run (Caleb Klusman) 0:25, 7-0 Second Quarter W – Jake Mangas 53 pass to Riley Rhoades (Klusman kick) 3:48, 14-0. W – Mangas 70 pass to Jeremy David (Klusman kick) 1:24, 21-0. W – Klusman 47 field goal 0:00, 24-0.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Warsaw, Bradley 20-74, Rob Sullivan 2-10, Kyle Mangas 2-7, Jakub Wood 2-5, Ross Armey 1-0, Rhoades 1-(-1), J. Mangas 1-(-9); Goshen, Jeff Stoll 20-50, Austin Marlow 1-8, Chris Ubaldo 2-6, Dylan Back 2-2, Brandon Scott 1-1, Derek DeMeyer 11-(-49). Passing — Warsaw, J. Mangas 13-24, 240 yds, 2 TDs, INT; Goshen, DeMeyer 4-14, 43 yds; C.J. Detweiler 3-4, 22 yds. Receiving — Warsaw, Rhoades 4-85, David 1-70, Sterling Hay 4-32, Bradley 1-22, K. Mangas 1-17, Brock Riley 1-12, Wood 1-2; Goshen, Colton Potter 2-26, Josuel Sanchez 2-15, Jon Stutsman 1-10, Adam Peterson 1-7, Michael Chupp 1-7.
