Warsaw Roars To Big Win Over Huntington NorthThe Warsaw Tigers smelled red meat when they took the field with the Huntington North Vikings.
The Tigers capitalized on three third-quarter Viking turnovers in the second half in the visitors’ territory for the killing blows to build a 45-13 lead before sophomore safety Ayden Sherman capped the night’s scoring with a 53-yard touchdown fumble return leading to the 52-13 final score.
“We have to be aggressive. We have to continue to take advantage of converting opponent turnovers into scores because things will get tougher moving forward,” said Tiger head oach Bart Curtis, who picked up his 209th win Friday.
The evening showcased big plays on both sides of the ball against a Huntington North squad that came to Fisher Field with a very young team. The Vikings brought only seven seniors to Fisher Field. First-year head coach Bob Prescott employed a single wing offense to take advantage of senior Deven Newcomb’s speed; however he found the end zone twice on special teams and defensive big plays. Newcomb scored on a 99-yard kick-off return 13 seconds after the Tigers’ first score (10:30 in the first quarter) and a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown with 4:27 remaining in the second quarter.
“Coach Prescott is the right guy for the job and he’s going to take that program to the next level,” Curtis said.
The Tiger offense cracked the 400-yard mark led by swift, powerful junior fullback Juan Jaramillo. His unrelenting running style led to 239 yards rushing on 22 carries for two touchdowns. Jaramillo also caught the only completed pass, a 15-yard swing pass nicely timed by senior quarterback Wyatt Amiss. He struck early with a 71-yard TD run at the 10:43 mark of the first quarter for the game’s first score on the third play from scrimmage.
Amiss chipped in with 94 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns, senior Blake Marsh added 31 yards on two carries and Mason Martz hit pay-dirt from 18 yards on his only carry with 6:27 remaining in the third stanza. Colton Wampler scored on a 5-yard run with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Overall the Tigers rushed for 385 yards on 41 carries for seven touchdowns. The only runs for lost yardage were the carries sophomore back-up quarterback Jackson Dawson took a knee in the victory formation to end the game.
This rushing effort, averaging 9.4 yards per carry, is testimony to the hard work the offensive line put in during the preseason. Seniors Austin Meads, Jake Desenberg, Brock Hueber, Griffin Reed and Kyle Miller paved the way for those efforts as well as two impressive runs by senior halfback Keagan Larsh brought back by penalties; one a 61-yard end around, the other a 12-yard TD run.
Desenberg had multiple injuries over the summer, including a broken thumb.
“I finally felt good tonight, and I’m glad I was healthy enough to get in there and knock it around with the guys,” he said. “We were rockin.”
While the offense put on a triple option clinic, the defense had its fair share of highlights.
“I was happy with how we moved to the ball pursuit wise… well we’re not very big on defense,” Curtis said. “Last week (in the scrimmage with Leo) we had 74 loafs on defense, so I challenged the guys to get below three loafs per person, so we flew to the ball much better tonight.”
Curtis isn’t kidding about his small defense. Zach DeFord, Gage Lyon, Skyler Knisely and Jayton Brock are linebackers who range from 150 to 180 pounds. Another small defender Curtis referred to was senior defensive end Parker Davenport. The 6-foot, 175-pounder took advantage of his speed in his first varsity start. He had a quarterback sack and six tackles for loss.
Luke Adamiec and Zach DeFord recovered fumbles for the Tigers. Senior safety Austin Brown recorded four tackles in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers broke a 7-7 tie following Newcomb’s return with Amiss’s one-yard quarterback sneak, and never looked back. They took their 14-7 lead into the second quarter where they outscored Huntngton North 10-6, capped off with a 32-yard field goal by Harrison Mevis with nine seconds remaining, heading into the locker room with a 24-13. Lead.
Huntington North gained a net 61 yards rushing as the Tiger defense knocked them for 54 yards of losses. Wyatt Amiss completed one of four passes for 15 yards. Viking junior quarterback Reid Johnson completed two of five passes for eight yards.
The Tigers travel to Ames Field to take on Class 5A power Michigan City at 7:30 p.m. Warsaw time Friday.
