Connor A. McCann
Times-Union
WARSAW — The Warsaw football team headed into its final home game of the regular season on Friday night boasting a 6-0 record, 4-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference.
Looking to keep it rolling against longtime rival Plymouth, the Tigers got right down to business, pouncing on their opponent early and often on their way to a 49-0 victory to remain atop the conference, setting a school record with 564 rushing yards in the process.
“I was really impressed with the business-like approach that our kids took for this game tonight,” Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis said after the win.
It didn’t take much time at all for the Tigers to put the first points of the night on the board. Picking up chunk play after chunk play on the game’s opening drive, a 23-yard run by Wyatt Harman just over two minutes into the game set the tone for the home side, putting them up 7-0 in a hurry.
Less than two minutes after that, Warsaw had already forced a Plymouth punt and had gotten the ball back. While the first drive featured long runs to the outside, the home side’s second drive of the night was much more methodical, using power runs by fullback Michael Schenck and quarterback Mark Haynes.
The second possession of the game lasted much longer than the first, but the result was the same as Haynes punched it in from 18 yards out to make it 14-0 eight minutes into the game.
Just 13 seconds into the second quarter, the Tigers added onto their lead once again. This time, it was Tucker Reed finding the sidelines on a long run and turning on the afterburners. It looked for a second that Reed was going to get caught and pushed out of bounds, but the senior found what looked to be a third gear to get past the last line of defenders en route to an 83-yard score that blew things wide open and made it 21-0.
The highlights didn’t stop there. After junior Jack Bradford came down with his fourth interception of the year to end the Rockies’ third drive of the night, it took just two plays for Warsaw to find the end zone for the fourth time. Gifted their best field position of the night so far, the Tigers ran a perfect option play with Haynes pitching it to Reed in the open field. He did the rest, scoring his second Senior Night touchdown, this one from 44 yards out to make it 28-0.
“We look different than we’ve looked in the past, but we’re still getting a lot of productivity,” Curtis said. “We had a lot of plays that were blocked really well, and some that weren’t, but that’s just Tucker Reed being Tucker Reed.”
Play came to a halt after the ensuing kickoff, as senior Cohen McCray suffered what appeared to be a leg injury on the play. He was eventually taken off the field in an ambulance but not without throwing his arms up to signal to the crowd that he was OK.
The next Warsaw drive was the first one to end without points, as Haynes was picked off by Brody Lebo. The short field didn’t matter for the Tiger defense, as they sent Plymouth backwards and forced a punt.
Getting the ball back at their own 20, the offense continued to feed Reed, and it continued to be the right call. The first play from scrimmage was a counter play to the senior, who did the rest, going all 80 yards to the end zone for his third score of the first half to go along with 245 yards, making it 35-0 after just 20 minutes of game time.
The home side ended up adding one more score before the half after forcing a turnover on downs near midfield. Another long run by Reed plus 15 more yards for a facemask put the Tigers in the red zone for the second time. Brady Sauer got the call here, running over a trio of defenders on his way to a 20-yard score that made it 42-0 with 90 seconds before the half.
In a fitting way to end the second quarter, JaJuan Cannady came up with Warsaw’s second interception of the night in the end zone with just five seconds left.
Even with junior varsity players replacing the starters at almost every position, the Tigers continued to dominate the game.
After wrestling the ball away from their opponents after their first drive, the Warsaw offense retook the field and methodically marched down it.
Sophomore quarterback Clayton Dias was now the man under center, and he did a great job dictating the offense. He was rewarded for his efforts by getting his name called on a 17-yard rushing touchdown with three minutes left in the third.
“I think the JV kids did a pretty good job. Moved the ball well against their variety defense,” Curtis said. “It’s always good to get those kids some experience, especially with no JV game this week.”
Upon getting the ball back, the Rockies went on their longest drive of the night against the JV defense. The visitors picked up a series of first downs as they moved all the way down to the red zone and within 10 yards of the end zone. However, the defense was able to bunker down and force a turnover on downs deep in their own territory to keep the zero on the scoreboard.
A 70-yard run by Kendrick Stookey upon getting the ball back flipped the field in an instant and put the Tigers back in the red zone with about three minutes left in the game. Warsaw would get all the way down to the one, but elected to take a knee instead of running up the score any further.
Warsaw (7-0, 5-0 NLC) is on the road at Concord next Friday before wrapping up at Northridge the week after.
“I anticipate two really good teams and two really tough games. Our job is to come back Monday, practice as best as we can, and prepare to go up and face the Minutemen,” Curtis said.
