COLUMBIA CITY –ĘIn a radio interview before Friday night’s Warsaw-Columbia City football game, Tiger coach Phil Jensen said, “ Tonight’s the night when we get to put it all together.”
It took a while for the Tigers to put it together, but the Warsaw squad slipped past Columbia City in the season opener to put a 19-13 mark in the win column.
Although neither team was able to score and the game was knotted at 0-0 after a full quarter of play, Columbia City was knocking at the door when the first quarter came to a close.
As the second quarter began, the Eagles sat on the 9-yard line with second down and three yards to go. Four plays later at the 10:27 mark, Columbia City hit paydirt and scored against the Tigers for the first time since 1998 to take a 7-0 lead.
“Columbia City was very quick,” said Warsaw assistant coach Mike Bott. “They took advantage of our size with their quickness early in the game.”
Late in the second frame, Warsaw recovered a Columbia City fumble and took possession of the ball at the 42-yard line. Enter Brad Seiss, Warsaw’s favorite offensive weapon.
In the next five plays, the Tigers gave Seiss the ball five times. And he delivered, gaining 29 yards to move Warsaw to the Columbia City 27.
Then Warsaw quarterback Jared Scrafton connected with Adam Sisson for 13 yards to move the Tigers inside the red zone at the Eagle 14. On the next play, Scrafton scrambled the last 14 yards to score the first Warsaw touchdown of the season with just 22 ticks left in the first half.
After Justin Plank’s extra point sailed through the uprights, the score was tied at 7.
The score remained tied at 7 as the Eagles monopolized the ball through most of the third stanza. The Eagles allowed Warsaw to touch the ball just once in the first 9:50 of the third, and at the 2:10 mark, Columbia City regained the lead on a 2-yard Brady Pratt run.
However, the Tigers came alive in the fourth quarter. Scrafton connected with Chris Clay for a touchdown that tied the game at 13.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Warsaw defense kicked into high gear. The Tigers forced Columbia City to punt the ball after just four plays. When Columbia City’s punt flew out of bounds at the Eagle 38, the Tigers took control of the ball with excellent field position.
Then the Warsaw offense was called back to active duty. Warsaw plugged away on the ground, alternating between Jarod Leasure and David Muta for the ground attack. Muta and Leasure combined to move the ball 25 yards to the Columbia City 13. Then Scrafton, Muta and Leasure moved the ball to the 1- yard line, and Muta finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers up 19-13 with 59 seconds left in the game.
On the last Columbia City drive, the Eagles threw four straight incomplete passes, ending the threat of a comback.
“I think the kids got together when the chips were down,” said Bott. “Their motto for the past couple days has been ‘Come together,’ and they did it at the end tonight.
“Early in the game our inexperience showed, but we made changes and those changes worked.”
Warsaw, now 1-0, will host Homestead next week for the first regular-season matchup in school history.
Notes: Brad Seiss was injured in the game, and according to Bott, “He’s day to day. He got dinged tonight, and every player responds differently. We’ll see how he does in the next few days.”...Columbia City’s second quarter touchdown marked the first time the Eagles have scored on the Tigers since 1998 ... The Eagles have not beaten the Tigers since 1997.
WARSAW 19, COLUMBIA CITY 13
Warsaw 0 7 0 12 – 19
Columbia City 0 7 7 0 – 13
W CC
First downs 23 23
Rushes-yards 26-124 46-148
Passing yards 18 69
Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-10-0 6-12-0
Total offense 142 217
Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-2
Penalties-yards 4-40 2-20
Second Quarter
CC –ĘBrady Pratt 1 run (Ian Delaney kick), 7-0 CC, 10:27
W –ĘJared Scrafton 14 run (Justin Plank kick), 7-7, :22
Third Quarter
CC –ĘPratt 2 run (kick blocked), 13-7 CC, 2:10
Fourth Quarter
W –ĘScrafton 28 pass to Chris Clay (kick failed), 13-13, 7:38
W –ĘDavid Muta 1 run (kick blocked), 19-13, :59
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing – Warsaw: Brad Seiss 12-40; Jared Scrafton 3-21; Jarod Leasure 6-26; David Muta 4-24; Adam Sisson 1-12. Columbia City: Joel Cearbaugh 34-125; Pratt 8-18; Jon Pettigrew 2-11
Receiving – Warsaw: Adam Sisson 1-13; Jon Dock 1-6; Columbia City: Cearbaugh 4-49; Tony Dewitt 2-20
Passing – Scrafton 3-10-18, 0 Int, 1 TD. Aaron Parker 6-12-69, 0 Int., 0 TD.