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Last season’s sectional championship game between Warsaw and Concord was one for the ages. This year’s regular season meeting, not so much. On Friday night, these two teams met for the third time in 365 days and treated fans to an excellent game. Momentum swung like a pendulum, the lead changed three times, and the end result was the Minutemen avenging last year’s postseason defeat with a 45-28 win that was a whole lot closer than the final score would indicate.
“That one hurt. Those kids battled through a lot of adversity this year. A lot of naysayers didn't believe in them,” Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis said. “But they came out tonight and battled their butts off. I’m proud of them.”
In what was a game of inches, the biggest play of the contest came with five minutes to go. Down three, Warsaw was faced with a 4th and 1 from the Concord 8-yard line. They went for it and were denied.
“We knew that with the way they were able to move the ball on offense, going for a field goal was moot,” Curtis said. “We wanted to jump in front and try to steal the game.”
Before all that, the Tigers enjoyed a dream start to the game. With the help of a pass interference call against the Minutemen on an early fourth down, Warsaw finished its first drive with points. A 48-yard touchdown run on an end around by Tucker Reed put the visitors on the board early.
Just three minutes into the game, Warsaw’s kicker Luis Muniz-Bermudez attempted an onside kick following the score. Catching Concord off guard, it worked to perfection for the Tigers, as they were able to recover it and go right back on offense.
They didn’t stay on offense for long, as just a few plays into the drive, a fumble by Brody Duncan spelled disaster for Warsaw. The ball was picked up by Concord’s Camari Jackson, and he had nothing but green grass in front of him as he returned it over 50 yards for a game-tying touchdown.
“That was a huge opportunity for us to maybe go up 14-0, and we wasted it,” Curtis said “That was a huge play. They’re such a well-coached outfit, and you can’t do that.”
Warsaw responded incredibly well to the quick turn of events. Getting the ball right back, the Tigers picked up a pair of first downs to reach midfield once again. This time, Michael Schenck brojke an open field tackle and ran all the way to the house for a 50-yard score. After nine minutes of action, Warsaw led 14-7 and the Minutemen offense had yet to take the field.
Upon heading out for the first time, they didn’t have a lot of ground to cover, as a long kick return by Reese Breveard set them up at the Warsaw 25. Concord needed less than 90 seconds to take advantage of that great field position, as a short touchdown run by Bo Brunner tied things up.
The Tigers turned it over on downs its next time on offense, as a great effort by Reed finished just a yard short of the marker. This set up the Minutemen near midfield, and on the first play, Breveard made the entire Warsaw defense miss en route to a 56-yard touchdown run. However, it was called back for a hold, a massive break for the visitors.
The Minutemen ended up with points anyway. Instead of the big chunk play, it was a methodical drive led by Brunner and his arm. The final play of the series was a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chase Thompson that gave Concord its first lead of the night with six minutes left in the first half.
Senior quarterback Quinton Brock of Warsaw protects the ball while carrying a Concord defender during Friday night's sectional game...Nieter
Three minutes later, the Minutemen added three points to their lead. A blocked Tiger punt gave the ball to the home side with an instant red zone opportunity. The Warsaw defense did well to hold their opponent out of the end zone, but a field goal made it a two-score game.
The Tigers seemed content to just run out the rest of the clock upon getting the ball back, but with less than 30 seconds left in the first half, quarterback Quinton Brock decided to take a chance and unloaded a deep ball to Reed. The junior bobbled it a couple of times but ended up coming down with it for a 57-yard touchdown just before the half. After a jampacked first 24 minutes, Concord led 24-21.
“Tucker is incredible. Watching how much he grew up this year to become a more physical player, a smarter player, he’s really special,” Curtis said.
The Warsaw defense picked up a massive stop to begin the second half, forcing a turnover on downs by the Minutemen near midfield. After a long run by Reed put the visitors just outside of the red zone, Schenck broke loose on another tackle-shedding touchdown run to give his team the lead back at 28-24.
Concord used a healthy dosage of Breveard to go on a long drive of their own upon getting the ball back, but it was Brunner who found the end zone on a 22-yard run to give the game its third lead change of the night.
Getting the ball back with about four minutes left in the third quarter, Warsaw unleashed a signature display of Bart Ball. Using three downs or more on each series and taking up as much play clock as possible on every play, the Tigers did their best to burn as much time as possible while moving the ball down the field.
After holding the ball for over 10 minutes, Warsaw was faced with the aforementioned 4th and 1. Schenck got the call, but the Minutemen defense came up with the stop. They met the junior in the backfield and stuffed the run, meaning the long drive resulted in nothing.
To make matters much, much worse, the very next play was a run by Breveard up the middle. He went through the line unscathed and beat everyone on his way to a 91-yard score that made it a two-possession game yet again.
“A 14-point swing in two plays. Terrible,” said Curtis.
Now down nine with less than five minutes to go, urgency set in for the Tigers. Faced with another fourth and short from inside their own 40, Warsaw had no choice but to go for it again. For the second straight time, the Concord defense came up with a massive stop, which all but put this one out of reach.
Now, it was the Minutemen’s turn to burn some clock, and they did exactly that. With 63 seconds left in the game, Brunner put the finishing touches on the victory with a 32-yard touchdown run that gave the game its lopsided final score.
The Tigers (6-4) will return next season.
