Warsaw Football Season Ends With Regional LossMERRILLVILLE – Warsaw’s football bar was set high by the past two senior classes.
That’s how Tigers head coach Bart Curtis assessed the aftermath of a 42-28 IHSAA Class 6A regional championship game loss at Merrillville that put an end to the 2019 season.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of their commitment and what they gave to this program and how flippin’ hard they play all the time,” says Curtis, whose team finished at 9-3. “It didn’t work out for us tonight.
“We had our runs. We had our shots.”
Curtis came away impressed with the No. 4-ranked Pirates (11-1).
‘They’re real good,” said Curtis. “They’re fast. They’re big.
“They just keep playing. They didn’t flinch when we got up 21-7. I was hoping they would. I was hoping they’d press a little bit and they didn’t.”
Pirates head coach Brad Seiss, a 2002 Warsaw graduate, told his team it was not how start, but how you finish.
“You try to simulate what they do in practice and you can only do so much,” said Seiss of the Tigers’ flexbone offense. “You’ve got to be great with your eyes defensively.
“They really get you with a couple of pass plays. We had good adjustments by the coaching staff and our kids. We did a really nice job of making some plays and causing some turnovers.”
Merrillville took a 42-28 lead with 2:26 to go with a 16-yard quarterback keeper by Peter Rodriguez. Austin Pupek added the extra point.
The score came three plays after Adonnis Johnson fielded a Warsaw onside kick near midfield.
The Tigers cut the gap to 35-28 with a 5-yard TD run by Blake Marsh and extra point by Harrison Mevis with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter.
The drive took 65 yards, 17 plays and took nearly nine minutes off the clock.
The scored on the second play of the fourth quarter.
A 3-yard run by Rodriguez, who rotated with Aahric Whitehead at QB, and a kick by Pupek put the Pirates up 35-21.
Merrillville led 28-21 at halftime.
Mevis was just short on a 51-yard field goal attempt with less than 10 seconds left in the first half.
Warsaw fumbled the ball four times before intermission and Merrillville turned the possessions into points on two of those loose balls.
Jaden Clark jumped on a Warsaw fumble at the Tiger 48. Seven plays later, the Pirates took at 28-21 lead on a 12-yard TD run by Rodriguez and kick by Pupek with :46 left in the second quarter.
Nick Price pounced on a Warsaw fumble at the Tiger 9 and it took Merrillville three plays to get into the end zone. A 3-yard run by Darius Schultz and Pupek extra point pulled the Pirates even at 21-21 at the 4:16 mark of the second period.
A 13-play, 80-yard Merrillville drive resulted in a 9-yard TD sprint by Rodriguez and Pupek PAT as the Pirates pulled to within 21-14 at 5:16 of the second quarter.
Warsaw pushed its lead to 21-7 when Marsh threw a 23-yard halfback pass and Mevis tacked on the extra point 9:54 of the second quarter.
The Tigers did not throw a single pass last week in a sectional championship win against Penn.
The Warsaw drive came five plays after a 76-yard kickoff return to the Merrillville 19 by Marsh.
The last play of the first quarter was a 6-yard TD run by Damian Dixon. With a Pupek kick, Merrillville trailed 14-7.
The 80-yard drive took 11 plays.
The Tigers went ahead 14-0 thanks to a 64-yard touchdown pass caught by Keagan Larsh and thrown by Wyatt Amiss after a roll-out to the right.
The three-play drive covered 67 yards following a Merrillville punt.
Warsaw took the opening kickoff and marched 82 yards in 12 plays.
A 30-yard Marsh run was the first TD of the night. Mevis added the conversion kick at 5:40 of the first quarter.
Rodriguez ran for 133 yards as the Pirates racked up 24 first downs.
Leading rushers for the Tigers were Marsh (74 yards), Amiss (59) and Juan Jaramillo (42). Warsaw 17 first downs (11 rushing).
Next up for Merrillville is a semistate game Friday at Carmel (9-3).
MERRILLVILLE 42, WARSAW 28
W 14 7 0 7 – 28
M 7 21 7 14 – 42
W — Blake Marsh 30 run (Harrison Mevis kick)
W — Keagan Larsh 64 pass from Wyatt Amiss (Mevis kick)
M — Damian Dixon 6 run (Austin Pupek kick)
W — Jackson Dawson 23 pass from Marsh (Mevis kick) M — Peter Rodriguez 9 run (Pupek kick)
