MONON — After dropping their conference opener last week on the road to Pioneer, the Winamac Warriors got back on track at North White Friday evening by dispatching the Vikings 28-16.
Though the Warriors scored on their first two possessions in the game, they had to come from behind to seal the win to even their conference record at 1-1 and move to 2-1 overall.
Senior fullback Eric Sass was the star on the night for the Warriors, finishing with 245 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns.
Sass was pleased with the way the Warriors finished out the game.
“The first half wasn’t pretty. The second half, though, our offensive line came back and they just started knocking heads which is what we need,” he said. “It got us to start picking up three and four yards at a time allowing us to move the ball.”
With their first possession, Winamac put together a nine-play drive with workhorse Sass carrying the majority of the load. With 3:19 left in the quarter Sass took it in from eight yards and the PAT by Cody Wilson was good.
Winamac’s defense held solid, holding the Vikings to a three-and-out allowing the offense to once again put together another scoring drive. Winamac kept the ball on the ground with Sass and Jake Minnick carrying the mail. On the seventh play from scrimmage, Sass broke free for a 44-yard TD. Wilson’s kick was good and at the 10:27 mark of the second quarter, Winamac was in control 14-0.
On North White’s first possession of the second quarter, the host squad started going to the air which caught the Warriors off guard. With 7:01 left the Vikings found paydirt with a 14-yard pass from Colin Hileman to Travis Bannon. The conversion attempt from Hileman to Jacob Ruemler was good and the Vikings trailed Winamac 14-8.
The Vikings weren’t done as they put together another scoring drive on their next possession. Another Hileman to Ruemler pass put North White on the two-yard line and bruising fullback Kolton Linback punched it in with 2:11 left in the half. Hileman’s conversion was good and the host Vikings took a two-point lead into the lockerroom at 16-14.
Early in the second half, the Vikings began to methodically move the ball downfield and were once again threatening until a Hileman pass was picked off by Winamac’s secondary. With time winding down in the third quarter, Winamac began a 12-play drive that ended with Sass taking it in from nine yards with 10:44 left in the game. Shideler’s conversion was good and Winamac had retaken the lead at 22-16.
Following a three and out by the Vikings, the Warriors found themselves with great field position at North White’s 29-yard line. Sass was the workhorse again in the drive that was capped by his 10-yard TD run with 6:15 left to go. Wilson’s kicked was blocked and Winamac was in control at 28-16.
North White had two more attempts to score, but its drives ended on a three-and-out and a loss of downs.
When asked about defensive changes he made during halftime, Winamac mentor Tim Roth said they really didn’t make any.
“At times during the first half we had guys playing their own game and not getting done the things done we wanted done. So at halftime we chewed a little butt and challenged our guys to play at the level we wanted. I was glad to see that our kids stepped up and accepted the challenge.”
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