Tigers 'D'ominate NLC Rival GoshenA dominating performance by his defense forced Warsaw football coach Bart Curtis to pull out his wallet.
After all, a promise is a promise.
In a 35-0 homecoming win over Northern Lakes Conference opponent Goshen Friday night at Fisher Field, Warsaw’s “Orange Crush” defense held the RedHawks to 104 yards of offense – 80 through the air on 19 attempts and 24 on the ground on 24 carries.
As a result of the shutout, the varsity defense earned a trip to American Table for breakfast, compliments of the Hall of Fame coach.
“Incredible,” Curtis said of his team’s defensive performance, which included an impressive stand on Goshen’s final drive of the game in which the RedHawks had the ball on Warsaw’s 2-yard line.
“We flew around to the ball. We challenged the kids, and now I’ve got to pony up. I told them if we had a shutout and 10 or less loafs we’d have breakfast at American Table. I may have to make a trip to the bank tonight, but hey I’m happy to do it because they played with a lot of enthusiasm and effort. They were put in a couple bad situations there with some not very good punt coverage.”
With the win, the Tigers’ 11th straight over their rivals from the Maple City, Warsaw improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the NLC standings, while Goshen fell to 1-5 and 0-4 with its fifth straight loss.
Warsaw, Concord and Plymouth are all one game behind undefeated NorthWood, the second-ranked team in Class 4A.
To take control of the game Friday night, the Tigers scored on their first two possessions.
The hosts received the opening kickoff – which came after a special coin toss with longtime fan and supporter Reverend Roy Blake, who was recently recovering from a broken hip – and went on a 10-play, 47-yard drive that was capped off by senior Bryce Garner’s 6-yard touchdown run.
After forcing the RedHawks into a three-and-out, Warsaw put together a 10-play, 58-yard drive that gave the Tigers a 14-0 advantage when senior quarterback Josh West made his way in from three yards out on the first play of the second quarter.
Comparing each team’s first two drives, Warsaw ran 20 plays, racking up 105 yards and two touchdowns.
The RedHawks, on the other hand, ran nine plays that resulted in 10 yards of offense and two punts.
All told, Warsaw outgained Goshen 280-104, including a lopsided 276 to 24 in rushing yards.
“We hadn’t done that all year. We hadn’t scored on our first drive of a game, so it was nice to be able to do that ... come out and take care of business,” said Curtis.
“We challenged the kids to do that, and they put a real nice drive together.”
The Tigers scored seven points in each of the first three quarters and then 14 in the fourth, as the ground game got balanced productivity.
Senior Kane Dawson, whose 2-yard scoring plunge gave Warsaw a 21-0 lead with 8:08 left in the third quarter, led the Tigers with 72 yards on 15 carries.
West, who threw a 4-yard scoring strike to Garner early in the fourth and accounted for Warsaw’s final touchdown when he barreled in from three yards out midway through the final frame, added 70 yards on 15 attempts.
Sophomore Juan Jaramillo tallied 66 yards on five carries, including a 25-yarder on 4th-and-3 that set up West’s final 3-yard run, while Garner had 42 yards on nine carries and Wyatt Amiss chipped in with 26 yards on three attempts.
The Tigers were just 1 of 6 in the passing game, the only catch being the 4-yard touchdown from West to Garner.
Bryant Grewe led Goshen’s ground game with 13 carries for 26 yards, while Wesley VanHooser tallied 10 yards on three carries. The RedHawks’ rushing stats were hurt by the fact that quarterback Colin Turner was sacked a number of times and finished the game with negative 13 yards on seven attempts.
Credit Warsaw’s defense for that.
“Our defensive staff does an incredible job of working with the kids on what they’re gonna see that week,” said Curtis.
“Kris Hueber, Jake Cauhorn, Marc Huffer, Will Shepherd ... those four guys do a really nice job, and the kids responded. We flew to the ball a little bit tonight.
“I haven’t looked at the film, but John Culbertson is in on nearly every play. It looked like our front four had a really nice game. Gavin Truex, Braxton DeFord’s played really well, I think Jaxon Wagoner had a good game, and Cobe VanHouten’s been very solid.
“And then our secondary played well ... (Blake) Marsh had an interception. We bent but we didn’t break. I’m really pleased with the way Coach Hueber’s got them playing.”
Turner completed 8 of 19 passing attempts for Goshen for 80 yards.
Daveyon Sandford caught four passes for 46 yards, while VanHooser reeled in three balls for 28 yards.
Warsaw travels to Syracuse Friday to play Wawasee in the annual battle for the W Trophy.
Goshen hosts Northridge and will honor its 1978 and ‘88 state championship teams.
WARSAW 35, GOSHEN 0
G 0 0 0 0 — 0
W 7 7 7 14 — 35
G W
1st downs 7 16
Rushing yds 24 276
Passing yds 80 4
Comp-Att-Int 8-19-1 1-6-0
Total yds 104 280
Fumbles/lost 0/0 1/0
Penalties/yds 3/12 5/29
Punts/Avg 4/33 2/40
First Quarter
W – Bryce Garner 6 run (Harrison Mevis kick) 6:54, 7-0
Second Quarter
W – Josh West 3 run (Mevis kick) 11:57, 14-0
Third Quarter
W – Kane Dawson 2 run (Mevis kick) 8:08, 21-0
Fourth Quarter
W – West 4 pass to Garner (Mevis kick) 8:47, 28-0
W – West 3 run (Mevis kick) 5:20, 35-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Goshen, Bryant Grewe 13-26, Wesley VanHooser 3-10, Jack Immel 1-1, Colin Turner 7-(-13); Warsaw, Dawson 15-72, West 15-70, Juan Jaramillo 5-66, Garner 9-42, Wyatt Amiss 3-26
Passing — Goshen, Turner 8-19-80, 1 INT; Warsaw, West 1-5-4, 1 TD, 0 INT, Amiss 0-1-0, 0 INT
