Warriors Fight Hard Against Top Program!

On a cold night in Winamac, the Warriors, who shocked our area with a football Sectional Championship a week ago, were on the brink of shocking the entire state of Indiana on Friday night against Lafayette Central Catholic, the defending state champions.

The Knights would begin the game, as expected, filling up their offensive formations with wide receivers spread sideline to sideline. The Warriors would not be shocked by the arial assault as Russell Compton would intercept a pass early in the drive, doing a phenomenal job of anticipating where quarterback Clark Barrett would be going with the ball. The Warrior offense got off to a fast start, with quarterback Russell Compton completing a huge twenty-three yard completion to Brayden Lynch on a third down, taking the ball down to the LCC forty-two yard line. Compton would take to the air once again completing a deep pass to Jayden Terry to get the ball down to the one yard line. On the following play, Compton would muscle his way into the end zone for the first score of the game, putting the Warriors up 6-0 in the first quarter, following the failed extra point attempt.

The Warriors defense would come up big once again on the ensuing possession, as Russell Compton would anticipate the pass attempt by Clark Barrett, intercepting a pass attempt and returning it thirty-two yards for the Warriors’ second score of the ball game. Following a failed two point conversion attempt, the Warriors found themselves leading 12-0 with 7:02 remaining in the first quarter of play. The Knights would get on the board for the first time on their ensuing possession, using their arial attack to move the ball down the field, getting them into field goal position. On fourth down, the Knights would utilize their kicking game to get on the board, as Zach Kerr booted a a high-arching twenty-nine yard field goal to put the score at 12-3, which would be the score at the end of the first quarter. LCC would strike again, however. After a huge defensive effort by Winamac’s Zayne Bell, who was able to sack Barrett on a first down, showing off his incredible athleticism at 6’5, 205 and just a sophomore for the Warriors, the Knights would get back on the board. Barrett would drop back to throw, from the Warriors’ twenty-nine yard line, releasing a perfectly tight spiral, the Junior signal caller would find fellow Junior Ty Busche in the end zone for the Knights’ second score of the game. Following a failed extra point, the Warriors were still leading 12-9.

With 7:30 remaining in the first half, it would be Senior Trent Fox who would provide more fireworks for the Warriors, as he took a handoff from Compton and exploded thirty-one yards for another Winamac score. After a successful extra point kick by Max Murray, the Warriors found themselves leading 19-9. The Knights would not be denied on the following possession, as Ty Buche would get a strong return on the ensuing kickoff, putting the ball around the forty-five yard line of the Knights. It would be the arial attack that would put the Knights back on the board, as LCC faced a third and ten situation, Barrett would drop back to throw, setting up a halfback screen to Baylor Smith, who would explode for a thirty-three yard touchdown reception. The extra point would be successful by Kerr, putting the score at 19-16, in favor of Winamac. The Warriors would be unable to get points on the board on their next possession, giving the ball back to the Knights. Barrett would unleash another bomb with 1:53 remaining in the half, finding Owen Munn thirty-eight yards into the end zone for the final score of the first half. Following the successful extra point, LCC led Winamac 23-19 at the half.

The fireworks would continue for the Knights in the third quarter as the overall athleticism of the parochial school would begin to wear on the boys from Pulaski County. The Warriors would put together a solid opening drive to begin the second half, taking the ball down the field slowly, but surly, trying to limit the Knights’ time on offense. Ultimately, the drive would stall, forcing the Warriors to punt the ball back to the Knights. LCC would take to the air once again, as Barrett would continue to show his elite arm strength and accuracy, completing passes on the run as the defense of Winamac began to apply more pressure. He would get help on some great receiver play, as Sophomore Owen Munn would make a diving catch on an under thrown ball to get the Knights into scoring position. With the ball resting on the Winamac fourteen yard line, Barrett would take to the air once again, this time finding Ty Buche for the score. After another successful extra point attempt, the Knights increased their lead to 30-19, with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter. Winamac would be able to respond, taking the ball down the field with a double-pass, as Compton would throw the ball out to Jaden Terry, behind the line of scrimmage. Terry then wound up and launched the ball down the field to Trent Fox, who hauled in the pass at the LCC forty-seven yard line. Compton would then complete a monster pass to Sean Pratt, who would truck his way down the field to the four yard line. While it was the arm of Russell Compton that put the Warriors into scoring position, it would be his legs that would get Winamac into the end zone on a quarterback sneak from one yard out. The two point conversion attempt would not be successful, but Winamac found themselves trailing by just five points, 30-25, as the third quarter came to an end.

The fourth quarter would begin with the Warriors on the attack. On perhaps the most unusual plays of the game, a bobbled snap would somehow end up in the hands of Junior offensive lineman Jaxon Roudebush, who would rumble ten yards down the field for a Winamac first down! The excitement would be short-lived, however, as the Warriors would lose the ball on a fumble a few plays later, which would be recovered by LCC. The Knights would be able to take advantage of the turnover. Taking the ball down the field, the Knights would continue to rely on the arm of Clark Barrett, who was putting on a show all night with his arm strength and accuracy. It would be his legs that would get the ball into the end zone, as he dove across the goal line from two yards out on a quarterback sneak. The successful extra point put Central Catholic on top 37-25 with 7:40 remaining in the game. The Warriors would not go quietly into the cold November night, however. After failing on a fourth down conversion attempt, the Warriors would give the ball back to the Knights. However, the defense would stiffen up, preventing Central Catholic from getting any points on the drive, after a failed field goal attempt. Winamac’s offense would then come alive, converting a fourth down play with three yards to go, Compton would complete a seven yard pass to Brayden Lynch who would dart out of bounds to stop the clock with 4:49 remaining in the game. The Warriors would continue going to the air, with Compton completing passes to multiple receivers as they pushed the ball desperately down the field. Perhaps the biggest play of the drive would be a pass completion to Jaden Terry who would get the ball down to the two yard line. It would Terry who would then pound the ball into the end zone with 3:10 remaining in the game. Following the successful extra point, the scoreboard would show a 37-32 score. The magic would run out for the Warriors though, after failing to recover the ensuing onside kick, the clock would strike midnight on the Warriors’ Regional Championship dreams with the final score of 37-32.

After having a rough start to the season, the Warriors showed their true colors in the last half of the season. Winning six of their final seven games, having avenged a 29-0 loss to rival North Judson, to win the Sectional Championship, and finding out that following the leadership of Head Coach John Hendryx has many benefits, not the least of which is getting to load hardware into trophy cases. For Seniors Cale Pesaresi, Matt Swartzell, Brayden Lynch, Dakota Podell, Patrick Kiefer, Dylan Penicaro, and Trent Fox, it was a disappointing loss, but for those seven seniors, the will always have the memory of getting the Warrior football program back to the championship status it was so familiar with under Tim Roth. Considering the Warriors’ final three wins of the season were by a combined total of fourteen points, it’s safe to say the grit and determination the Warriors were so used to during the Roth era has returned to the Winamac football program. With a full offseason, the sky will be the limit for the Warriors in the 2021-22 season!