The Mail-Journal, Volume 23, Number 43, Milford, Kosciusko County, 22 October 1986 — Page 8

THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., October 22,1986

8

Sports

Warriors take advantage of mistakes to defeat Goshen

(By MARK HUFFMAN Sports Writer Showing the mid-season form that won them the number one ranking in Class 3A. the Wawasee Warriors scalped the Goshen Redskins of a winning season Friday night. Oct. 17. in front of 3.500 fans at Foreman Field. Taking advantage of Goshen's mistakes, Wawasee earned its first outright Northern Lakes Conference Championship on the wings of a 9-0 win and will take their perfect 8-0 slate into sectional action Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against Fort Wayne Concordia. 3-5. (See game preview on this page). A Goshen fumble and pass were taken by Wawasee to set up

|PIB J* • B > A I Mgr/a-- « V . * II T - «■ CONSERVATIVELY SPEAKING — Wawasee Coach Myron Dickerson, right, instructs his of sense to keep it on the ground late in the game Friday, while assistant coach Kim Lobsiger. center, and two-way threat Scot McDowell, left, look on. The Warriors counted on their defense for the »-0 win that assured them the NLC crown, showing the mid-season form that has led them to the number one ranking in the state.

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the games only points; however, the Warriors fifth win in 18 tries against the Maple City school didn't come easily. Goshen looked like it would be the first to put points on the board when it marched downfield late in the first half to the Wawasee 45, but safety Brett Traviolia saw differently — picking off a pass from the shoulder of Steve Cripe at the Wawasee 42. Unable to push the ball over the 50. Wawasee was forced to punt to the Redskins, who found themselves deep in their own territory and made a game breaking mistake two plays later. Senior quarterback Kevin Doss swept to the right to pick up a first down but lost the ball after being tackled, with defensive end Eric Jones recovering the ball at

the Goshen 24. A pass interference, eight yard pass, and one yard gut run by James Braggs put the Warriors at the Goshen seven, with Bruce Jackson being called on to light the scoreboard with 46 seconds left until intermission. The burly junior took three steps and booted a like number through the goalposts. Five more interceptions by the Warrior’s stringent defense marred several other opportunities for the Redskins in the second half, with the biggest one coming when Jones again made himself a nuisance to the home crowd when he stepped in front of a Doss screen pass at the Goshen 23 with 10 minutes left and said hello to the endzone.

Harriers to regionals on October 25 |

The Wawasee harriers assured themselves of a spot at Ox Bow Park in Elkhart Saturday. Oct. 25, for Indiana High School Athletic Association regional action after placing third at the East Noble sectional last Saturday, Oct. 18. Jeff Carey paced the Warriors with a sixth-place finish overall, completing the course in 16:50. while David Abebe of Prairie Heights took top honors in 16:26. The host team (East Noble) topped all teams with 68 points, while DeKalb finished second. 102, followed by Wawasee. 113. Angola was one point short of putting the Warriors in fourth place. Other Wawasee finishers included: Jason Douglas. 12th. 17:08: Steve Eastman. 28th;

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Other Goshen passes were intercepted by Nate Rhoades, who found himself reaching for the ball in a crowd after a 40-yard drive by the Redskins for the first of two. and Chris Yoder, who also snared a pair. \ “It was a great defensive game, the secondary came back from a bad second half at Northridge and got the turnovers we needed.’’ Coach Myron Dickerson applauded. The Wawasee coach also cited the efforts of a Warrior offense that made only one turnover and ate five minutes off the clock late in the game to secure a seventh NLC win. The conference’s leading individual scorers were also held in check, with Doss, who had 56 points going into the game, being held to 28 yards on 11 carries, and fullback Marcel Yoder being limited to 38 on eight. Yoder had eight touchdowns entering the contest. “We knew we had to stop Doss and we did a good job of contain ing him except for a couple of times when he got lose." Coach Dickerson said. Doss had entered the game with an eight yard rushing average (465 yards on 57 carries). Wawasee's running threat. Scot McDowell, was also limited by a stingy Goshen defense that yielded 86 total yards. The senior took the ball 12 times for 34 yards; however, he compensated with two “quick kicks" on third down situations that helped the Warriors out of deep Goshen territory. The multi-dimensional player booted punts of 43 and 45 yards. The Redskins out-gained the Warriors on the ground 82 to 72 and through the air 83-14. but couldn’t cover the final yard to the endzone, although Rick Mirar was given a chance to add to his season total of 22 points after Wawasee’s only turnover of the night. Tackle Keith Conder recovered an ill-given handoff at the Wawasee 34 and the Redskins

Brian Jones. 30th. Cuong Reed. 37th; Mike Neterer. 45th. and Eric Mock. 48th. Girls’ sectional action will precede the Warriors regional bid at 11a.m. Saturday. TICKETS GO ON SALE THURSDAY AFTERNOON Hal Traviolia. Wawasee High School Athletic Director, reported that preganie ticket sales for the playoffs at Wawasee on Friday night will be held at the high school athletic office on Thursday, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., and on Friday. from 8 a.in. to 3:30 p.m. All tickets cost $3. with pre-school children being admitted free.

elected to go with the leg of Mirar three plays later, but a poor snap caused the sophomore to come up short. “Mirar is a great field goal kicker and we didn't want to see him in a position where he could tie or win the game,” Dickerson remarked. The Redskin wasn’t given another opportunity to do either and the Warrior victory shouts could be heard throughout Foreman Field. "When you can go undefeated in the NLC you have to feel you've had some luck, we felt we were going to have a better season than a lot of people* thought but never imagined we’d go undefeated.” said an elated Coach Dickerson, adding, “The number one ranking gives a lot of the people that have been with us during the ups and down what they deserve.” With Dickerson hoping the Warriors have now rid themselves of the downs, a new season will find them up against Southeastern Conference member Fort Wayne Concordia Friday. Holtz off to rocky start IB\ PETE FRITCIHE Guest Writer WASHINGTON. DC. - Lou Holtz is off to a rocky start with his Notre Dame football team this season, but one must look at Notre Dame's schedule to realize this is no indication the Irish aren’t a good football team. The loss of Michigan was by a point and the game close. Michigan State won by five. Alabama won by eighteen but the stats were even and the Crimson Tide this season is one of the nation’s top teams. The Tide did what the late Bear Bryant always wanted to do to Notre Dame, and never could, "out-quick em."

New season begins —

Warriors enter sectional play as top seeded team

IBx M ARK HUFFMAN Sports Writer Capping a perfect season, the Wawasee Warriors enter sectional play as the top seeded and number one team in the state (A.P. 3A) —two things that have Coach Myron Dickerson believing. make that "knowing,” every team will come at them with everything they ’ve got. "It s a new football season, everyone’s 0-0 and that will bring a lot of teams back to life." Dickerson predicts. Fort Wayne Concordia, 4-4, will be the first to breath new life into the season when they travel to Wawasee Friday in an attempt to dethrone the Warriors from their number one billing in a 7:30 p.m. start.

Ml - uk JLtf _ xa/F &7/ J l PROOTED REDSKIN — Sophomore Mike Foy drops Goshen's Alan Carpenter short of a first down in second half action Friday night; however, the senior wide receiver did manage eight yards on a pass reception. ROAD WARRIORS — Wawasee quarterback Chris Cotton prepares to hand off behind an offensive line that has labeled itself the "Road Warriors," perhaps in recognition of the paths they clear for the Wawasee backfield. However. Goshen's Redskins had some road blocks of their own Friday night, limiting the top-ranked Warriors to 72 yards on 25 carries.

"We feel we have a chance at Wawasee. they're a running team and we re from a conference that tries to slam the ball down your throat.” says Coach Paul Fluegge. who has turned his team from a dismal 1-3 start in the tough Southeastern Conference to 4-4. after winning the last three of five games, including an emotional 10-0 victory over F.W. Elmhurst last Friday. "We’d like to think that we’ve turned the corner, but we know Wawasee has a great program and have great respect for themand their coach.” Fluegge notes, adding. "A lot of people remember Coach Dickerson for what he's done in Fort Wayne. ” The Wawasee mentor spent four years at F.W. Northside, leaving after a 10-0 campaign in 1979 that had his team ranked fourth in the state, before the present class system existed. However. Dickerson would like nothing better than to turn back former acquaintances, with the Warriors preparing for a battle throughout the week. ."We're working on recognition this week — they (Concordia) like to play several defenses and we re going to have to know how to adjust." Coach Dickerson says, noting that the special teams are also being given more attention than usual. With a rushing attack that includes junior Tim Graham, who has gained 597 yards from the halfback position, would benefit to play defense against their own offensive unit, which features a similar attack in Scot McDowell, who has rushed for 615 of the team’s 1,318 yards on the ground. Junior Mike Meek also provides a Warrior threat, w’ith 378 yards on the ground for a 3.9 game average. Likewise, Concordia lists a second floor board in Bob Bortz, who has gained over 300 yards this year, mostly in third and short situations. "Bortz is our power runner while Graham gets more on finesse.” Fluegge remarks. "Their favorite play is the quick pitch to Graham,” echoes

Dickerson, noting that the junior back can be seen with the ball 80 per cent of the time. However, neither team is afraid to pass the pigskin either, with Concordia taking to the air on the arm of Dave Lepper, a junior who is playing his first year from the quarterback position. Chris Cotton has gained 407 of Wawasee’s 517 yards through the air. with a 35 to 85 completion ratio and seven touchdowns. The elusive senior has also rushed for three scores. Defense remains the stronghold for both teams, with Wawasee having intercepted 30 passes for 303 yards, recovered 13 fOmbles. and held opponents to 1.034 total yards ta 129 ypg average). "Wawasee comes at you and

SECTIONAL PAIRINGS CLASS 3A SECTIONAL 18 Wowasee Oct 24 7:30 P.M. FW Concordia 3 Oct. 31.7:30 P.M ___ Carroll Oct. 24. 7.30 P.M. North Wood Nov. 7. 7:30 P.M Plymouth Oct. 24,7:30 P.M. Northridge Oct. 31.7 30 P.M. Angola Oct. 24. 7:30 P.M. Norwell (Team Listed First Is The Home Team)

attacks, but that’s the way we like to.play too. it should be a lowscoring game." Fluegge says, while Dickerson agrees. "We’re going to have to get on top in a hurry." the Wawasee coach says, adding, "One of our concerns is that we’ve never been down (behind) so we don’t know how we'll respond.” Both teams claim to be at “full strength.” although McDowell will be playing with a cracked bone in the left elbow, which is protected by a brace. In other action Friday, Carroll will be at seventh-ranked North Wood while Plymouth will face Northridge and Angola challenges Norwell. The winner of the WawaseeConcordia game will face the NorthWood-Carroll survivor next Friday. Oct. 31.