ELKHART – It was not about No. 100 for Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen Friday night.

It was all about the number two for him on a memorable evening.

As in the all-important and much-needed second win of the season for his current Tiger team.

Warsaw presented their coach with the 100th win of his career on the Tiger sidelines by downing host Elkhart Memorial 17-6 in a Northern Lakes Conference clash.

The Tigers used two big scoring plays, a key field goal by Harrison Mevis, and a tough defensive effort for the victory.

Jensen is now 100-82 in this his 18th year overall in two stints at WCHS, was concerned about one thing after receiving a trophy commemorating his signature win from WCHS assistant athletic director Jeff Hamstra.

“100 wins is specail, but I’m happier that we are 2-2 now,” said Jensen after addressing his team. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. It’s about this team this year. These guys have worked hard and have responded.

“There’s just been a lot of great kids and a lot of great assistant coaches who have went into 100 wins. And a lot of support from our administration and the community. I’m just blessed to be able to have done this at Warsaw.”

Jensen, who coached the Tigers from 1996 to 2003 and then again from 2008 to now, is second all-time in wins. Only George  Fisher, who went 103-95-15 from 1926-51, has more wins in charge of the Tigers than Jensen.

Jensen, who played at both Penn High School and Butler University, is now 129-94 overall in his 22nd season as a head coach.

Warsaw, which had been outscored the past two weeks by a count of 70-14 in losses to East Noble and Plymouth, needed this one in the worst way.

The Tigers got it over the outmanned and winless Crimson Chargers despite not being on the field offensively hardly at all in the final half.

Warsaw got a huge 83-yard pass and run from Tristan Larsh to Zach Riley in the opening quarter to take a 7-0 lead. Riley took in a short pass in the flat and then outraced the Memorial defenders down the sideline.

The Chargers, who fall to 0-4, got back in the game on a 10-yard touchdown run by Nolan Grose two minutes into the second period to make it 7-6. The hosts opted to go for two after the score, but the run was stopped.

Will McGarvey then stepped up with the play of the night on the ensuing kickoff. The senior gathered in the ball and went 82 yards to paydirt to make it 14-6.

“It wasn’t a pretty win, but we found a way,” Jensen noted. “We’re back to 2-2 and this can catapult us going forward now.

“Memorial executed their gameplan well. They ran hard, kept the ball and did not make mistakes. But. we capitalized when we had to with the two big plays and the big field goal by Mevis to make it a two-score lead.”

Memorial, which has now been outscored 100-48, had the statitiscal edge. The hosts outgained Warsaw 233-211 in total yards and ran 58 plays to just 34 for the Tigers.

The Warsaw defense, though, rose to the challenge. The Tigers stopped Memorial at the Tiger nine-yard line on the opening drive of the second half. Warsaw then stopped the Chargers at the Tiger 32 with 2:14 to play to seal the win.

Warsaw had just two offensive possessions in the second half. The Chargers first drive on the final half included 17 plays and chewed more than 10 minutes off the clock.

“Our defense was out there a lot, especially in the second half,” said Jensen. “They were solid. They did not break and did not give up any really big plays tonight. They just kept plugging away.

“It was important to keep them out of the end zone on that first drive in the third quarter.

“Our special teams play was big tonight with the return by Will and then the field goal by Harrison. Those were three big points. It was a big field goal, his first of the year. We had tried that 52-yarder back in the first game of the season to send a message to him to be ready. He hit a big one tonight.”

McGarvey also set a milestone in the win. The senior tailback reached 2,000 yards for his career. McGarvey rushed for 69 yards on 12 carries Friday night to give him exactly 2,000 yards.

Warsaw has now won six of the last seven meetings with Memorial. The Chargers have lost eight games in a row dating back to last season and are now 4-20 under third-year coach Scot Shaw.

Tristan Larsh was 4-8 passing for 101 yards for the Tigers. He also had 11 carries for 32 yards.

Memorial rushed for 183 yards on 50 carries on the night, led by stud sophomore Mark Brownlee. He had 105 yards on 16 carries.

Jaxon Wagoner led the Tiger defense with nine tackles, including three for losses. Lane McClone continued his outstanding play from linebacker with 8.5 tackles. John Culbertson and Jack Tucker were the next highest tacklers for the winners.

Warsaw (2-2, 1-1) hosts Northridge (4-0, 2-0) and Memorial hosts Plymouth (3-1, 1-1) in NLC games next Friday night.

Northridge picked up a huge 12-0 win at Plymouth Friday night.