Tiger Rally Falls Short At ConcordDUNLAP — Warsaw had a shot at a share of the 2019 Northern Lakes Conference football championship. With Plymouth losing to NorthWood, the winner of the Warsaw-Concord game would tie Plymouth for the crown.
After leading 34-7 at halftime, the Minutemen survived a furious comeback from the Tigers for a 34-28 win Friday at Jake Field.
The regular season ended with Concord and Plymouth at 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the NLC, Warsaw 7-2 and 5-2 and NorthWood 6-3 and 5-2. NorthWood rolled to a 40-20 win over Plymouth Friday.
“There are no 27-point plays,” said Warsaw coach Bart Curtis. “That’s what we told our kids. You have to understand that if you’re going to rally, you have to chip away. You hope for a break. Your defense has got to get a stop or two. They did. They shut them out in the second half.”
The Tigers had the ball four times in the third and fourth quarters.
The first three possessions resulted in touchdown drives. Wyatt Amiss (1-yard run) scored at 10:09 of the third quarter to cap a 60-yard, six-play series after the second-half kickoff.
Mason Martz caught a 57-yard TD pass from Amiss at 7:34 of the third period two plays before Zach DeFord jumped on a Concord fumble at the Warsaw 34.
Juan Jaramillo bulled into the end zone on a 1-yard run at 6:19 of the fourth quarter to wrap a 20-play drive that ate almost seven minutes of clock. Harrison Mevis added the extra point on all three scores.
“We had the football with a chance to win it late,” said Curtis. “It didn’t work out for us.
“It was disappointing for the kids. Particularly because they’ve worked so hard.”
Concord stopped Tigers on fourth down and took over possession with 1:38 to play and took three knees to clinch the victory.
“Everything matters,” said Curtis. “We try to stress that to the kids. How you do everything. How much attention to detail you take. The mistakes you make during the week, are you going to make them Friday? The chances are ‘yes.’
“The first half, we showed that we’re an extremely vulnerable football team. The second half, we showed what kind of fight we have and that we can play with anybody.”
Jaramillo touched the ball just two times in the first half with a 1-yard TD run at 11:55 of the second quarter (Mevis booted the extra point) and a 23-yard reception. He finished with 17 carries for 87 yards.
Keagan Larsh ran five times for 56 yards while Blake Marsh had 17 yards on three carries, Martz 16 yards on three attempts and Julius
Jones nine yards on two runs.
Amiss gained 82 ground yards on 19 totes and completed 4-of-7 passes for 93 yards.
Warsaw produced 10 of its 16 first downs and 225 of its 343 total yards in the second half.
Concord got first-half touchdowns from Logan Wittmer (25-yard pass
from Ethan Cain), Jamyris Rice (15-yard run), Carter Neveraski (3-yard run) and Jack D’Arcy (10-yard pass from Cain) plus field goals of 30 and 46 yards from Ariel DeLaPaz.
Neveraski wound up with 136 yards on 19 carries plus seven receptions for 82 yards. Cain completed 18-of-29 passes for 189 yards.
“They’ve got a great team and congratulations to them,” said Curtis of the Minutemen. “They were well-prepared.
“They came out and jacked us in the mouth. They had our heads spinning. We had deer-in-the-headlights look.
“When someone buries you 34-7 at half, that’s tough to come back from.”
And yet the Tigers almost did.
“We defended (Warsaw) about as good as you can in the first half,” said Concord coach Craig Koehler. “We knew they weren’t going to go away. “We knew they were going to keep coming.”
All 6A schools get a bye next week, which happens to correspond with Warsaw’s fall break. The Tigers visit Chesterton to open sectional play Nov. 1. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 in Chesterton). There will be no pre-sale for tickets.
CONCORD 34, WARSAW 28
W 0 7 14 7 – 28
C 17 17 0 0 – 34
C — Logan Wittmer 25 pass from Ethan Cain (Ariel DeLaPaz kick)
