WARSAW – Mario Flores stood with a smile on his face, helmet in his arms. Surrounded by several members of a stout Warsaw defense, Flores began cleaning the outside of his all-black helmet as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The gesture symbolized only one thing – Warsaw had just beaten Wawasee and the W’s will go back on the helmets.

Warsaw put together a masterful defensive effort to shut out Wawasee, 21-0, in the annual grudge match that featured the Tigers hoisting the ‘W’ trophy for the 18th time in the past 30 years.

The home team has won the ‘W’ trophy in each of the last four seasons. As a coveted keepsake courtesy of the Reiff family, bragging rights among the county rivals had both teams give the other plenty of opportunities to run away with the game. And only late did Warsaw finally capitalize on its chances.

Warsaw’s lead was just 7-0 heading in the fourth quarter and Wawasee was driving down the field. Faced with a fourth and three on the Warsaw 36, the Tigers stuffed Wawasee on the play. Getting back to its bread and butter, quarterback Michael Jensen found Riley Rhoades three different times in the ensuing drive. The final pass was a fantastic catch by Rhoades for 13 yards, giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

Warsaw recovered a fumble on the next kick-off and needed just 71 seconds to find the endzone again when Jensen hit D’Andre Street with a nine-yard scoring strike.

Jensen also threw a 20-yard touchdown to Tommy Hickerson in the second quarter. Jensen finished 15-28 for 175 yards. Rhoades led Warsaw with eight catches for 79 yards.

“It showed on the field tonight that this means a lot to a lot of people,” stated Warsaw head coach Phil Jensen. “For two teams that are out of the conference race, this is a chance to play for something big. You saw two teams just go after it. They kept battling. It was just a fantastic fourth quarter for us, and I’m really proud of our kids and our community with this win.”

Warsaw’s seniors pose with the ‘W’ trophy after defeating Wawasee 21-0 Friday night at Fisher Field. (Photos by Mike Deak)

While Warsaw looked the part in the fourth quarter, it had more than a few chances to bury Wawasee much earlier. The Warriors committed three turnovers in the game, all in the second half. Two of those led to Warsaw field goal attempts that a normally reliable Andrew Mevis missed. Mevis also missed an attempt in the first half.

Warsaw’s most golden opportunity that backfired was in the third quarter. After downing a punt at the one, Wawasee’s first play had quarterback Tyler Smith fumble and the Tigers recovered. On the next play, Jensen lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone that Cole VanLue stepped in front of Brock Riley for an easy interception.

Warsaw committed three turnovers of its own, losing two fumbles along with the interception.

Wawasee was also 0-2 on fourth down conversions. Warrior head coach Josh Ekovich said the loss could begin with pinning the blame squarely on his shoulders.

“I’ll take the heat on this one. I didn’t have this team ready to go,” Ekovich said, choosing his words carefully as frustration was more than evident. “Turnovers is what killed us. Absolutely killed us. We don’t have big play capability. I think our kids played well at times and played bad at times. When you have five turnovers, you can’t win NLC games. It was the turnover battle.”

Noah Wadkins did rush for 148 yards for the Warriors, which outrushed Warsaw 211-122. The Warriors did have a chance to take a 3-0 lead in the first quarter but Lucas Garza’s 31-yarder sailed wide left. Wawasee also couldn’t track down a botched snap on a Warsaw punt attempt inside its own 20, allowing Mevis to run for a first down rather than take over inside its own red zone.

Warsaw moves to 4-3 on the season and hosts NorthWood next week at Fisher Field. Wawasee drops to 2-5 and will entertain Elkhart Memorial at Warrior Field.