Plenty of heroics for Warren
Warren ultimately owes its first win of the season, a 21-20 decision over Highland Park on Friday night at Wolters Field, to defensive lineman Mike Perrin, who blocked Alex Dub's PAT in overtime.
The Blue Devils (1-1) also might have to thank senior placekicker Chris Bordwine. After all, Bordwine's extra point in overtime ended the game.
Then again, how can any play be bigger than Bobby Boesch's 5-yard bootleg that tied the game at 20 in overtime? How about either one of running back Tom Lindal's (10 carries for 27 yards) 2 touchdowns in regulation, especially his 1-yard run that tied it with 5:07 left in the game?
Of course, Lindal's second touchdown wouldn't have happened without two huge Nolan Sordyl carries that tallied 34 yards earlier in the drive. Sordyl had 114 yards on 17 carries to lead Warren.
Simply put, Warren did not lack for heroics in fighting off a pesky Highland Park team (0-2) that came off a 49-7 loss to Stevenson and heads into a CSL crossover against defending Class 8A Champion - and fellow 0-2 team - Maine South next week.
Warren stopped the Giants rushing game. Highland Park managed just 25 rushing yards on 35 carries. Quarterback David Pantle (20-for-29 for 168 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception), wide receiver Cole Stern (5 receptions for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns), and wide receiver Ross Chukerman (6 receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown) challenged the Warren secondary, but even one of Stern's touchdown receptions came in spite of a great defensive play by 5-foot-6 defensive back Brandon Tyler. On third-and-goal from the Warren 20, Pantle threw deep for the 6-3 Stern, who was running a fly pattern into the end zone. Tyler managed to get a hand on it, and Stern managed to pull the ball -and Tyler - down with him in the end zone.
That touchdown, which gave Highland Park a 14-7 lead with 1:21 left in the third, came after a series that saw senior linebacker Gary Eppinger almost singlehandedly force the Giants offense off the field. Eppinger managed 3 sacks (totaling 34 yards), a forced fumble and two other tackles.
"Gary was all over the field for us today, Warren coach Dave Mohapp said. "He was outstanding."
"They have a high-powered offense," Eppinger said. "We had to go out and pressure (Pantle)."
The line in front of Eppinger also put some pressure on Pantle, most notably Jovan DuBose, who batted a pass in the air and managed several tackles. He even got a 40-yard kickoff return in the third quarter.
"We had a lot of guys make some big plays for us tonight, and we needed that," Mohapp said.
In the overtime, Highland Park struck first, with Pantle finding Chukerman for a 6-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal. But three linemen from Warren's special teams unit broke through the line during the point after attempt, and Perrin blocked the kick.
The Blue Devils faced third-and-goal from the 5 when Boesch ran the Bootleg option play.
"We wanted to have a couple receivers run routes, but we told Bobby that if he couldn't find anyone open to tuck it and run for the pylon," Mohapp said.