WARSAW – Warsaw football coach Phil Jensen gave his team a little bit of a program history lesson earlier this week.

He then watched from the best seat in the house Friday night as his squad went out and made some history of their own in dramatic fashion.

The Tigers stormed back from an 18-point second-half deficit to stun Class 4-A No. 7 NorthWood 31-28 in a Northern Lakes Conference thriller at Fisher Field.

Tristan Larsh had the throw and Lane McClone the tackle that will be talked about for years in this Tiger classic.

Quarterback Larsh hit Zach Riley with a sweet 24-yard touchdown toss with 2:25 left for the game winning points as the hosts scored the final 21 points of the contest.

Linebacker McClone then chased down scrambling NorthWood quarterback Landen Gessinger on a fourth and nine play to seal the deal with 49.6 seconds remaining.

Larsh, who rushed for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns, connected with Riley as he rolled left and was creamed by a Panther defender just after releasing the biggest throw of his career.

“The play broke up and I saw the one person I trust the most (Zach) and I took a shot with him,” said Larsh. “I got hit in the gut as I threw it and as I’m laying there I was just thinking that I hope it got to him.

“I just want to say how proud I am of our entire team tonight. Our offensive line just did a great job and our defense went out there and shut them down. Everyone just did a great job for us.”

Linebacker McClone, a senior just like Larsh and Riley, made the biggest tackle of his outstanding season when he corralled the elusive Messenger.

“I was just trying to stop the play,” said McClone of his stop. “I knew we had to get off the field. Then, I was like oh my gosh we beat them. This is just awesome. Our defense bends, but does not break and I like that about us. And our offense went out there and did the job.”

Things did not look good for the hosts after Bronson Yoder raced in from 13 yards out with 9:29 to play in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 28-10 lead.

The Tigers, though, never flinched.

Larsh, in his first year as a high school quarterback, scored on a seven-yard run with 6:18 to play in the third period to make it 28-17. Then, after a NorthWood fumble at its own 35-yard line, Bryce Garner bulled in from seven yards out with 4:53 left in the third to make it 28-24.

The Warsaw defense just rose to the occasion time and time again to thwart the explosive Panther offense. The Tiger offense also just ran the ball right down the throats of the Black Crunch defense the entire night as the hosts ran for 251 yards. NorthWood entered play Friday night only allowing an average of nine points-per-game.

The final gamewinnig drive say the Tigers go 61 yards. The chiseled and speedy Larsh kept the drive alive as he ran for a four-yard gain on a fourth and two play at the Panther 27-yard line. Three plays later, he hit Riley with the game winner.

“17 years ago to the day (Oct. 6, 1990) we went to NorthWood and won 29-28 in overtime after being down 14-0 at halftime,” explained Jensen. “We talked to our players about that game this week.

“That win catapulted us on into the playoffs and this is that kind of win tonight. Just unbelievable. It was just a tremendous team effort. A great, gutty effort by all of our kids tonight. I’m so proud of all of them.

“Tristan just keeps working and keeps believing. Bryce just ran the ball right at them. What a job by our offensive line. We had the ball a long time tonight and that was a big key. And how about the way our defense stepped up and gave us a chance.”

The game that Jensen referenced was won when Brad Seiss ran for a two-point conversion. Seiss, who went on to play at Ball State, is now the head coach at Merrillville High School.

Jensen also reached a milestone with the win. It was the 103rd of his career at Warsaw, tying him with George Fisher (1926-51) as the winningest coach in program history. The fiery Jensen, who played at both Penn High School and Butler University, is now 103-83 in his 18th season overall in two stints coaching the Tigers.

Warsaw, which had lost three in a row to NorthWood including a 61-24 final in Nappanee a year ago, improves to 5-3 overall with its third straight win. The Tigers are 4-2 in NLC play.

NorthWood, which allowed a season high point total, drops to 5-3 overall and is 3-3 in league action.

Warsaw ran 69 plays to just 37 for the Panthers, who had won 21 of the previous 30 meetings in the series prior to Friday night. The Tigers played keep away in outgaining NorthWood 335-272 in total yards . Warsaw was 6-14 on third downs and 3-3 on fourth downs, while the Panthers were 1-7 and 0-3 respectively.

NorthWood also hurt itself with 10 penalties, a couple of them very costly ones at key times. Maybe the biggest flag of the night on the Panthers came on their final possession when a holding call wiped out a long run by Bronson Yoder deep into Tiger territory.

“They did a good job sticking to their gameplan and we played defense the whole time tonight,” said NorthWood coach Nate Andrews, who guided the Panthers to a 14-1 mark and a Class 4-A state runner-up finish a year ago. “It’s disappointing to lose any game, but I’ve said all along that these games are our homework for the test that is coming up (postseason play).

“We unraveled in some ways. The critical plays we gave up and penalties did us in. You pay so much attention to Larsh and it frees others up for them. We broke down in coverage on that final touchdown and he stood tall and made the throw.

“It just wasn’t meant to be tonight for the Panthers.”

The two teams, after a scoreless opening quarter, lit up the scoreboard in the second stanza. Harrison Mevis hit a 33-yard field goal to give Warsaw a 3-0 lead. The Panthers then got a 55-yard touchdown run from Brayton Yoder and a 38-yard fumble return for a score by Nic Bontrager for a 14-3 lead. Larsh then scored from four yards out to make it 14-10 before Brayton Yoder scored from a yard out with just 58 seconds to play to make it 22-10 at halftime.

Tailback Bryce Garner also had a huge game for the Tigers. The junior, who has taken over as the starter with Will McGarvey out for the rest of the season due to a foot injury, got the tough yards inside all game long. The gutty, 5-8, 180-pound Garner bulled his way to 122 yards on 24 carries.

Riley had six receptions for 75 yards for Warsaw as Larsh was 8-15 passing for 84 yards.

Gessinger was 9-10 passing for 108 yards and rushed for 54 yards. Brayton Yoder, who scored two touchdowns, had 66 yards on 10 carries and Bronson Yoder four rushes for 44 yards and one score.  DeAndre Smart had four catches for 79 yards.

Jaxon Wagoner had a fumble recovery for Warsaw, while McClone led his team in tackles.

Smart had an interception for the Panthers.

The Friday night game will be shown on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. as the WHME (Channel 46) Game of the Week.

Warsaw  plays at Concord (7-1, 5-1) and NorthWood hosts Plymouth (6-2, 4-2) in the NLC and regular-season finales next Friday night, Concord, ranked No. 3 in Class 5-A, lost to Class 4-A No. 5 Northridge 28-21 and Plymouth beat Goshen 41-21 in NLC games Friday night.