Adam Howe
Sports Editor
The Wildcats showed no mercy early and seemingly scored at will in a 49-0 drubbing of Carrollton (0-10) at home on Friday night.
Warsaw scored on their opening possession on a 50 yard pitch and catch from quarterback Garrett Ferguson to running back Jayce Depriest for the first touchdown of the game. Logan Gemes knocked through the PAT and the 'Cats took a quick 7-0 lead.
After forcing a punt on the Trojans first drive, Warsaw went to work once again, driving the ball down the field and running back Josh Harvath, fresh off his return from a shoulder injury, powered his way into the endzone from three yards out. Gemes was good on his PAT and the Green and Black were up 14-0.
With the clock winding down in the opening period, the Wildcats defense contributed a score of their own when Sonny Garrett picked off a wobbly pass and returned it 41 yards for another Warsaw score. Gemes PAT was good again as Warsaw was well in control, 21-0 at the end of the first.
The Wildcats offense did a superb job of spreading the wealth on the night when, on their next drive, Ferguson hit Drake Murrell out of the backfield. Murrell did the rest as she shaked and baked his way across the goal line for a 25 yard touchdown. Gemes split the uprights again and the rout was on, 28-0.
Just :22 seconds later, it was the defense coming through yet again. On another errant pass by the Trojans signal caller, Warsaw's Sean Reinertsen read his eyes, came up from his safety spot and picked off another pass for the 'Cats. Another :30 seconds later, Depriest found paydirt on a 4 yard touchdown run, Gemes nailed another PAT and the score went to 35-0.
Late in the first half and the Wildcats driving once more, Warsaw scored again. This time, Ferguson rolled to his right, came back to his left and made a nice throw across his body, finding Jase Hubert on an 18 yard touchdown completion. Gemes hit his sixth PAT of the first half to put the Wildcats up, 42-0 at the break.
Things slowed down in the third quarter as substitutions covered the field for the Wildcats, giving Warsaw starters a much needed mid-game rest.
Warsaw added one touchdown midway through the fourth frame on a 2 yard touchdown run by JV quarterback John Wilson, Jr. and Gemes kicked the PAT for the 49-0 final.
"Friday was a great team win," 'Cats head coach Ryan Boyer said. "We had 6 different kids score TD's, defense played lights out and, offensively, everyone contributed."
Ferguson finished 4 of 7 passing for 101 yards but his efficiency led to 3 passing TD's. He also rushed 5 times for 75 yards.
Of late, the junior has shown much growth as a runner and has exhibited vision that has led to more success throwing the ball as well.
"Ferugson has done a good job of relaxing a little more in the pocket, working through his progressions and taking what the defense gives him," Boyer commented.
Depriest paced the Wildcats rushing attack with 83 yards on just 5 carries and 1 score. He also hauled in 1 pass for 50 yards and another TD.
Harvath came through with 53 yards on just 4 carries and 1 TD and D'Angelo Ramirez rushed 8 times for 54 yards, all of those coming in the second half.
Murrell was on the receiving end of 2 passes and had 1 TD and Hubert accounted for 1 catch for 18 yards and a score.
Gemes was perfect on the night, knocking through all 7 of his PAT's.
For the defense, Murrell paved the way with 6 tackles. Riley Taylor was close behind with 4.5 tackles, including 1 quarterback sack. Reinertsen and Urijah Phillips both tallied 3.5 tackles and 3 more were added by both Shane Poyser and Hubert.
Reinertsen and Garrett each came up with interceptions for the Wildcats defense, Garrett returned his for a TD.
"It's great to see everyone's improvement from one week to the next," Boyer added. "You always want to be playing your best ball at this time of the year, and I feel like our kids really understand that and have bought into it."
The Wildcats' win sets up one semifinal in Class 2 District 3 when (2) Warsaw hosts (3) South Callway this Friday at Randy Morrow Field.
"South Callaway is a very good football team," Boyer stated. "They have good size and play hard. Like many teams, the majority of what they do goes through their quarterback. We have to be disciplined in all three phases of the game on Friday night in order to be successful."
Kick-off for this week's game will be at 7:00 PM.
The other semifinal matchup in the district will feature (4) Versailles (5-5) at (1) Father Tolton Catholic (9-0).
