Tigers Hold Off Crimson ChargersLuke Adamiec certainly had a hand – a pair of hands actually – in Warsaw’s 14-7 win over Elkhart Memorial Friday night.
In a Northern Lakes Conference football game at Fisher Field, the 6-foot-3, 160-pound sophomore caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Josh West to put the Tigers up 7-0 with 15 seconds remaining in the first half, and later intercepted Memorial’s Tyler Lehner on the last play of the hard-fought contest to preserve the win.
Rebounding from last week’s heartbreaking 32-29 overtime loss at Plymouth, the Tigers improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the NLC standings. The Crimson Chargers, who scored 49 points last week, fell to 1-3 and 1-2 after turning the ball over three times Friday night.
As first-year Warsaw coach Bart Curtis pointed out, all four of the Tigers’ games this season have gone down to the wire.
“Give credit to them,” Curtis said of the Crimson Chargers. “They ran 88 offensive snaps against Concord (in Week 2), they turned around and hung 49 points on Goshen last week. That is a good offensive team, and they play really, really hard. Our defensive kids holding them to seven points is really a big deal.
“That’s a good win for us, and here’s the thing people don’t realize, when you win one like that it gives you a little something. We’ve had four weeks in a row where the game wasn’t over until the last minute. Much of that is our part, but a lot of it is the opponents we’re playing that are battling. And here’s the thing I’ve found with us, it doesn’t matter, the game’s never over. We’re apparently gonna make every game interesting.”
The Tigers certainly did that.
Leading 14-7, Warsaw fumbled and turned the ball over to the Crimson Chargers, who took over at their own 35-yard line with 1:18 remaining in the game.
Lehner completed a 30-yard pass on 2nd-and-10 to 6-3, 180-pound senior Javon Forester, who caught a 7-yard touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter.
After Memorial sophomore Tyren Mason made a 5-yard reception on the next play, Warsaw’s Cobe VanHouten sacked Lehner to seth up a 3rd-and-12 play.
Lehner then threw an incomplete pass, setting up one last play, which turned out to be Adamiec’s interception in the end zone.
“We could be 4-0, we could be 0-4,” Curtis said when asked about the down-to-the-wire games.
“Here’s the thing, we’re not gonna deviate from who we are and what we do. We’re still gonna ask a lot out of our kids, and we want precision, and there was some instances tonight where we got some precision ... but not consistently enough.”
Led by Kane Dawson’s 29 carries for 132 yards, Warsaw tallied 307 yards on 58 rushing attempts, while holding Memorial to 79 yards on 29 carries.
West rushed for 78 yards on 11 attempts, Blake Marsh ran for a 67-yard touchdown that made it 14-0, and Bryce Garner carried the ball seven times for 21 yards.
Through the air, the Tigers were 2 of 9 for 54 yards, as West threw the 20-yard scoring strike to Adamiec, and Wyatt Amiss completed a 34-yard halfback pass to Mason Martz.
Most of Memorial’s 190 yards of total offense came via the passing game, as Lehner completed 8 of 16 attempts for 111 yards, though he did throw two interceptions.
Forester finished with five catches for 81 yards for the Crimson Chargers.
Memorial’s Derrick Woods rushed for 95 yards on 23 attempts, but Warsaw’s “orange crush” defense sacked Lehner multiple times, leaving him with negative 16 yards on six carries.
Friday night’s game included a coaching matchup between Curtis and Memorial’s Scot Shaw that featured 409 career wins and nearly 60 years of head coaching experience.
Curtis, a member of the 2012 Indiana Football Hall of Fame Class, now has 204 wins in 28 years, while Shaw has 205 victories in 30 seasons.
“Scot Shaw, first of all, is a Hall of Fame coach,” said Curtis. “He’s spent a lifetime coaching this game. He’s a Mishawaka High School grad ... his son coached with me for 10 years, and I’m very close with the family, they’re just a class act.
“He just goes about his business the right way, doesn’t panic, they’re kids just play the game the right way. He’s got a nice ball club. Great family, and we’re lucky to get out of this one with a win.”
WARSAW 14, ELKHART MEMORIAL 7
EM 0 0 0 7 — 7
W 0 7 0 7 — 14
EM W
1st downs 12 16
Rushing yds 79 307
Passing yds 111 54
Comp-Att-Int 8-16-2 2-9-0
Total yds 190 361
Fumbles/lost 1/1 3/2
Penalties/yds 1/5 4/38
Punts/Avg 3/36 2/21
Second Quarter
W – Josh West 20 pass to Luke Adamiec (Harrison Mevis kick) :15, 7-0
Fourth Quarter
W – Blake Marsh 67 run (Mevis kick) 8:50, 14-0
EM – Tyler Lehner 7 pass to Javon Forester (Alexander Ploner kick) 7:33, 14-7
