Warriors Tighten Their Grip On The Tomahawk
One of the biggest rivalries in the WKVI area added its latest chapter, as the Winamac Warriors played host to the West Central Trojans on Friday night!
It would not take long for the Warriors to get things going. Winamac’s Brayden Lynch started things off by receiving the opening kickoff and, without hesitation, exploded down the middle of the field, returning the kick near midfield where the Warriors began their first possession. The West Central defense would rise to the challenge, however, not allowing the Winamac offense to gain any momentum off of the great opening kickoff return, and forcing the Warriors to punt. On the opening possession for West Central, it would be a quick three-and-out, as the Trojans punted the ball back to the Warriors. An illegal shift penalty on the punt would give Winamac the ball in West Central territory on the forty-five yard line going in. Winamac would take advantage of great starting field position, as the offense would go straight at the Trojan defense with a steady dose of Brayden Lynch and Trent Fox. West Central’s defense would not make things easy on the Warriors as Gerardo Salazar would come up with a big sack on Winamac quarterback Russell Compton as he attempted to scramble out of the pocket. With momentum looking as though it had begun to shift in the Trojan’s favor, the Warriors would take to the air to respond. On fourth down and nine yards to go for the first, with the ball resting on the West Central twenty-six yard line, Compton would drop back to pass. After a brief play action motion to Fox coming out of the backfield, Compton would pop his hips, set his feet, and heave the ball down the field, finding Lynch on a “post” pattern in the back of the end zone, where the Senior made a sliding catch for the first score of the game! Following the successful extra point attempt by Junior Max Murray, the Warriors found themselves in the lead, 7-0.
On the ensuing possession, West Central would take to the air, but the Warriors would be ready. The Trojans would use a rarely executed double pass, as quarterback Garrett Leman would throw a pass into the “flats”, behind the line of scrimmage, to Junior fullback Kolten Kletz. Upon receiving the short pass, Kletz would quickly set his feet to heave the ball down the field. Unable to comfortably let the ball go, due to heavy pressure by Winamac defensive tackle Dylan Penicaro, who exploded through the offensive line, the ball did not have the accuracy necessary to find wide receiver Ayden White, who was open in front of the free safety. As the ball sailed down the field, it would be Winamac’s Jaden Terry who would zero in on the ball, pulling down the interception at the West Central forty-two yard line. The Warriors would continue to pound the ball at the Trojan defense, keeping the ball mostly on the ground. West Central would stiffen up and force a punt by Winamac.
The turnover bug would bite the Trojans once again as the Warriors would recover a fumble on an inside run, taking over at the West Central seventeen yard line. Winamac would stay with their base offense, working on a shortened field, running the ball between the tackles. On fourth and inches from the Trojans’ seven yard line, the Warriors would turn to Russell Compton, who would run a basic quarterback sneak. The Senior would keep his legs chopping, behind his big offensive line, which was driving the Trojans’ defense towards the end zone, eventually crossing the goal line for the Warriors’ second touchdown of the game! The Max Murray extra point would once again split the uprights giving the Warriors a 14-0 lead with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter. On the ensuing possession, after a great kickoff return by Gerardo Salazar which set the Trojans up for their next drive at their own forty yard line. However, the turnover bug once again would bite, as the first play of the drive would result in a bobbled snap between the center and quarterback. The ball would be recovered at the line of scrimmage by the Warriors, giving them the ball once again in great starting field position. As they continued to keep the ball on the ground, the Warriors pushed the ball down the shortened field. On third and about three yards to go for the first down at the West Central eight yard line, Winamac would turn to Hayden Clark, who would take the handoff from Compton, pick up an incredible kick-out block by guard Logan Schultz, and bulldoze his way eight yards through the Trojans’ defense into the end zone! Following yet another successful extra point kick by Murray, the Warriors found themselves leading 21-0, having scored 14 points off of West Central turnovers.
The Trojans would would be able to show some signs of life. After being unable to move the ball successfully down the field, the Trojans would be forced to punt. The punt team for West Central would fly down the field, and were able to recover a muffed punt by Winamac, giving the ball back to the Trojans in great starting field position at the Warriors’ thirty-six yard line. After picking up a first down, the Trojans’ drive would stall, forcing them into another punting situation. The Trojans would catch those in the stands off guard, as they faked the punt, attempting to pick up the first down. For the Winamac defense, however, they were not fooled, blowing up the fake punt before it could get going, and giving the ball back to the offense in good starting field position. Unable to get anything going on offense, the Warriors were forced to punt. The kick would hit the ground and hurdle it’s way towards the end zone, getting pinned at the six yard line where the Trojans would take over with 5:39 left to go in the first half. On their second play from scrimmage, quarterback Garrett Leman would make a perfect read on an option play, pulling the ball away from his running back, and exploding down the field ninety yards for the Trojans’ first score of the game. After the extra point attempt failed, the Trojans found themselves right back in the game with the score 21-6, which would be the score as the teams entered the locker rooms at the half.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Trojans would be in perfect rhythm, as they took advantage of their option-style offense, consistently picking up good chunks of yardage as they marched the ball down the field against the Warriors. The drive would be punctuated by fullback Kolten Kletz who would take a delayed handoff and find the end zone from eight yards out! The two-point conversion would fail, but the Trojans found themselves back in the game, trailing 21-12 with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter. On the ensuing possession, the Warriors would be unable to move the ball down the field and would be forced to punt, giving the ball back to the Trojans. It would be a worst case scenario for West Central, as they would fumble the ball back to the Warriors, who would take over at the Trojans’ six yard line! On their third play, Russell Compton would take the ball from center and sneak it across the goal line for his second touchdown of the game. Following the successful extra point by Murray, Winamac found themselves in front 28-12 which would be the score heading into the final quarter of play.
The final exclamation mark of the game would come in the fourth quarter as Trent Fox would take a handoff from Compton, and exploded thirty-four yards down the field for the final touchdown of the game. After another successful extra point by Max Murray, the scoreboard showed its final tally of 35-12, in favor of the Winamac Warriors.
The Starke County Co-Op Play of the Game on WKVI went to Russell Compton’s one-yard touchdown run with 2:06 left in the third quarter to put Winamac up 27-12.
The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game went to Winamac’s Russell Compton who had 93 all-purpose yards to go along with three touchdowns, two rushing and one passing in the winning effort!
Game Statistics
Winamac
Rushing
(Attempts-Yards-Touchdowns)
Trent Fox: 8-68-1; Hayden Clark: 12-46-1; Jayden Terry: 4-26; Russell Compton: 10-54-2; Jaden Terry: 8-35; Jadon Jones: 8-35; Shawn Pratt: 1-4
Passing
(Completions-Attempts-Yards-Touchdowns)
Russell Compton: 2-9-39-1
Receiving
(Catches-Yards-Touchdowns)
Jaden Terry: 1-13
Brayden Lynch: 1-26-1
West Central
Rushing
Braden Nuest: 5-(-)5; Blayden Huber: 2-9; Garrett Leman: 12-118-1; Kolten Kletz: 14-49-1; Gerardo Salazar: 1-(-)2; Buzz Beiswanger: 1-(-)2
Passing
Garrett Leman: 8-15-85; Kolten Kletz: 1-3-10
Receiving
Braden Nuest: 5-75; Blayden Huber: 3-9; Ayden White: 1-9
*Winamac Statistics Provided By Kankakee Valley Broadcasting Staff. West Central Statistics Provided By West Central*