Tigers Top Eagles In Season OpenerCOLUMBIA CITY – At times, the play in Friday night’s high school football season opener between the Warsaw Tigers and host Columbia City Eagles was as sloppy as the rain-soaked, muddy field.
When it was all said and done, however, with his players celebrating a 10-8 victory in the east end zone at Max Gandy Athletic Field, new Warsaw coach Bart Curtis summed things up perfectly.
“It’s a lot better to be 1-0 than it is to be 0-1,” Curtis, a member of the 2016 Indiana Football Hall of Fame class, told his players and assistants.
In a game that featured heavy rainfall in the first half, the teams combined for eight turnovers and 140 yards in penalties.
Warsaw turned the ball over just twice – one fumble and one interception – but struggled to capitalize on Columbia City’s mistakes and had to hold the Eagles off until the waning seconds of the 48-minute contest.
The Eagles, who fumbled the ball away five times and threw a pair of interceptions, scored with 43 seconds remaining when junior quarterback Max Bedwell threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to classmate Michael Sievers.
One official signaled for a touchdown on the play, while another said the pass was incomplete.
After a lengthy discussion, the officiating crew ruled in Columbia City’s favor, and the Eagles converted a two-point conversion play that saw Bedwell connect with senior Jacob Bolt.
Columbia City attempted an onside kick, but the Tigers covered the ball at the 49-yard line and ran the clock out by taking a knee on first and second down.
“It was sloppy a lot,” Curtis said when asked about the play, and the field conditions. “Thank God for our kicker, and thank God for our defense.
“The ball was everywhere. We had ample opportunities. And Columbia City played awful hard. They had chances to not play hard, they could have folded and given up a score late and they did not. My hats off to them ... I?think they’re going to have a good season.”
Junior Harrison Mevis put the Tigers on the board first, kicking a 24-yard field goal with 8:59 to play in the first quarter.
He also had three touchbacks, as well as a punt that pinned the Eagles inside the 10-yard line, taking away any chance Columbia City had for good field position.
The Tigers scored their only touchdown on a 3-yard Bryce Garner run with 21 seconds remaining in the first half. Mevis’ extra-point kick allowed the Tigers to take a 10-0 lead into halftime, and Warsaw received the kickoff to start the third quarter.
Warsaw punted on its first possession of the second half, and after senior Trenton Sands picked off Bedwell on Columbia City’s first offensive play of the second half, the Tigers fumbled the ball away on the ensuing possession.
The Tigers, trying to learn the option offense under their new coach, tallied 160 yards on 49 rushing attempts, and senior quarterback Josh West completed 1 of 7 pass attempts.
His one completion was a 27-yard strike to junior Wyatt Amiss.
Garner led the Tigers with 20 carries for 75 yards, while senior Kane Dawson tallied 48 yards on 11 carries and West finished with 12 rushes for 35 yards.
“We had some good angles I thought we could take advantage of,” Curtis said of his team’s running game. “It is not what I?had envisioned it would be at this point. I thought we blocked decent, but it seemed like every time we got something going we had a silly penalty or something.
“I expected us to execute a little better, and we didn’t, so we’ve got things to work on.”
Curtis applauded his defense, which gave up just 151 yards of offense – 107 on the ground and 44 through the air.
Like Sands, junior Blake Marsh also picked off Bedwell.
Senior lineman Cobe VanHouten had seven tackles for Warsaw’s defense, while classmate John Culbertson and sophomore Luke Adamiec had six and five tackles, respectively.
“Thank God for our defense ... they battled tonight,” said Curtis. “They forced some turnovers, and I was excited for them.”
Bedwell tallied 49 yards on 17 carries, while junior Jacob Wigent carried the ball 10 times for 33 yards and Sievers 7 for 21.
Bedwell completed 9 of 13 pass attempts for 44 yards, but did throw two interceptions.
Sievers had three catches for 20 yards, while Bolt had three receptions for 16 yards.
Warsaw hosts East Noble Friday, while Columbia City travels to Whitko.
WARSAW 10, COLUMBIA CITY 8
W 3 7 0 0 — 10
CC 0 0 0 8 — 8
W CC
1st downs 10 11
Rushing yds 160 107
Passing yds 27 44
Comp-Att-Int 1-7-1 9-17-2
Total yds 187 151
Fumbles/lost 2/2 5/4
Penalties/yds 9/90 5/50
Punts/Avg 3/33 3/42
First Quarter
W – Harrison Mevis 24 FG 8:59, 3-0
Second Quarter
W – Bryce Garner 3 run (Mevis kick) :21, 10-0
Fourth Quarter
CC – Max Bedwell 6 pass to Michael Sievers (Jacob Bolt conversion catch) :43, 10-8
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Warsaw, Garner 20-75, Josh West 12-35, Kane Dawson 11-48, Wyatt Amiss 2-6; Col. City, Bedwell 17-49, Jacob Wigent 10-33, Sievers 7-21
Passing — Warsaw, West 1-7-27, 1 INT; Col. City, Bedwell 9-13-44, 2 INT, Bolt 0-4-0, 0 INT
Receiving — Warsaw, Amiss 1-27; Columbia City, Sievers 3-20, Bolt 3-16, Keirin Gillis 1-12
