By Steve Fields
INDIANAPOLIS — The Warren Central Warriors are a good football team on their own, as their No. 5 ranking in Class 5A shows. Given seven turnovers, they are down right awesome.
Terre Haute South turned the football over seven times Friday night and Warren Central cashed in the chips for a 70-7 MIC victory at Warrior Stadium in Indianapolis.
South lost four fumbles — one on a pooch kickoff the Braves failed to jump on — and Warren Central picked off three of quarterback Bryn Schwartz’s passes.
“You can’t turn the ball over like we did, especially in the first half, and expect to be able to compete with a team like Warren Central. We’re playing a lot of young guys and I think a lot of guys are in awe of the whole atmosphere of this place,” second-year South coach Mark Raetz said after his first trip to Warren Central’s lavish facility.
Warren Central’s Eric Williams and George Cheesebourough turned in outstanding performances.
Williams rushed for 127 yards and touchdowns of five and nine yards and caught a 21-yard touchdown pass. Cheesebourough rushed for touchdowns of 15 and 27 yards and 76 yards.
The Warriors led 70-0 and had pulled the starters before South got on the scoreboard with 7:29 to play. South recovered a high center snap at the Warren Central 5-yard line and scored on the third play, as Michael Mardis pulled in a five-yard throw from Schwartz.
South showed signs early of moving the football. After receiving the opening kickoff, Schwartz hooked up with Mardis on passes of 16 and 27 yards before the Braves were forced to punt. Mardis finished the night with six catches for 78 yards and the Braves’ only touchdown.
South’s Gary Passmore stopped Warren Central’s opening drive by recovering a fumble.
But three plays later the Warriors intercepted a Schwartz pass that led to their first touchdown, the first of South’s four straight turnovers.
South lost three fumbles and Warren Central picked off two Schwartz passes in the first half. Warren Central, leading 15-0 after the first quarter, converted four of South’s turnovers into touchdowns and 29-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Warriors extended their lead to 42-0 at halftime — and got the ball to open the second half — with Williams scoring on runs of 5 and 9 yards and a 21-yard pass play.
Warren Central opened the second half with a nine play, 62 yard touchdown drive that made the score 49-0. A minute later, a South pass was tipped and Warren Central’s Erick Humphreys returned it 38 yards for a touchdown.
“I was hoping we would come over here and compete better than that, but the key is we have to move on and be ready to play next week against Lawrence North,” South’s Raetz said.
Warren Central 70,
Terre Haute South 7
Terre Haute South 0 0 0 7 — 7
Warren Central 15 27 14 14 — 70
WC — George Cheesebourough 5 run (Cheesebourough run).
WC — Shakir Bell 29 pass from Derek Hart (Tommy Martin kick).
WC — Eric Williams 9 run (Martin kick).
WC — Cheesebourough 15 run (Martin kick).
WC — Cheesebourough 27 run (Martin kick).
WC — Williams 21 pass from Hart (kick blocked).
WC — Ed Hazlett 3 run (Zach Sparks kick).
WC — Erick Humphrey 38 interception return (Sparks kick).
WC — Chris Allen 3 run (Derek Loyal kick).
WC — Brandon Smith 30 run (Loyal kick).
THS — Michael Mardis 5 pass from Bryn Schwartz (Ethan Buske kick).
THS WC
First downs 6 19
Rushes-yards 38-39 40-265
Passing yards 78 112
Comp-Att-Int 7-15-3 7-14-0
Total offense 56-117 57-377
Return yards 130 134
Fumbles-lost 7-4 3-1
Punts-Avg. 3-33.3 2-43.0
Penalties-yards 2-6.5 8-64.5
Individual statistics
Rushing — THS, Montgomery 7-16, Schwartz 13-(-9), Shouse 8-3, Carter 3-13, Maxwell 2-6, Cephus 2-2, Stephens 2-6, Sutiff 1-2. WC, D. Williams 11-127, Cheesebourough 9-76, Bell 2-22, Allen 4-18, Davis 2-10, S. Williams 2-9, Hazelett 2-12, Smith 1-30, Brown 1-(-4), Manuel 1-(-20), Hollins 3-0, Sharpe 1-0.
Passing — THS, Schwartz 7-15-3 78. WC, Hart 7-14-0 112.
Receiving — THS, Mardis 6-78. WC, Bell 3-65, D. Williams 3-37, Freeman 1-10.
Next — Next Friday, Terre Haute South (3-5, 2-4 in MIC) will host Lawrence North and Warren Central (5-2, 4-1 in MIC) travels to Center Grove.
