WARSAW — It’s bounce back time for the Tigers.

After suffering its first loss of the season and head coach Bart Curtis’ tenure via a heartbreaking 32-29 overtime decision at Plymouth last week, Warsaw (2-1, 0-1 NLC) will show how it can respond when the team returns home to take on a talented Elkhart Memorial (1-2, 1-1 NLC) squad this week.

Last week’s loss was a tough pill to swallow. The Tigers missed a few key opportunities in the second half, and the Rockies ultimately kicked a 25-yard field goal on their last try of the extra period for the win. Curtis admitted he is having trouble taking his own advice, but it won’t do any good looking back, either.

“I tell the kids we celebrate a win for 24 hours, we mourn a loss for 24 hours, and I can’t take my own advice. So I’ve got to do a better job of that. But we’ve moved on, and we’re focused on us,” he said.

“No one game can be the end-all. I’ve had coaches on my staff that have been here a long time that have said this is kind of a determining week. I don’t want to call it the honeymoon, but you win a couple games, everyone is happy; how are you going to respond after a loss? So that’s what we’re looking at.”

Although they didn’t get the “W”, the Tigers did a lot of things right last Friday, and they’re hoping they can carry some of those positives over to this week’s Northern Lakes Conference contest.

Warsaw showcased a number of new offensive wrinkles en route to a season-high 29 points and out-gained its hosts 286 yards to 218. Kane Dawson led all rushers with 71 yards on 25 carries, and quarterback Josh West finished with 64 rushing yards on 17 carries and went an efficient 5 for 7 passing for 120 yards and a score. Those stats are heartening, but Curtis still wants more from his team’s run game.

“Josh threw the ball OK. Keep in mind that one of our passes that we called ended up in a touchdown for them because we didn’t protect the backside and they scooped and scored off a sack,” he recalled. “Those things balance themselves out. I think a perfect ratio for us is about where we were at. We want to be about 5 for 6 for a couple touchdowns, and that’s about where we were. Now we haven’t rushed for 200 yards yet in a game, which is not where we want to be.”

The Chargers are big up front, have tons of team speed and talent to spare at a number of positions. They’re a lot better than their 1-2 record indicates, and Curtis knows his players are going to have to keep their heads on a swivel, play team defense and tackle well to pull out a win.

“Memorial is a formidable foe with talent all over the field and speed. They have the capacity to beat anybody on their schedule,” he said.

“They’re big up front. They don’t necessarily move that well up front, but they definitely get in your way. Their linemen know what they’re doing, and they do it well. They wall people off, and they kick out with the fullback and they pull a backside guard, and they run a nice power play. Their backs are not necessarily going to hit the hole where it was designed. If there’s the wrong color in that hole they’re going to bounce it out. We’ve got to be aware of that. If the play is designed to go C gap and A gap is open, their back is going. We need to be very gap sound and get off blocks in a hurry and find the football and tackle well.”

Mother Nature hasn’t been particularly helpful with this week’s preparation as lightning Monday and 90-degree heat Tuesday and Wednesday have made practicing a challenge. Warsaw was forced indoors most of Monday, and the team has done the best it could with its remaining days. This week’s game will test the Tigers in a number of ways, but it’s still about the long term process more than any short term outcomes.

“I’m proud of the kids that have hung in there,” said Curtis. “There’s no magic pill, there’s no magic coach. It is emphasizing the things that are important and doing them over and over and over again until they become second nature. Once that happens, we’re going to be OK.”

Start time is slated for 7 p.m. at Fisher Field.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY (1-2, 0-0 TRC) AT NORTHFIELD (1-2, 0-0 TRC)

While Warsaw looks to recover from its first loss of the year, Tippecanoe Valley is riding high on its first win of the season, a convincing 36-7 affair versus North Miami last week.

“The win did help us with our confidence. After a couple hard losses the first two week it did help getting back on track for conference,” said head coach Steve Moriarty.

Valley scored 13 points in the second period to jump out to a 22-0 halftime lead and never trailed in the win. Cameron Parker rushed for 154 yards and a touchdown on 27 rushes, Noah Miller went 5-11-1 through the air with a 19-yard TD completion to Alex Morrison and carried the ball seven times for 71 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown run. Jalen Potter hauled in two catches worth 63 yards, including a TD reception for 50 yards. Basically, the Vikings showed a lot of growth on the offensive side of the ball.

“Our offense is starting to take shape, but it does help with having a good running back. Cam played a great game and was able to find the holes and expose them,” Moriarty said.

Keys to this week’s math-up versus the Norsemen and their option offense will be in containing the big play and limiting turnovers. And the fact that it’s the two teams’ Three Rivers Conference division-opener adds some stakes as well.

“The conference is like a new season in itself. We need to make sure that we stay focused on our goals and take care of the ball. To beat Northfield we will have to play sound, disciplined defense, and offensively, we can’t turn the ball over like we have the first three games,” said Moriarty.

Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

NORTHWOOD (3-0, 1-0 NLC) AT GOSHEN (1-2, 0-1 NLC)

NorthWood head coach Nate Andrews likes his players to be adaptable. He calls it “responding to sudden change,” and its one of the hallmarks of his program. Last Friday, the Class 4A, No. 2 Panthers kept their perfect season alive by responding to some on-field adversity — including the brief absence of quarterback Bronson Yoder — to pull out a narrow, 29-20 win over Concord. Their coach noticed his players’ resiliency in the win.

“They’ve done a solid job of that each game this season, really,” he said.”It’s a pillar of our program so we study it, and we practice it. To me, it’s not only an advantage while playing a game but also very applicable to life.”

The Minutemen gave their hosts all they could handle until Yoder’s insurance touchdown with just 2:01 left in the game. Again, the defense found ways to score points as Jaden Miller and Kyle Sellers both scored pick-sixes for the Panthers. NorthWood was out-gained 366 yards to 245 in total offense but still found ways to get the job done, and they enter Week 4 having passed a tough test last week.

“Very difficult game. Hat’s off to Concord,” said Andrews. “They out-played us in most facets of the game. We were able to make a couple big, key plays that swayed the game.”

Goshen enters this Friday’s NLC contest with just one win — a 49-0 victory over Fairfield in Week 1 — but Andrews says the RedHawks are dangerous and improving. They’re averaging  better than 245 rushing yards per game, and they can move the ball through the air, too. Last week, junior Wesley VanHooser went 6-13-1 with 73 passing yards and a touchdown, although Goshen came up on the wrong side of a lopsided 49-17 decision to Elkhart Memorial.

“The RedHawks are big and physical,” said Andrews. “They have made plenty of small mistakes that have led to bigger outcomes. They get better each week.”

Opening kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

TRITON (2-1) AT BREMEN (3-0)

Triton responded to some adversity of its own last week, rebounding from a disappointing Hoosier North Athletic Conference loss to arch-rival LaVille with a dominant, 57-6 showing versus Caston.

The Trojans dropped 24 points in the first period alone and led 39-6 at the half against their Hoosier North Athletic Conference foes, out-gaining Caston 380 yards to 91 over the course of the game. Coach Ron Brown wanted to see team-oriented ball in that contest, and that’s what he got, with a total of five receivers hauling in passes from quarterback Bo Snyder and a number of players putting in big performances.

“I was happy with how the players focused on executing each play and not worrying about who was on the field or who was not on the field,” said Brown. “I was happy with my players’ character and graciousness during the game. I feel that there are still a lot of aspects we can get better at, including team.”

In particular, Hunter McIntyre had a breakout game with 126 rushing yards on just seven carries and made two catches for 15 receiving yards. Snyder ran for 64 yards on just three carries, meanwhile, and Tye Orsund finished with two receptions for 79 yards and two scores to lead all receivers. The Trojans got the kind of contributions they needed with wideout standout Delano Shumpert’s status still questionable this week.

“Hunter McIntyre is developing faster than we anticipated. I feel that as long as he continues to focus on finishing his runs and continues to be coachable, he has a lot of potential this season,” said Brown. “Connor Pitney, Jacob Kline, D’Angelo Shumpert, Trenton Kreft and Koby Mast all gave effort last week and this has made a statement that there are truly more than just seniors that make up our team.

“I’d give last Friday a B+ because I don’t think we have seen our kids’ best effort yet. I am pleased with their resilience, and that can be attributed to our leaders who are starting to emerge. We have a lot of depth in our older kids, and that maturity can be seen in their ability to come back off a loss and play hard.”

Triton takes a break from HNAC play this week opposite unbeaten Bremen. Ryan Caldwell is averaging a132 passing yards a game, the Lions’ running backs are adding another 210 rushing yards an outing, and Bremen is outscoring opponents by a combined 125-35 so far.

“I feel pretty good about coming off of a win. And I feel good that it’s going to be a short bus ride,” said Brown. “They’re a solid team and if we execute our game plan, we should be able to have a very competitive game.”

Opening kickoff is 7 p.m.

WAWASEE (0-3, 0-1 NLC) AT CONCORD (1-2, 1-1 NLC)

Wawasee continues to search for its first win of the season as the Warriors hit the road for Concord this week.

Wawasee struggled to get its offense going in last week’s 27-6 loss to Northridge, not reaching the red zone until the fourth quarter and scoring just once on quarterback Evan Eshbach’s 8-yard touchdown connection with Kameron Salazar. The Warriors haven’t scored more than once in each of their first three games, and they’ll likely need a lot more offense against Concord, which racked up 366 yards in a narrow loss to unbeaten 4A No. 2 NorthWood last week and will be looking to right the ship in NLC play at home Friday.

Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m.