Warriors Make It Five Wins In A Row To Advance!
It was a wet and cold night in Union Mills as the South Central Satellites played host to the Winamac Warriors in the first round of play in Sectional 41. The level of intensity played with, by both squads, was at a phenomenally high level from start to finish as the State of Indiana was excited to see postseason football action get underway in what has been a season of uncertainty for the entire state.
The game would start off with with the Satellites receiving the opening kickoff, which would be returned to the 45-yard line of South Central. On the first play from scrimmage, the Satellites would go to the air, despite the wet field conditions. Senior quarterback Brady Glisic would drop back to throw, finding Junior Jacob Oehmen in the middle of the field for a gain of twenty-five yards. Much like he has throughout the season, Glisic would begin to go to work with his legs, as the second play from scrimmage would pick up sixteen yards on a designed quarterback run to the left of the offensive formation for their second first down on their second play from scrimmage. The Satellites would continue to march the ball down the field, going for the first down on a fourth and short, when they would hand the ball off to Brandin Young, who would dart fifteen yards down the field, going off the left of the formation, for yet another Satellite first down. The Warrior defense would begin to stiffen up against the Satellites as South Central would find themselves with a first and goal at the four yard line. The first attempt by the Satellites would get stuffed for a loss of about five yards on their first attempt. With the ball now at the nine yard line on second down, the Satellites would take to the air. Glisic would be forced out of the pocket, scrambling away from the pressure. He would unleash a pass to the left back corner of the end zone to Jacob Oehmen for the first score of the ballgame. Following a successful extra point, the Satellites led Winamac 7-0. On the ensuing possession, the Warriors would immediately start moving the ball down the field, running the ball straight at the Satellite defense, with a steady dose of Trent Fox, Hayden Clark, and Russell Compton. The drive would come to a screeching halt, as South Central would recover a fumble when it appeared the Warriors would be able to get on the board for the first time.
The Satellites’ biggest play of their next drive drive would come on a pass completion from Glisic to Jacob Oehmen, who was able to come up with a twenty-five yard reception, along the Winamac sideline, dragging his toe to complete the reception in bounds. The Warriors’ defense would come up huge, as Jaxon Roudebush would come up with an interception, putting an end to a drive that seemed to be completely in the control of the Satellites. Compton would come up with two major plays, as the Warriors offense went back to work, completing a huge pass to Trent Fox for a nineteen yard pickup, before executing an eleven yard quarterback sneak. The time would run out in the first quarter with the Warriors driving, although still trailing South Central 7-0.
On the first play of the second quarter, it would be Trent Fox who would provide fireworks for the Warriors, as he would take a handoff off the edge of the offensive formation, and explode thirty-two yards for the Warriors’ first score of the game. Following a failed extra point attempt, the Satellites would still hold a slim lead at 7-6 with 11:52 remaining in the first half. The back-and-forth would continue between the two teams as the second quarter would wear along with neither team able to get much going, as far as points were concerned. That is, until the tail end of the quarter. After South Central pushed the ball down the field, the Satellites would lose the ball on a short yardage play. As the ball tumbled through the air, it would end up in the hands of the Warriors who would take over at their own twenty-one yard line, but would not be able to take advantage. Winamac would be forced to punt the ball back to South Central, but the Satellites time on offense would be short lived. In an attempt to catch the defense off guard, the Satellites would go with a halfback pass, with the ball sailing down the middle of the field, it would be intercepted by Winamac’s Brayden Lynch, for his third pick of the season!
The Warriors would be unable to find the end zone, punting the ball back to the Satellites late in the second quarter. On the punt, however, the coverage team would be able to recover a fumble, as the ball was bobbled by the return team. Winamac’s Jaden Terry would recover the ball, giving the Warriors possession, first down and goal to go from the six yard line. The play calling would be easy for Winamac offensive coordinator Mark Hendryx, as the Warriors would call three straight quarterback sneaks for Russell Compton, who would find the end zone on his third sneak! Following a successful two-point conversion, the Warriors would lead at halftime 14-7 over the Satellites.
The two teams would continue to battle in the third quarter, with South Central finding the end zone first in the second half. With just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, it would be Satellites’ quarterback Brady Glisic who would provide the biggest play of the game for South Central. On a designed quarterback run, Glisic would take the ball thirty-five yards down the field for a touchdown. Following the successful extra point, the score would be tied at fourteen! Ultimately, the game would be decided in the fourth quarter by the Warriors passing attack. With 6:24 left to go in the game, Russell Compton would take to the air, completing a pass to Junior Jaden Terry, who was able to explode for sixty-six yards, finding the end zone with 6:13 remaining in the game. Following the successful extra point, the scoreboard would show it’s final score of twenty-one to fourteen in favor of the Winamac Warriors.
The Starke County Co-Op Play of the Game on WKVI would be the sixty-six yard touchdown pass from Compton to Terry, to make the score twenty to fourteen in the fourth quarter.
The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game went to Winamac’s Russell Compton, who had eighteen carries for fifty-four yards on the ground with a touchdown, and also completed two passes for eighty-five yards as well as a touchdown pass. In addition, Compton also provided consistent play from his safety position on the defensive side of the ball, coming up in run support all night long in the winning effort.
The Winamac Warriors improve to 6-2 on the year, and advance to the Semifinal Round of Sectional play, where they will be taking on the North Judson San-Pierre Bluejays, while the Satellites’ season comes to an end with an overall record of 4-6.
