Connor McCann
Times-Union
WARSAW — History was made on two separate occasions at Fisher Field Friday night. The first was simple — by having the game at home, the Warsaw Football team played host to a regional contest for the first time in school history.
The second history-making moment was a little more difficult to reach, but after the team’s second win in as many weeks against an undefeated, highly-ranked opponent, the Tigers hoisted a regional championship trophy for the first time ever with a 44-27 win over No. 2 Lafayette Jefferson.
After being a part of a moment so monumental, many players found it hard to put the feelings into words.
“It’s an unexplainable feeling. To be a leader on a team that can make this kind of history, I’m speechless right now,” senior linebacker Cohen Heady said. “I’m smiling right now but I don’t even know how to put it in words.”
“This is so awesome. We’ve been grinding for this for so many years and it feels so good that our hard work is paying off,” junior Quinton Brock added.
Others were ready to get back to work.
“It’s a great night for the Tigers, but I’m not satisfied yet,” Quarterback Drew Sullivan, who ran for 310 yards in the win, said. “It feels good but we’re not done yet.” Warsaw, which was 3-3 a month and a half ago, has now won six games in a row.
“This is a group of kids who had some battle scars from some tough losses, who never listened to the outside noise and kept working,” Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis said. “We stayed true to ourselves and continued to challenge the kids to play harder. They understand that to play in November you have to give it all you have.”
The Bronchos tried to catch Warsaw off guard on the opening kickoff of the game, attempting an onside kick. It didn’t work out for the visitors, going out of bounds and giving the Tigers the ball at their own 47-yard line to start the game.
Coming off of perhaps their best offensive performance of the season last week, the home team got right back to business on their opening drive, methodically moving the ball down the field while picking up a pair of first downs. It looked as if the Tigers were going to move the chains once again near the Jefferson 30, but a flag for a false start stopped the drive in its tracks. A few plays later, Warsaw elected to go for it on fourth down, but were stuffed and turned it over.
The Bronchos had much more success on their opening drive. Operating quickly, Jefferson was able to move the ball with ease during the first half of the drive, getting onto the Warsaw side of the field in a hurry. It was here the Tiger defense sharpened up, forcing the Bronchos to go for it on fourth down on two separate occasions. The visitors converted on both, making their way into the red zone before running back Antwoine Richmond ran in the game’s opening touchdown from the three with three and a half minutes left in the first.
Quinton Brock returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards before being tackled by the last man in his way to the end zone, the Broncho kicker. While the play didn’t result in a score, it did set up the Tiger offense in a favorable position once again.
It didn’t take long for Warsaw to use the spark to get something going, as Sullivan broke free on a keeper and took the ball 40 yards and inside the red zone at the 15-yard line. As the first quarter came to an end, another keeper by Sullivan made it second and goal at the three for Warsaw with a chance to tie things up.
“Coaches put together a great game plan for us knowing they were going to throw some different fronts at us, my guys were blocking their butts off for me,” Sullivan said.
Just two plays into the following quarter, Brody Duncan powered through a series of defenders from one yard out to score the first Tiger points of the night. The PAT that followed by Mason Smythe was good, tying things up at 7.
Now it was Warsaw’s turn for some trickery. For the second time in the game, an onside kick was attempted, and this time, it was successful. It was a beauty of a play, going the required 10 yards and no further before being recovered by Smythe, the kicker himself. Just like that, the home team was back in business.
The Tigers would make the most of the created opportunity. Facing a third and long just outside of the red zone, Sullivan dropped back to pass, and threw up a perfect ball to Brock, who beat his man and made the catch just outside of the end zone. With nobody else to stop him, the junior waltzed into the end zone for a 25-yard score that gave Warsaw its first lead of the night. With seven and a half minutes to go in the half, the Tigers were now up 14-7.
Things kept getting better for Warsaw following the score. The defense came up big with a stop, forcing the Bronchos to punt near their own end zone. The ball would never make it into the air, as a bad snap went over the Jefferson punter’s head and into the end zone. The first player to it was Daylon Fitzpatrick, who recovered it for a Tiger touchdown that caused the crowd to go into a frenzy. With six minutes left in the half, Warsaw was now up 21-7.
It didn’t take long for the Bronchos to come up with an answer. On the visitor’s first play from scrimmage following the turnover, Jefferson got a big play from leading receiver Andre Fancher. The senior broke a series of tackles and found a way to beat everybody, getting loose for a 73-yard score. The PAT was no good though, making it a 21-13 game just 20 seconds after the Warsaw touchdown.
Coming off of back-to-back scoring drives, the Warsaw offense stayed in a groove on its next drive. A big pitch play to Brock and another long keeper by Sullivan got things moving as the Tigers burned some clock while getting the ball into the red zone once more.
However, time was a factor on this possession, with less than a minute remaining as the home side looked to extend its lead. A couple of untimely penalties stopped the drive in its tracks, turning into a 37-yard field goal attempt for Smythe. The kick looked good for most of the time it was in the air, but it hooked right at the last second to keep Warsaw scoreless on its final possession of the half.
The first half had a controversial ending, as Jefferson attempted a trick play. Quarterback Keyen Crowder passed the ball backward to his receiver, throwing it low to make it look like a fumble. The play was whistled dead as an incomplete pass, but it should have been a fumble advanced by the receiver. Instead, the half came to an end on a long lateral play with the Tigers still up 21-13.
“We had a few opportunities in the first half that I feel like we let get away, and I thought it was going to come back and bite us,” Curtis said.”
The Bronchos began the second half on fire, moving the ball down the field in a hurry and getting past midfield within a minute. After picking up a fourth down conversion, Crowder connected with his receiver Omar Williams Jr. for a 38-yard score three minutes into the third quarter. Jefferson added a two-point conversion for good measure, and just like that, things were tied at 21.
“This game was kind of a blur with how fast they operated on offense,” Heady said. “When something bad happened we would get down on ourselves a bit but I knew we just had to stick with things.”
Getting the ball back, the Tiger offense was stuffed on three straight plays, leading to a fourth and short at their own 29. The team elected to go for it, and it paid off, with Sullivan using a second effort to pick up the first. He didn’t stop there, adding a 55-yard run just a few plays later to get the ball down to the eleven.
It looked as if Warsaw was going to turn the big run into points, but the Bronchos came up big at the goal line, coming up with a fourth down stop at the one-yard line to give the ball back to the offense. After a six-minute drive, the Tigers came up empty and things remained tied.
Jefferson was unable to do much offensively after getting the ball back, with a holding penalty as well as a fumble recovered by the offense only netted the Broncho offense two total yards. For the second time in the game, a poor snap on the long snap went over the punter’s head on fourth down, this time going through the back of the end zone for a safety. Once again, Warsaw was up 23-21 with a minute to go in the third.
Along with the points, the Tigers got the ball following the safety, ending up starting the possession at the Jefferson 49. They didn’t stay there for long, as yet another long run by Sullivan, this one for 36 yards, put the ball at the seven as the third quarter came to an end. The first play of the fourth quarter looked identical to the last play from scrimmage against Concord a week ago. A pitch to Brock was executed perfectly, and the junior made a couple men miss on his way to the end zone. Just five seconds into the fourth, Warsaw was now up 30-21.
“Total team win for us tonight. We’ve been in this position time and time again and we were ready for it,” Sullivan said. “We’re comfortable to have the ball in those situations.”
Needing something and needing it now, Jefferson was able to get back to work on offense. Moving the ball incredibly efficiently, it didn’t take long for the visitors to get onto the Tiger side of the field, before eventually scoring a touchdown on a short passing play to Marquis Adkins with nine minutes left. The Bronchos elected to go for two, but were denied by the home defense, keeping the score at 30-27.
“We’re a resilient group. We knew we were going to get punched in the mouth but we kept getting up and made the big plays when we needed to,” Heady said.
Looking to burn as much clock as possible, Warsaw rolled the dice after getting the ball back, electing to go for it on fourth and short at their own 37. The risk paid off, and yet another pitch to Brock worked out just fine. To make things even better, another huge run by Sullivan got the ball into the red zone with six and a half minutes left. Once again, the Broncho defense held strong while backed up into their own end, forcing a 4th and 6 just outside the 10. Sensing the game wouldn’t be won with field goals, the Tigers elected to go for it once again. The team broke out another play identical to one in last week’s win.
Sullivan pitched it back to Brock, and instead of running forward, he passed it to Ethan Egolf, who made an incredible catch in the end zone to put the Tigers back up by two possessions once more. With four and a half minutes to go, Warsaw was now up 37-27.
“I saw Ethan out there and he was covered up, but I know he’s got that dog in him so I decided to throw it up and let him make a play,” Brock said.
The Tiger defense put the final nail in the coffin on the next drive, forcing a fumble near midfield that was picked up by Grady Nelson to give the ball right back to the home side with four minutes left. The offense did its job, holding onto the football and burning all of the clock and putting an exclamation point on the first regional title in school history with a 16-yard TD run by Sullivan to give the Tigers 43 points.
“The brotherhood that these kids have, the way they play for each other, you can’t beat that. They responded well tonight when they had to deal with a lot of what Jeff was giving to them.”
Warsaw (9-4) will host Merrillville in the Semi-State game next Friday for the right to head down to Indianapolis.
“Merrillville is another really good football team. It’s going to take a full week of practice to be ready for them. We did some things tonight we’ll have to get fixed if we want to keep this going,” Sullivan said.
