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For the 40th time in the history of the rivalry, the Warsaw and Wawasee football teams met for the famous W trophy on Friday night at Fisher Field. For the eleventh straight time, the trophy remained with the Tigers as the home side went wire-to-wire in a 41-7 win.
The first half would be best described as a tale of two offenses. The Tigers had no trouble moving the ball when they had it, depending on the run while also applying a healthy dose of passing. Warsaw would end up scoring on five of their seven drives in the first half, which allowed them to take a 34-7 lead at the break.
That lead could have been even larger had the home side taken better care of the ball. On the team’s first drive of the game, a botched handoff led to the ball ending up on the ground, where it was recovered by Dirks Miller. A few drives later, this time deep in their own end, another poor exchange ended up in the hands of Cam Senter, who took it to the house for a scoop and score.
Outside of the defensive touchdown, the Warriors struggled to find any success at all offensively. Wawasee was able to pick up a couple of first downs through the air in the first half, but were unable to get anything going on the ground. The Tiger defense forced two three-and-outs, a turnover on downs as well as an interception by Fletcher Pohl to blank their rivals' offense in the first 24 minutes of action, as well as the rest of the game.
“Two straight shut outs for our defense. Our JV defense stopped them three times too,” Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis said after the win. “The only score they had was on that fumble, and you can’t beat really good teams by doing that.”
After the second fumble, Warsaw played significantly sharper. Brody Duncan scored the first two touchdowns of the night, but both times, the senior was set up by big gains from junior Wyatt Harman. Speedster Tucker Reed also made a big impact on the first half despite not finding the end zone, flipping the field on multiple drives with huge runs.
Quarterback Quinton Brock also responded nicely to the early snafus. The senior used his legs to march down the field and score a touchdown on one drive, and then the next, he was throwing a touchdown pass to Grady Nelson just before the break to put his team in a really good spot with just 24 minutes left to play.
“Brock’s a super confident kid, and he’s a threat every time he has the ball in his hands,” Curtis said. “I like the game he played tonight.”
The Tigers wasted no time continuing to put together scoring drives as the second half began. A long run on an option keeper by Brock put Warsaw at the five, and a few plays later, Daylon Fitzpatrick reached the goal line from two yards out for his second score of the game. The home side elected to kick the extra point, putting them within a point of initiating the running clock.
That ended up being the lone score of the third quarter, with defenses ruling the day for the remainder of the period. Even with the result well out of reach, the Warriors continued to fight. The visitors forced a Tiger turnover on downs near midfield and ended the quarter in the red zone after some tough running by quarterback Mark Hanyes.
However, the Warsaw defense was able to buck up near the goal line, forcing a turnover on downs of their own to continue to deny the Wawasee offense its first points. The defenses continued to control the second half on the ensuing drive, as another extended Warrior drive ended in the red zone with a fourth down stop.
Wawasee sophomore Luke Nettrouer picks up good yardage after a first quarter reception as Warsaw's Robbie Straughan moves in for the tackle...Nieter
With the game decided in the first half, the Tigers took the air out of the football each time they touched it in the second half. The home side used as much of the playclock as possible before each snap. Most plays in the fourth quarter consisted of runs up the middle, and the Wawasee defense was ready for it each time.
Despite being happy with the win, Curtis said that he thought the offense could have played better.
“We just looked out of sync at times,” he said. “We have a few injuries here and there but that’s not all of it… the kids that played tonight battled and did an admirable job, but we’ve still got to improve.”
The final Warrior possession started with 77 seconds left after the visitors forced their third straight turnover on downs. A 19-yard run by Mason Hatfield put Wawasee at the one with time ticking down. The final play of the game was a fitting one, as the Tiger defense stopped a run at the line of scrimmage to keep their opponent out of the end zone.
Warsaw (3-1, 2-0 Northern Lakes Conference) will host Concord in a clash of 5A powers next Friday for the homecoming game. Wawasee (1-3, 0-2 NLC) returns home to face conference foe Plymouth.
“[Concord] is really, really good, and we’re going to have to get a lot better in a short amount of time if we want to play a competitive game against them,” Curtis said.
