Angola’s Chase Schnepf pulls in a pass during the Hornets’ 38-7 win over Wawasee Friday night. (Photos by Mike Deak)

ANGOLA – For many reasons, Wawasee’s 38-7 football loss at Angola Friday night will sting for a while.

The sectional loss to the No. 5 Hornets closes out a 3-7 season for the Warriors, one that saw the team roll in its opener then drop six straight games. Two wins to finish the regular season had Wawasee confident coming into the sectional opener against Angola, which came into the game 9-0 and the lofty Class 4-A state ranking.

The loss sent off a very productive class of seniors including Alec Rosbrugh, Elisha Tipping, Jacob Hand and a host of grinders playing two ways in most cases for the short-handed Warriors.

Wawasee’s Elisha Tipping, Dylan Hepler and head coach Mike Eshbach look over Alec Rosbrugh after Rosbrugh broke his leg in the second quarter.

But the game may be most remembered by those rooting for the green and gold for what happened at the 9:01 mark of the second quarter. A sickening reminder that sports can be a cruel, cruel entity.

Wawasee trailed Angola 10-0 and were moving the ball on a somewhat shocked Angola side. Rosbrugh, playing quarterback from the wildcat formation, took the snap and moved to his left, trying to evade Angola’s blitz up the middle. As Rosbrugh met the wall of pursuit, his right leg bent underneath him and the impending pile, all that was left was the shrieking scream from the fallen Rosbrugh. Immediately the pile unraveled and Rosbrugh laid in unedited and heartbreaking agony, his leg broken and a sectional showdown now reduced to prayers and questions.

“I wish we had started the game a little better than we did, but I thought we adjusted and it became a game of adjustments,” said Wawasee head coach Mike Eshbach. “When Alec goes out, at that point, everybody knows that’s a game changer. Everything you work on all week gets thrown right out the window. We try to improvise with what you can.

“I pulled the kids aside and told them now is the time to circle the wagons. We have to pick up the pieces and deal with some more adversity.”

With the wind clearly out of Wawasee’s sails, Eshbach and the senior leaders tried desperately to rally the troops. But on the next play, Ryan Brandt picked off Jacob Hand’s pass.

Wawasee would get a bit of momentum heading into half, holding the Hornets scoreless after Angola drove inside Wawasee’s five, Tipping got his big paw on the field goal try.

Angola’s Sean Miller celebrates after hauling in a touchdown pass.

But that would be the last of the highlights for the Warriors.

Chase Schnepf made his second 60-plus-yard touchdown run of the night, busting off a 63-yarder to make it 17-0, adding to his 67-yarder in the first quarter. Schnepf would key Angola’s next drive, taking a pass down to the Wawasee 21 on a third-and-19 play, then taking it the final 21 on the next play.

Angola would add a touchdown pass to Sean Miller and Joel McCurdy touchdown run to give the Hornets a more lopsided finish. Angola came into the night averaging 45 points per game, and once their machine got going, looked every bit the offensive juggernaut they have been this season. Rolling up 507 yards of total offense, Schnepf had 174 yards rushing on just seven carries while Jarrett Gibson added 99 yards on just six carries and added a pair of catches for 72 yards.

“I felt like we competed until about the middle of the third quarter and we give up a couple cheap ones. Then the reality of it starts to set in,” said Eshbach. “This is the end sets in for some of the kids. The seniors. You get into the state tournament and know that it could come to an end. They wanted to fight, and we did, we just didn’t make enough plays.”

The lone score for the Warriors came from Braxton Gray on an 11-yard reception late in the fourth quarter. Wawasee compiled just 136 total yards on 62 plays throughout the game.

Wawasee bows out of the state tournament in the first round for the fifth straight season. Eshbach, who noted his team dressed just 33 active players excluding kickers, is looking to the offseason to get the program moving forward.

“You look at Angola, four years ago they are in the same spot as we are,” Eshbach said, having played Angola as former coach of NECC rival Eastside. “What has to happen is we need to get the program in the right direction. We need more numbers. You can’t compete at this level with our numbers. We have to get those up. We have to get commitments up. And we need guys who put in time in the weight room. If we can get that and develop, we can easily turn this thing around.”

Angola (10-0) will visit NorthWood (7-3) next Friday in the Sectional 19 semi-finals. The Panthers battered DeKalb 54-3 in Nappanee to draw the home game. On the other side of the bracket, Culver Academy (9-1) stunned previously undefeated Northridge 35-13 and East Noble (8-2) fended off Plymouth 14-13 to set up a dandy of a pair of semi-finals.

Wawasee’s Elisha Tipping (at right) knocks the helmet off Angola quarterback Chance Roddy as Will Geer closes in.