WARSAW — Without question, the biggest game in Warsaw football history was played Friday night at Fisher Field. The stakes were simple: win, and head down to Indianapolis to represent the northern half of Indiana in the state championship game. After disposing of the No. 1 and No. 2 5A teams in the state the two previous weeks, the Tigers once again had their hands full with No. 3 Merrillville.

[caption id="attachment_102006" align="alignright" width="350"] Warsaw junior Quinton Brock makes his way toward the endzone during the third quarter. Photo by Gary Nieter.[/caption]

Once again, Warsaw didn’t blink.

The defense pitched a shutout in the second half and came away with five turnovers, while the offense played its signature “Bart Ball” to perfection as the Tigers made history, winning 31-14 for the first Semi-State title in school history, as well as the opportunity to play in the biggest game of them all.

“Our kids rally and they battle snap after snap after snap,” head coach Bart Curtis said after the program-defining win. “I’m so excited for these kids, this school and this community. I can’t express how excited I am.”

“This was a total team win tonight. I grew up wanting to play Tiger football and to be in this moment right now is a dream come true,” quarterback Drew Sullivan said after the game. “It’s a great night for the Tigers.”

[caption id="attachment_102008" align="alignright" width="420"] Senior Cohen Heady intercepts the ball to help seal the Warsaw victory in the fourth quarter. Photo by Gary Nieter.[/caption]

Starting the game on defense, the Tigers gave their home crowd something to cheer about early on. After giving up a single first down, Warsaw was able to make a stop and force a punt. The kick took a very friendly bounce for the Pirates, making its way all the way down to the opposite 11-yard line.
The Tiger offense, which has been an absolute juggernaut in recent weeks, had no such problems moving the football early on. Sullivan, coming off of the biggest game of his career with over 300 yards on the ground against Lafayette Jefferson last week, didn’t miss a beat getting back into action. The senior QB was nearly impossible to bring down, moving the chains a series of times and even forcing an early Merrillville timeout so the defense could catch its breath.

[caption id="attachment_102009" align="alignright" width="400"] Senior Tristan Wilson of Warsaw snatches the ball out of the air for an interception in the second quarter. Photo by Gary Nieter.[/caption]

One play at the time, Warsaw methodically made its way toward the end zone. On the 14th play of the drive, Sullivan used a big push from his offensive line to cross the goal line from the one. After a nearly eight-minute opening possession, the Tigers scored the opening points of the game. The Pirates were able to make a big play on special teams though, blocking the point after to keep things at 6-0.

It didn’t take long for Merrillville to come up with an answer. On the second play of the following drive, running back JQ Johnson looked to be tackled for a short gain, but was able to escape the pile and break free. With nobody in the secondary near enough to make a tackle, Johnson was gone, taking the ball 75 yards to the house to tie things up for just a moment. The visitors’ PAT was good, giving them a 7-6 lead.

[caption id="attachment_102012" align="alignright" width="420"] Senior quarterback Drew Sullivan runs over a Merrillville defender while scoring Warsaw's second touchdown. Photo by Gary Nieter.[/caption]

“We kind of realized what we needed to do defensively after we gave up that first big run,” defensive lineman Hunter Dippon said. “I wasn’t sticking to my stunts as much, just trying to smash into the center and get to that ball any way I could. My other guys up front did a great job containing the edges and forcing them to run right into me.”

Disaster almost struck on the ensuing Warsaw drive, as a pitch play to Brock almost went awry. The junior was able to pick up a big gain, enough for a first down, but put the ball on the turf after a big hit. Luckily for the home side, they were able to jump on top of it and keep possession. That ended up being the only first down of the drive for the Tigers, as they were forced to punt after a defensive stand by the Pirates in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

[caption id="attachment_102015" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Coach Bart Curtis talks to his team after the win as senior Cohen Heady holds up a shirt acknowledging the Tigers' trip to Indianapolis next Saturday. Photo by Gary Nieter.[/caption]

Warsaw came up with a defensive stop of their own after switching sides, this one a little flashier than the previous. Merrillville ran a bootleg passing play, and with the ball in the air, corner Tristan Wilson beat his receiver to the ball and picked it off while keeping his feet in bounds on the sideline. Just like that, the Tiger offense was back in business on the Pirate side of the field. Not only was the interception a huge momentum shift for Warsaw, it was also the 10th of Wilson’s career, making him the new career record holder at the school.

[caption id="attachment_102017" align="alignright" width="420"] Warsaw senior Gavin Schultz dives on the loose ball for a fumble recovery during the fourth quarter. Photo by Gary Nieter[/caption]

“I didn’t think I was going to get there in time but I did,” Wilson said. “You get off the field and your teammates are mobbing you, it’s an amazing feeling.”With a short field to work with, the home team had little trouble making the most of the opportunity provided to them by the defense. Continuing his big night, Sullivan seemed to be getting even better. The quarterback kept bowling over defenders and masterfully running the option offense, culminating on a 24-yard run to the house to put his team back on top with seven minutes to go in the half. This time, Mason Smythe’s PAT was good, making it a 13-7 game.

Once again, the visitors had an answer after giving up a go-ahead score. This one took a little longer than the first, as the Pirates mixed up the run and the pass well enough to move the ball down the field and into Tiger territory. Warsaw was nearly able to get off the field, forcing a 4th down at their own 35-yard line, but Merrillville converted on the play in a big way. Quarterback Jordan Sanders faked a run before launching it deep to a wide-open Dermont Bogard. The receiver made it all the way to the end zone, and with two minutes left in the first half, the Pirates were back on top 14-13.

It wasn’t known at the time, but it would be the last points the visitors would score for the rest of the night.

“Our defensive coaches knew they were going to run what they ran and our players executed. You take away the long run and the busted coverage and our defense played their asses off tonight,” Curtis said.

Warsaw was able to move the ball to midfield with the clock winding down, calling the final timeout of the half with just under two seconds to go. Sullivan ran the ball one more time for the final play of the second quarter, picking up a few yards before being brought down. Down a point heading into the locker room, the Tigers looked to retake the lead on their opening drive of the third quarter.

“The message at halftime was to just keep going. We knew we were still in this,” Cohen Heady said. “We just needed to take it one play at a time and not give up.”

Things got off to a good start with senior receiver Ethan Egolf making a great return on the kickoff, giving it to the offense on the Pirate 40-yard line. Working with a shorter field once again, the Tigers got right back to work. A first-down run by Brody Duncan got things started, followed by a few nice runs by Sullivan to get into the red zone. The Tigers were able to pick up first and goal at the 10 but picked up nothing on the first two plays. A passing play to Quinton Brock got the ball to the two on third down. Instead of going for it to try and pick up the touchdown, Warsaw elected to kick the field goal. The 19-yarder by Smythe was good, putting the Tigers up 16-14 with six and a half minutes to go in the third.

Getting back on defense, Heady, a captain at senior linebacker, made the biggest play of the game, and perhaps, his career. With Merrillville facing a third and short at their own 25, the Pirates elected to pass. Similar to Wilson in the first half, Heady read the quarterback perfectly, jumped in the passing lane and picked it off. With nobody between him and the end zone, the captain took it all 25 yards to the house to make it a two-possession game. A minute and a half after retaking the lead, Warsaw was now up 23-14.

“We practiced that play all week. If I see three guys coming in, I have to cut in front of him. I did, and it was like a dream from then on,” Heady said. “I’m going to be honest, I kind of blacked out. All of a sudden I see all the guys running to me and I’m like ‘holy crap, that just happened’”

Needing something and needing it right away, the Pirates got back to work on offense and used Johnson, who was a majority of the offense all night long, to work their way down the field. The visitors converted on two separate fourth-down plays to keep things alive and make it into the red zone. The drive took the remainder of the third quarter off of the clock, meaning one of these teams was now just 12 minutes away from a trip to Indianapolis.
It didn’t take long for the Tigers to realize it was them.

The first play of the fourth quarter was a massive one, as the Pirates put the ball on the ground, where it was jumped on by Gavin Schultz for yet another Merrillville turnover. After a long drive, the visitors came away with nothing.

After giving up eleven points in the second half against Lafayette Jefferson a week ago, the Warsaw defense held their opponent scoreless in the final 24 minutes of the semi-state round.

“I don’t think there’s much of an adjustment we’ve made in these games. I think we are a second-half team defensively,” Dippon said. “Everyone gets their assignments, we’re not rushing anything. I think we just know how to get the job done.”

A long drive away from potentially putting the game away for good, Warsaw executed extremely well before being turned away. The Tigers converted on multiple third downs while draining plenty of clock. The Merrillville defense was starting to show signs of fatigue, and the home side was exploiting it. With a little under six minutes to go in the game, the team elected to go for a 4th and 3 at the Pirate 26. They were denied, giving the ball back to the visitors still up eleven. The drive may not have led to any points, but it drained six crucial minutes off of the clock.

A long passing play flipped the field for Merrillville and put the Pirates in Warsaw territory, but once again, Heady was there to make a big play. The senior made his second interception of the game, the team’s third, to force the fourth turnover of the night. Most importantly, the Tigers had the ball back with four minutes left and a double-digit lead.

A big run by Tucker Reed, 60 yards, put Warsaw deep into the red zone. The next play was the dagger the Tigers were looking for, as Duncan took it in from eleven yards out to make it a 29-14 game with just three minutes to go. To make things even better, a Brock pass to Reed on the two-point conversion made it a three-possession game.

“After Tucker’s run, I was just filled with joy. I was looking up at the amazing crowd, our community did a great job coming out to support us tonight,” Sullivan said.

To put the final cherry on top of the sundae, the Warsaw defense stopped the Pirates on fourth down in the red zone to finish things off. Who was there to make the sack on the final Merrillville play of the night? None other than Cohen Heady.

“For the past four years, we’ve worked to get to this moment. I saw him on the ground and I thought to myself, ‘That’s four years of work right there’” Heady said. “It feels so good to get to this point. It’s unexplainable how good this feels.”

Warsaw (10-3) will play the No. 4 team in the state, Decatur Central, at Lucas Oil Stadium next Saturday at 7 p.m.

“I don’t care if we have to play Oregon next week. I get another week with these kids. We get to practice another week,” Curtis said. “This team has woken up this community and this community has gotten behind this group of boys and you can’t put a price tag on that.”

“We have one more to go,” Sullivan added. “It’s another great opportunity to go 1-0. Let’s bring it home.”

The post Warsaw advances to first-ever state title game appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

By Connor McCann
Times-Union

DUNLAP — Revenge is a dish best-served cold.

A month and a half ago, Warsaw football led Concord, the No. 1 5A team in the state 17-0 at halftime before the Minutemen staged a furious comeback late to escape with a 28-24 victory to remain undefeated. Friday, the two teams met at Jake Field again, this time with a sectional championship on the line. As was the case the first time around, the Tigers played a great game, keeping it close throughout. But this time, it was Warsaw with the last laugh, as a last-second touchdown gave the Tigers a 31-28 for the team’s first sectional title since 2019.

“This was a game that saw two tough teams get knocked down to the canvas over and over again and both of them got up every time,” Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis said after the game. “Our kids are resilient. We’re fortunate to play the game we played and do the things we did tonight.”

The Tiger defense started the game off on fire. After giving up a first down on the first series of the contest, the D picked it up from there, perfectly reading two passes by Concord’s Bo Brunner and tackling receivers at or near the line of scrimmage. Facing a third and long, Brunner dropped back to pass and was hit as he threw it, leading to an interception by Jayden Habegger to set Warsaw up with some great field position.

The good times didn’t last very long, as something very similar would happen to the Tiger offense. After picking up a first down, the visitors turned it over on a botched handoff, giving the ball right back to the Minutemen unable to take advantage of the turnover.

On the other hand, Concord was very much able to use the quick possession change to their benefit, as on the second play of the home team’s second drive, Jaron Thomas took a carry straight up the middle and blew past everybody, making it all the way to the end zone and opening up the scoring with a 79-yard touchdown run that made it 7-0 five minutes into the game.

Perhaps looking to prevent the quick-strike Minutemen offense from getting the ball back, the Warsaw offense took its time moving the ball upon getting it back. The visitors held onto possession for the remainder of the first quarter, often needing all three downs to pick up a first while methodically moving up the field. After starting the drive near their own 20, a big run by Brody Duncan put the Tigers at the Concord 25 as the second quarter got set to begin.

The Tigers kept slowly, but surely, moving the ball in the opening minutes of the second, inching closer and closer to the end zone on each subsequent carry. After making their way all the way down to the three, Duncan finally put the exclamation point on a nearly 10-minute drive with a rushing score that tied things up with nine minutes to go in the half.

It took Concord less than 15 seconds to come up with an answer. On the ensuing kickoff, a line drive kick to the Minutemen do-it-all player Char’rese Brevard ended up becoming a problem. After picking up a few key blocks near where he picked it up, Brevard was able to find the edge and using his blazing speed, beat out every other defender on the field en route to a 90-yard return touchdown that put the home team up almost immediately after the game had been tied.

Evan Davis supplied the Tigers with their biggest play from scrimmage thus far on the following drive, rushing for 26 yards to put the ball near midfield. A chunk play through the air by quarterback Drew Sullivan to receiver Ethan Egolf put the visitors in Minutemen territory. After a pair of big plays, the Warsaw offense went back to a more methodical approach before finally being faced with a fourth down near the 30. Curtis elected to send the field goal unit out, and was rewarded for his decision as Mason Smythe buried a 39-yard field goal with three minutes left in the half to make it 14-10.

The juggernaut of a Concord offense came up with an immediate strike once again. Feeding the ball to Brevard on a reverse play, the senior did the rest. Finding the edge once again Brevard dashed past the Warsaw secondary and added a stiff arm to break free for good measure on his way to a 73-yard touchdown that made it 21-10 just 25 seconds after getting the ball back again.

A circus catch by Egolf put the Tiger offense back in business as they got the ball back. The senior receiver timed his jump perfectly to come down with a perfectly thrown ball by Sullivan down the sideline to get the ball to midfield instantly. That would be all Warsaw would get on the drive though, as the visitors were forced to punt a few plays later.

Needing a stop to keep things close heading into halftime, the Tigers caught a big break in the final minute of the half, as a fumbled snap by Brunner found its way onto the grass and was recovered by Warsaw for an instant red-zone opportunity.

The visitors were able to use a little bit of trickeration to turn the chance into some points, as a pitch backwards by Sullivan to Quinton Brock ended up leading to a pass, as the team’s backup quarterback found Tucker Reed in the end zone for the score. The PAT by Smythe that followed was good, making it a ball game once more with the Tigers trailing 21-17 heading into halftime.

“That was huge for us. Having the opportunity to be down four instead of eleven or more at halftime was massive,” Curtis said. “They’re a really good team on both sides of the ball and our kids battled snap for snap with them and I’m damn proud of them.”

Getting the ball right back to begin the third quarter, Warsaw continued with its strategy of taking the air out of the football, taking plenty of time to move down the field. Similar to the team’s first touchdown drive of the night, the Tigers were using every down available to them to move the chains while churning time off of the clock. Facing a fourth and short on the Concord 40, the visitors elected to go for it, picking it up on a keeper by Sullivan to keep the drive alive.

A nice run by Duncan immediately afterward put Warsaw into the red zone. After a few more strong runs by Sullivan, the visitors were within 10 yards of their first lead of the night. After a pair of penalties, one by each side, Sullivan kept it himself on an option play from six yards out to finish off a massive 10-minute drive and put the Tigers on top for the first time at 24-21.

“I think we did very well on offense. When you’re playing a team like them with some great linebackers and great offensive linemen, you have to execute to the fullest,” Curtis said.

Sullivan, who missed all of last season after an injury in the opening game, as well as a good chunk of time this season after an injury sustained in the first game against Concord, was excellent all night long. After the game, he was emotional as he reflected on his long journey to hoisting the trophy.

“This is the stuff you dream of. All of the work that we’ve put in, I love these guys, man. They work their tails off and they didn’t lose faith. We fumble on the first drive and nobody skips a beat. It took us four quarters of football to beat those guys,” Sullivan said with tears in his eyes. “I’ve been in this situation two times before, came up short, felt like I didn’t do enough. To go out there and play four good quarters of football, it feels special.”

Feeding off of the momentum the offense had just created, the defense returned to the field on a mission, and delivered the crucial stop they had been looking for. Forcing a three-and-out, the Tiger D gave the ball right back to the offense on its own 42 as the fourth and final quarter prepared to declare a sectional champion.

For the second time in the game, Warsaw elected to roll the dice and try to convert on a fourth and short near midfield. This time, the Concord defense was the one celebrating, as the Minutemen got the push they were looking for in the trenches and came up with a crucial stop to give the ball back to the offense.

As was the case with the first Tiger turnover earlier in the game, the home side wasted no time at all turning the turnover into points. Another long run by Thomas, this one 55 yards, ended in the end zone as the senior broke five different tackles and even added a hurdle to put the NLC champs back in front, 28-24, with nine minutes left.

With just six minutes remaining in the game and facing another fourth down at the Minutemen 37, the biggest play of the game to this point had arrived. This time, Warsaw kept the chains moving by picking up three yards while needing two. Another first down with four minutes remaining in the game put the visitors on the cusp of the red zone.

Here is where the Concord defense came up big, stopping the Tiger offense for little or no gain on three straight plays to force the second fourth down of the drive, this time the visitors needed to get seven with two minutes remaining. Needing to make the biggest throw of his life, Sullivan was perfect. He connected with Egolf, who somehow kept his feet in bounds to pick up the massive first down.

“I knew my guy Ethan was going to be open. We work on that play. We stay after practice and we work on that play,” Sullivan said. “We knew that moment was going to come. I’ve never heard a louder crowd than on that fourth down. We had one shot to win a football game. We work on that every single day.”

Having to protect the end zone inside the 10 with just a minute left in the contest, the Concord defense held strong once again, forcing a fourth and two at the four. With the season on the line, Warsaw called time with 17 seconds left to try and get the perfect play.

It was exactly that, as a pitch to Brock was the last thing the Minutemen were expecting, as he galloped untouched into the end zone to put the Tigers up 31-28 with just 13 seconds left.

Not able to come up with that final stop in the regular season matchup, Warsaw was able to exercise some demons and got the big one here. The Minutemen tried to get the ball down the field with a series of pitches, but it did not work. The ball was batted down for an orange and black sectional title.

Warsaw (8-3) will look to take down its second undefeated team in as many weeks as they square off with Lafayette Jefferson in next Friday’s regional game.

[caption id="attachment_101490" align="aligncenter" width="802"] The Warsaw football team celebrates after winning its second sectional title in school history, 31-28 over No. 1 Concord, Friday night. The Tigers scored the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left. Photo by Gary Nieter[/caption]

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