Memorial Rallies To Stun Tigers
ELKHART – Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen will really get to see now just how much heart and resiliency his team has.
He is confident that they have plenty of both.
A battered and beat down group of Tigers walked off the Elkhart Memorial football field late Friday night searching for answers.
Elkhart Memorial made it a home opener to remember as the hosts shocked the Tigers 42-33 in a marathon Northern Lakes Conference clash.
Memorial was not only winless this season prior to Friday night, but the Chargers had been shut out each of the last three seasons by Warsaw and outscored by the Tigers 108-13 in their last four meetings. Memorial had lost 10 in a row and 18 of its last 20 games entering play Friday night.
None of that mattered to a gutty group, led by playmaker supreme Zach Hawkins. The senior quarterback led his team back from a 31-14 deficit to stun Warsaw.
The Chargers, who finished 1-9 a year ago, scored 28 straight points to hand Warsaw its third straight loss of the season.
Memorial, under new coach Scot Shaw, bounced back after losing in the final minute at Goshen last week 17-14.
It was simply a case once again for the Tigers of an inconsistent offense, which was brilliant at times, and a depleted defensive unit hurt by key injuries and left on the field way too long against an athletic Memorial team.
“You could see Memorial improving and getting better each week and their quarterback is a heck of a player,” said Jensen. “We knew that. We had no answer for him. We knew he was their best runner. They made the big plays when they needed to and we didn’t.
“We did not score enough points. It comes down to consistency on offense. We had key penalties that killed us tonight. Our defense has some key injuries, but that’s high school football. That’s football. It has to be the next guy step up. Our defense got gassed out there.
“It’s gut check time for us and we just have to go back to work. I talked to our seniors (following the game) and our big goal is still there for us. I think these guys will respond. This group has put in too much work not to.”
Warsaw jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter as Michael Jensen hit D’Andre Street for a 15-yard touchdown toss and Will McGarvey rushed for a 14-yard score. The Chargers cut it to 14-7 on a 54-yard run by Micah Johnson before Andrew Mevis hit a 23-yard field goal for a 17-7 Warsaw lead after the opening period.
Memorial sliced the lead to 17-14 early in the second stanza as Hawkins hit David Tillman with a three-yard TD toss. Warsaw then scored two touchdowns, Rob Sullivan on a three-yard run and Riley Rhoades on a 7-yard pass from Jensen, for a 31-14 lead with 2:11 left in the half.
The key stretch of the game was the final 85 seconds of the opening half. Warsaw, up 31-14, drove to the Memorial 33 before being stopped on downs. Memorial then went 67 yards for a huge score on the final play of the half as Brice Rickey caught a five-yard pass from Hawkins to make it 31-21.
“The end of the second quarter was a huge point,” said Jensen. “We had an opportunity to score and then they hit a big play (a 42-yard pass) and go in and score. Brutal.”
Memorial got a pair of short touchdown runs by Hawkins in the third period to take the lead at 35-31. Hawkins then hit Davon Long with a four-yard pass to make it 42-31. Warsaw misfired on three scoring chances in the final six minutes of the game, getting stopped twice on interceptions and once on downs.
The two teams combined for a staggering 1,060 yards of total offense in a game that took over three hours to play. There were also 18 penalties, 12 on Warsaw, in a flag fest of absurd proportions.
Jensen was an incredible, record-setting 35-70 passing for 430 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Sullivan rushed for 100 yards on 24 carries.
Rhoades had a monster night with 17 receptions for 155 yards for Warsaw. Thomas Hickerson had five catches for 106 yards and Sterling Hay six for 88.
Hawkins was 20-35 pass for 270 yards and three touchdowns with one pick. He also rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns in a big time effort. Senior Long had nine catches for 200 yards.
The Tigers were missing a pair of defensive standouts in senior linebacker Dylan Childers and junior linebacker Jeremy David due to injuries.
Warsaw also lost running back Will McGarvey late in the first quarter due to an injury.
Warsaw (1-3, 0-2) will host Northridge (3-1, 1-1) and Memorial (1-3, 1-2) will host Plymouth (4-0, 2-0) in NLC play next Friday night. Northridge, No. 6 in Class 4-A, lost 36-13 at Class 4-A No. 2 and undefeated Plymouth Friday night.
The Raiders had quarterback Nick Hooley leave their game Friday night with an ankle injury in the first quarter.