It's starting to get too easy to say, but the Wildcats used all three phases of the game; offense, defense and special teams to outplay and, simply dominate the Eldorado Springs Bulldogs at home on Friday night in a 61-0 win.
Warsaw's first score came with 6:23 left in the first when the snap hit the ground but Josh Harvath picked it up in the backfield and spun his way into the endzone for 6, breaking several tackles along the way. Logan Gemes' first point-after-try was a no doubter and it was 7-0 in the early going.
Before many folks could get into the stadium to get seated, the Wildcats got on the board again later in the opening period when Garrett Ferguson hit Jayce Depriest in stride on a short pass to the right side. Depriest hit the sideline and then sped downfield for another touchdown and Gemes' PAT made it 14-0.
The Wildcats' got a big hit from Ryan Fajen on the ensuing kickoff to force an Eldorado Springs fumble, Johrdan Decker (remember that name) came up with the loose ball and the Warsaw offense was back in business.
With :03 left in the first, Ferguson found a wide open Drake Murrell on a 26-yard touchdown catch and run. A bobbled snap took Gemes out of the picture and Fajen's pass fell incomplete but the 'Cats lead swelled to 20-0.
With the Wildcats defense handling things on their side of the ball, Warsaw scored again almost midway through the second on a 17-yard TD pass from Ferguson to Shane Poyser. Gemes converted the PAT to make it 27-0.
A 4-yard touchdown run by Harvath, his second of the night, was followed by an unsuccessful 2-point attempt but then a 3-yard run by Ferguson with just :01 left on the clock in the first half and Gemes' fourth PAT set the stage for the turbo clock to run the entire second half as the 'Cats led, 40-0 at the break.
After receiving the second half kickoff, Warsaw picked up right where they left off with another Depriest touchdown run, this time from 12 yards out and another Gemes kick split the bars to extend the Wildcats lead to 47-0.
With many substitutions covering the field, the 'Cats didn't stop. Their next score came on a 2-yard run from Decker, set-up by a long run just one play prior by the fleet-footed freshman. Another Gemes PAT made it 54-0.
The Wildcats put the cap on the scoring early in the fourth when, just trying to grind out the clock, Decker broke loose on a 42-yard touchdown run and Gemes seventh PAT was good for the 61-0 final.
Harvath led the Warsaw ground game with 107 yards on just 10 carries with 2 TD's. He was followed by Decker who tallied 89 yards on 4 attempts with 2 touchdowns. Depriest added 63 yards on 8 rushes with 1 TD and caught 1 ball for 35 yards and another touchdown.
Ferguson went for 23 yards and a touchdown on 5 carries but made his mark through the air by completing 6 of 9 passes for 140 yards and 3 TD's.
Murrell was on the receiving end of 3 balls for 84 yards and a TD while Poyser had the other TD catch on his lone reception.
Gemes finished the game converting 7 out of 7 point after tries. He has now completed 20 in a row over the course of the last 3 games.
The 'Cats rolled up 471 total yards of offense in the game while limiting the Bulldogs' to just 10 passing yards and holding their ground game to a total of -26 yards for a net total of -16.
Murrell led the Warsaw defense with 4 tackles while Harvath had 3.5.
Fajen had a forced fumble, Decker had the recovery and Luke Henderson recorded an interception.
The Wildcats will look to keep their unbeaten record alive when they travel to Butler this Friday, looking to secure their first conference championship since the 2009 season when they were still members of the Tri-County Conference.
Like always, that game is slated for a 7:00 PM kickoff and can also be seen on BCE TV with Matt Dove, Drew Burdick and Adam Howe via www.citylinktv.com.
