Mind of McKrell: Warsaw's Scheduling Of Michigan City A Wise Move
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What did everyone get for Christmas?
I’d bet whatever it was, it’d be hard to top the joy I received when I got one of my Christmas gifts last month.
No, I’m not talking about the hand-made collage of photos of my favorite movies that my good friend Johnny made for me.
Though, that was awesome.
I’m talking about when Times-Union sports editor Dale Hubler told me he’d be sending me to Michigan City to cover Warsaw’s game against the Wolves in Week 2 of the 2019 high school football season.
Man, was I ecstatic. The three of you who read this column faithfully know I spent 2-1/2 years as a sports writer for The News-Dispatch in Michigan City. The Wolves are my old beat.
When I covered them, they were a struggling squad with flashes of excellence. The year after I left, former Andrean coach Phil Mason took over the program and quickly turned it into a juggernaut.
The past two seasons, the Wolves have gone to a Class 5A semistate game, where they lost to New Palestine both times.
Warsaw’s move to replace Columbia City and East Noble on the schedule with Huntington North and Michigan City was a wise one.
Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis gave credit to Columbia City and East Noble, and said the change was made because the Tigers wanted to prepare themselves for the playoffs by playing 5A and 6A teams.
They’ll play Huntington North for the next two years and Michigan City for the next four.
“We want to play the best people that are available to play us, size-wise and talent-wise,” Curtis said.
The Tigers will, at least temporarily, end a streak of playing Columbia City each season since 1997. They also have faced East Noble each year since 2013.
The last time Warsaw played Huntington North was in a 24-21 sectional loss in 2008.
It’s been much longer since Warsaw and Michigan City lined up on opposite sides.
The last time the Tigers played the Wolves, Warren G. Harding was president and alcohol was illegal in the United States.
The Tigers won two out of the three games they played from 1920-22.
History won’t mean much nearly a century later. The Wolves are 26-11 under Mason, and Curtis described the Wolves as “fast” and “physical.”
They’ll lose quite a few players to graduation, including quarterback Bryce Hayman and running back Lyric McFarrin, but they have a strong JV group ready to move up.
Warsaw is no slouch, either. In Curtis’ first season at the helm here, the Tigers went 7-3 in the fall for their highest winning percentage (.700) since they went 10-1 (.909) under Phil Jensen in 2001.
The Tigers will rely on Curtis’ famous version of the triple option offense, which aims to shorten the game with deceptively simple running plays.
They return a number of players, including playmaking running back Juan Jaramillo, who will be a junior, and Blake Marsh, a standout on both sides of the ball who will be a senior when the season starts.
Curtis has faced Mason before, when his Mishawaka Cavemen topped the Wolves 18-7 in a 2016 sectional championship game.
“I had the chance to watch (the Wolves) on TV this year against New Palestine, and just watching them after coaching against them in 2016 in the sectional championship game, they’re the real deal,” Curtis said.
Playing teams like Michigan City will only boost Warsaw’s credibility and will gain the team valuable experience heading into the tournament.
For me, the treat will be sitting back in the press box at Ames Field, watching two teams I’ve grown to enjoy play excellent football.
For the fans, and both teams, everyone should be a winner.
Warsaw vs. Michigan City. Friday, Aug. 30, at 6:30 p.m. CST.
