With eight consecutive victories over Northern Lakes Conference rival Northridge, Warsaw’s football team continued its dominance of the Raiders Friday with a 42-0 homecoming win.
As fifth-year Tiger mentor Phil Jensen said after the win, his 25th with Warsaw, the Tigers proved they’re more than a one-man show – referring to highly touted junior tailback Brad Seiss.
Six different Tigers carried the ball Friday, racking up 337 yards on the ground – led by junior Grady Randall’s 195 yards on 15 touches.
“That’s a great example of a solid football team filling in the holes,” Jensen said. “With Brad out the last couple weeks, we needed a tailback. He (Randall) couldn’t have done it without the fullback, quarterback and offensive line. This group is in now way a one-man show.”
Warsaw improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the NLC with the decisive win, while Northridge remains winless at 0-5 and 0-3.
Northridge has scored 14 points on the Tigers in the last four meetings. Warsaw leads the overall series 10-4.
Randall tallied 72 yards on his first five carries, but the Tigers fumbled the ball away inside the 10-yard line on their first two possessions of the game.
From then on, though, it was all Warsaw.
Randall put the Tigers on the board with a 1-yard plunge with 1:53 remaining on the first-quarter clock. With Adam Sisson’s extra-point kick, Warsaw was up 7-0.
After forcing the Raiders to punt on their next possession, senior triggerman Jared Scrafton found Chris Clay for an 8-yard reception that put the ball on Warsaw’s 33. Randall then took the handoff and scampered 67 yards to paydirt.
Complimenting Randall, who two weeks ago played junior varsity, were Ben Kreinbrink, Jake Engler, Stanton Moore, Sisson and Scrafton. Those five Tigers combined for 15 carries and 142 yards.
Northridge’s offense rushed the ball 40 times for 122 yards. The Raiders were led on the ground by junior Chris Harrell’s 62 yards on 20 carries. Sophomore Josiah Boomershine added 35 yards on 11 carries, while junior signal caller Adam Smith finished with 25 yards on nine carries.
In total offense, Warsaw outgained Northridge 486-165.
Sisson put Warsaw up 19-0 with 3:10 remaining in the first half on a 57-yard touchdown trot, his only carry of the game. Scrafton ran in the two-point conversion. The Tigers added a touchdown with 45 ticks left in the second stanza when Scrafton found 6-foot-4 senior Josh Buck for a 19-yard reception in the back of the end zone.
Scrafton finished the game with 115 yards on 7-of-9 passing. Sophomore Ryan DeGeeter, who started the game at quarterback for the Tigers, finished with 34 yards on 2-of-4 passing.
Buck led the Tiger receiving corps with two catches for 50 yards. Sisson reeled in two catches of his own for 34 yards.
Warsaw added two touchdowns in the third quarter on a 36-yard scoring scamper from Scrafton and a 1-yard plunge from Engler.
Jensen’s first win at the helm of the Tiger ship came against Northridge on homecoming night 1996.
“Four years ago tonight we got our first win with this coaching staff,” Jensen said. “Credit the kids for buying into the program. We’ve improved everyday since that day. You have to give credit to the kids and the community.”
The Tigers, 12-3 in their last 15 games, host Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen, the 1999 4A state runner-up, Friday.
Goshen, ranked seventh in the last poll, defeated Concord 7-0 Friday and will come to Warsaw with a 4-1 record overall and 1-1 mark in the NLC.
“We control our own destiny,” Jensen said. “There’s nothing anybody outside can do as long as we continue to get better. Next week will be a great challenge. That’s a great football team coming to town.”
WARSAW 42, NORTHRIDGE 0
Northridge (0-5, 0-3) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Warsaw (4-1, 2-0) 7 21 14 0 – 42
NR W
First Downs 9 11
Rushes-yards 40-122 30-337
Yards Passing 43 149
Comp.-Att.-Int. 2-5-0 9-13-0
Total offense 165 486
Fumbles-lost 2-1 4-2
Punts-Ave. 7-31.1 1-53
Pentalties-yards 0-0 8-55
First Quarter
W – Grady Randall 1 run (Adam Sisson kick) 7-0, 1:53
Second Quarter
W – Randall 67 run (kick failed) 13-0, 10:30
W – Sisson 57 run (Jared Scrafton run) 21-0, 3:10
W – Josh Buck 19 catch from Scrafton (Sisson kick) 28-0, :45
Third Quarter
W – Scrafton 36 run (Sisson kick) 35-0, 9:50
W – Jake Engler 1 run (Sisson kick) 42-0, 1:31
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing – Northridge: Chris Harrell 20-62, Josiah Boomershine 11-35, Adam Smith 9-25. Warsaw: Randall 15-195, Sisson 1-57, Scrafton 1-36, Stanton Moore 5-23, Ben Kreinbrink 4-20.
Passing – Northridge: Smith 2-5-43-0. Warsaw: Scrafton 7-9-115-0, DeGeeter 2-4-34-0.
Receiving – Northridge, Thomas Babcock 1-29, Dustin Miller 1-14. Warsaw, Buck 2-50, Sisson 2-34.
