LAFAYETTE — Jeff football lined up together on its side of the field, as it does every week, but it wasn’t in the same way its grown accustomed to over the last several weeks.
The Bronchos made history with their third consecutive sectional championship this season, but the road ended at the regional once again with a 49-39 loss to Warsaw on Friday, Nov. 13. On the other side of the field, the Tigers celebrated their second regional title with the trophy raised in the air.
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Coach Pat Shanley acknowledged it was one that hurt. He called senior leader Ka’vion Campbell-Walker up to make a departing speech, who commanded every player’s attention with a passionate message to the underclassmen to carry on the work when he’s gone.
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He and other seniors, such as wide receiver Bryce VanOstran, quarterback Trysten Barrett and defensive lineman Chris Hardy, have laid the foundation for the program over the years. That group has helped them get to a place where they can be surefire sectional winners each season and have chances to make it deeper into November.
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The Bronchos couldn’t quite kick down the doors of regional this year. But they have no doubts that they’ll continue to build the foundation up and accomplish that soon.
“We have a program that is only going to continue to get better,” Shanley said. “We have people in this community that are really committed and understand what we’re doing and what we’re building. You have kids that really believe in it and they love it. … We’re going to fight, claw and scratch to find ways to get better and to kick that door in.
“It’s just a matter of time.”
On the opening drive, VanOstran got the crowd at Schuemann Stadium fired up with a 63-yard touchdown at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter off a pass from Barrett. It was a whole lot of yards after the catch, and VanOstran skipped his way to celebrate the moment in front of the crowd. That was the energy Jeff needed to start the night.
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But Warsaw’s flexbone triple option offense, a style of play that Jeff has grown to be familiar with over the years, quickly took over. The Tigers tied it up at 7-7 at the 5:11 mark, but their next drive signaled something that the Broncho defense couldn’t contain for the rest of the game.
Quarterback Mark Haynes broke loose and went untouched for an 80-yard touchdown with 1:27 remaining in the first, before converting a two-point conversion to give Warsaw a 15-10 lead. The defensive breakdowns happened again at the 3:22 mark in the second, in which Brady Sauer bounced to the outside and down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2.
By the end of the first half, the Tigers led 29-10.
“You got to stop a quarterback/fullback, right? So, you’re kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Shanley said of the Warsaw run game. “We spent a lot of time studying it. … (coach Bart Curtis) is a Hall of Famer. He runs that flexbone as well as anybody in the country. He’s a really, really good coach.”
Warsaw switched it up to start the second half. It opted for a pass play, in which lineman Grady Nelson snuck by the Jeff defense for a wide-open catch to score a 46-yard passing touchdown at the 9:11 mark of the third quarter.
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The Bronchos needed to score quickly, which they found a rhythm in throughout the second half. Barrett threw another shot for an explosive play at the 8:11 mark in which receiver Na’Darius Young caught it and raced down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown on third-and-11.
Both VanOstran and Young finished the night with another touchdown each, the latter of which followed a fumble recovery from linebacker Myles Stetler. But Warsaw kept battling back on the ground to prevent a big enough dent in its lead, including a 48-yard touchdown from Ethan Rivich with 11:33 remaining in the fourth to go up 49-24.
“They got some stops on us in the second quarter, and unfortunately, we couldn’t get enough stops to get on the right side of the scoreboard,” Shanley said.
Although disappointment was felt on the field in the aftermath of the loss, a lot of optimism remained. Jeff won’t sit this one for too long; the mindset is already on next season.
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There will be new talent added to the fold and players that have to step into bigger roles. But as the Bronchos find a way to do each year, they plan to do it again. There’s a lot of work to be done, but that’s just part of the process.
“There’s so many good kids that are coming back,” Shanley said. “The foundation’s laid. Again, it’s just going to boil down to the work that we do in the offseason. We got to grow, we got to get bigger. … I know we got the right people on the bus.”
Chase Gemes covers high school sports and Purdue women’s basketball for the Journal & Courier. He can be reached at cgemes@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette Jeff football’s postseason ends in regional with loss to Warsaw
