Warsaw Wins Homecoming GameIt wasn’t anything fancy, just another win for Warsaw’s varsity football team. Using its brand of old-fashioned football – an offense that chews up yardage and clock by running the ball and mixing in an effective passing game, and a defense that makes plays when it needs to – the Tigers won Friday’s homecoming game 17-0 over the Goshen Redskins at Fisher Field. At 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, Warsaw has won four games in a row and is off to its best start since 2001 when it won its first 10 games. “The kids were ready to play tonight,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen. “We did what we like to do, which is run the football, mix in some passing plays, and make some plays on defense. We had a great week of practice, and the kids came out ready to play.” The Tigers scored twice in the first quarter, once on a 37-yard pass from junior quarterback Austin Head to classmate Conner McCammack, and the other on a 4-yard run by junior workhorse running back Tristan McClone. Warsaw rounded out the scoring with a 41-yard Caleb Klusman field goal as time expired in the second quarter. “I don’t wanna take anything away from Northridge because they had a great gameplan last week, but we got a reminder that you have to be ready every week in the NLC,” said Jensen. “You’ve got to be ready every night in this conference, and we were ready tonight.” The Tigers racked up 243 yards on the ground, with McClone leading the way with 31 carries for 150 yards. Head completed 7 of 9 passes for 109 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Senior Taylor Cone had four catches for 55 yards, while McCammack caught three passes for 54 yards, including the first touchdown of the game. Defensively, Warsaw gave up 234 yards of offense to the Redskins – 147 on the ground and 87 via Derek DeMeyer’s right arm – but forced four turnovers. Ryder Worrell and Ethyn Bradley picked off DeMeyer passes, while Tanner Dickerhoff and Gabe Furnivall recovered fumbles. “We flew to the football and we created turnovers,” Jensen said of his team’s defense. “Those were plays we didn’t make in the first half last week, but we did tonight. It’s all part of the game, and we made some plays tonight.” With the win, Warsaw moved into a first-place tie with NLC foe Concord. Both teams are 4-0 in conference action, while NorthWood and Plymouth are 3-1. Goshen, which fell to 1-5 overall, and Wawasee are 1-3 in the NLC standings, while Elkhart Memorial and Northridge are 0-4. Class 4A No. 3 Concord lost its first game of the season Friday, falling 48-0 at non-conference rival and 3A No. 1 Jimtown. The Minutemen, however, have won 18 consecutive conference games – with their last loss a 24-0 setback to the Tigers in 2009. Concord and Warsaw will meet at Fisher Field on Oct. 12, possibly for a conference championship. Jensen doesn’t want to look ahead, saying focus is now squarely on Friday’s game at Wawasee, but it’s been a while since the Tigers were in the hunt for an NLC title. “These kids have bought into what we’re doing,” said Jensen. “They don’t care who gets the glory or the headlines. We’ve got guys on this team who are role players and they go out and play their role. It’s nice when you have kids that don’t complain, who just go out and do their job.” Skylar Stevens led Goshen Friday night with 11 carries for 88 yards, while Justin Klabusich added 11 carries for 51 yards. DeMeyer completed just 6 of 21 passes for 87 yards. Austin Henke caught three passes for 59 yards. WARSAW 17, GOSHEN 0 G 0 0 0 0 — 0 W 14 3 0 0 — 0
G W 1st downs 14 16 Rushing yds 147 243 Passing yds 87 109 Comp-Att-Int 6-21-2 7-9-1 Total yds 234 352 Fumbles/lost 3/2 1/0 Penalties/yds 1/5 0/0 Punts/avg 4/37 2/38
First Quarter W – Austin Head 37 pass to Conner McCammack (Caleb Klusman kick) 7:18, 7-0 W – Tristan McClone 4 run (Klusman kick) 1:05, 14-0 Second Quarter W – Klusman 41 FG :00, 17-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Goshen, Skylar Stevens 11-88, Justin Klabusich 11-51, Derek DeMeyer 6-8; Warsaw, McClone 31-150, Dylan Campbell 8-30, Tim Perkey 7-24, Austin Head 5-16, Jason Taylor 2-13, Jacob Oberg 3-5, Chris Woolridge 2-5. Passing — Goshen, DeMeyer 6-21-87, 2 INT, 0 TD; Warsaw, Head 7-9-109, 1 TD, 1 INT. Receiving — Goshen, Austin Henke 3-59, Cristian Barron 2-14, Hans Singer 1-14; Warsaw, Taylor Cone 4-55, McCammack 3-54.
