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Looking to get back into the win column after suffering a road loss to Mishawaka last week, The Warsaw football team welcomed their next test, the NorthWood Panthers, to Fisher Field on Friday night. Fueled by the defense making some big plays deep in their own zone, the Tigers were able to emerge victorious with a 28-7 win in the Northern Lakes Conference clash.
“This was a great game for the Tigers. The first half was a microcosm of our season,” head coach Bart Curtis said after the game. “So close at times but a play here or there goes against us. But we responded and played a great second half so I’m really proud of these kids.”
NorthWood’s first drive of the game started off incredibly efficiently. The Panthers were carving up the home side on the ground, picking up a first down on nearly every carry. It didn’t take long until the visitors were in the red zone, but this is where the Tigers bucked up. A big sack by Grady Nelson on third down forced a field goal attempt, which Warsaw would go on to block.
The block set up the Tigers near midfield, and a long run by Tucker Reed on the team’s first drive from scrimmage put the home side in enemy territory. From this point on, it was a healthy dose of Michael Schenck that took the team the rest of the way. The junior bullied his way through defenders, eventually putting his team on the board with an eight-yard score with 4:31 left in the first to finish off the ten-point swing.
“We made our own breaks tonight. I thought our defense was really opportunistic tonight, especially in the red zone,” Curtis said. “The big plays went our way tonight, and that hasn’t always been the case this year.”
After the fireworks of the first few minutes subsided, the first quarter came to an end with both teams punting after picking up a combined one first down. After a shaky start to the game, the Warsaw defense had picked it up big time.
The Panthers began the second quarter by picking up a fourth down conversion near midfield. A play later, the Tiger defense struck again with another impact play, forcing a fumble and recovering it. While NorthWood was doing a lot of things right, it was Warsaw coming through in the biggest moments thus far.
The home side churned some clock on its ensuing drive, taking nearly four minutes off while only going about 30 yards. Eventually, things stalled out just outside of the red zone, and the team ended up giving it back to their opponent after a failed fourth down conversion. It wouldn’t end up haunting them, as the defense forced yet another punt following the turnover.
Looking to pick up some points before the half, the Tigers went back on the offensive. The drive looked good, with Reed and Quinton Brock picking up some big yardage as the team made its way to the red zone. With less than a minute to go in the second quarter, Brock got the snap near the 10. After making his first defender miss, he made a mad dash toward both the sideline and the end zone. Diving for the pylon, the ball came loose and ended up rolling out of the back of the end zone. In a moment of confusion, a play that looked like a touchdown was actually a turnover.
“I’m not going to complain about a kid making a play. He was trying to make a play,” Curtis said.
With momentum back on their side, the Panthers flipped the field in a hurry with a 45-yard pass to get into field goal range. The visitors wanted more though, and a hail mary attempt as the first half expired fell incomplete with Warsaw still up 7-0.
Baldemar Robles of Warsaw drags down NorthWood quarterback Braylon Monroe during the second quarter of Friday night's game at Warsaw...Nieter
After getting called for three false starts in the first half, the Tigers began the second with two more on the team’s opening drive. The mistakes proved to be costly, as the team was forced to punt and give the ball back to NorthWood with just four minutes ticking away.
Still being held off of the scoreboard, the Panthers got down to business on their first drive of the second half. Similar to the team’s first drive of the game, the team got down into the red zone in a hurry, picking up nearly 10 yards per play.
Once again, the Warsaw defense toughened up with their backs against the wall, forcing a 4th down play at the one yard line. NorthWood elected to go for it and did so in the shotgun formation, and this came back to bite them. The snap on the crucial play was high and over the head of quarterback Braylon Monroe. All he could do was pounce on it, resulting in another big stop for the Tiger defense.
With time ticking away in the third quarter and Warsaw now with the ball deep in their own end, the home side would get another big play to go in their favor. At their own 26-yard line, Brock pitched the ball to Reed, who cut to the outside. After breaking a pair of tackles, the junior had nothing but green grass in front of him. Nobody was able to catch him, and he was into the end zone to make it 14-0 on what was another massive swing.
For a second, it looked as if the disasters in the red zone were continuing for NorthWood, as Monroe threw an interception to Matthew Flores Ortega with the visitors in scoring position. However, a horsecollar call against the Tigers negated the pick, and a play later, Brady Weaver ran it in from 9 yards out to put the Panthers on the board.
Warsaw responded in a big way, going right back down the field in a methodical fashion, burning a ton of clock in the process. With a little over five and a half minutes left in the game, Schenck took it in from 14 yards out to put his team back up by two scores.
The Tigers kept momentum on their side on the following play from scrimmage, as Ty Martin leaped up to intercept a pass on first down to give the ball right back to the home team. A few plays later, Schenck made it a hat trick by breaking loose on a 45-yard touchdown run that blew things open and made it 28-7 with three minutes left.
With a minute left in the game, Nelson put things on ice by coming up with an interception to take the ball away one last time.
Warsaw (5-3, 4-2 NLC) will wrap up the regular season against Northridge next Friday.
“Every game they’ve lost has been a one-score game in the fourth quarter. We don’t take them lightly,” Curtis said. “If we can get everybody on the same page like we did tonight, maybe we can keep this rolling.”
