Seniors put Tigers in upper class: 2-0

With defense and a little luck, Springfield remains undefeated with a 25-7 win over Brookfield.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BROOKFIELD -- Springfield High senior Anthony Warren shuffled out of the locker room, face paint peeling off, sweat pouring out, soreness setting in. Tired? Not exactly. He was tired an hour ago.
Now he's exhausted.
"I'm feeling beat up," he said, smiling. "I don't even know what to think right now."
It's a good tired, by the way. When the Tigers entered this season, they were staring at a number of holes left in their lineup. Last year they had 19 seniors. This year they have eight.
And yet, they're 2-0. Not bad.
"We're young and we're holding onto a couple seniors right now to carry us," said Springfield coach John Smith. "They're keeping us in games."
Accomplishments
Warren's one of them. The fullback carried 20 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns -- including a back-breaking 92-yard run midway through the third quarter -- as the Tigers stayed unbeaten with a 25-7 win over Brookfield on Friday.
They did it with defense.
And they did it with a little luck.
"The ball sort of bounced our way tonight," Smith said.
Brookfield's standout senior running back Ryan Martin ran 21 times for 138 yards and a touchdown. Problem was, he also had five first-half fumbles and dropped a sure touchdown pass. Even worse, he fumbled three times in the first quarter -- losing all three.
"That just took his head out of the game," Brookfield's first-year coach Randy Clark said of Martin. "We wanted to run the toss [sweep] all night, but we couldn't. After his second fumble, you could see his confidence was just shot. He looked like a deer in headlights."
It was an unusual night for the normally sure-handed Martin, whose 33-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter was one of Brookfield's few offensive highlights.
"When he's at his best, he's running straight ahead," Clark said. "When he starts to dance, he holds the ball out there."
Springfield senior quarterback Andrew Schuler, one of seven returning lettermen for the Tigers, completed 7 of 11 passes for 110 yards. Sophomore Nate Schuler added two touchdowns on the ground and senior wideout Mike Kampfer caught three passes for 60 yards.
"The seniors are doing a nice job of helping us until we mature," Smith said. "The kids all gave a great effort. We've got a lot of injuries but we've got a lot of guys who gutted it out."
In infancy
Clark, meanwhile, is still in the beginning stages of building a program. The Warriors (1-1) have gone 5-15 over the past two years and Clark knew he needed to change the team's attitude as much as anything. Last week's 76-3 win over Conneaut looked nice in the standings, but it didn't give the Warriors much of a chance to improve.
"We shot ourselves in the foot early tonight and that really hurt us," said Clark. "We're so used to being a stepping stone and we can't react to sudden change. It's going to take a while."
Still, Clark's got a promising quarterback in sophomore Dave Nehlen, who completed 13 of 27 passes for 151 yards. Add in Martin and senior wideout Pete Hunkus (five receptions, 51 yards) and the Warriors have something to build on.
"The two big stones I wanted to address were discipline and accountability. I think we're on the right path, but we're not there yet. I think they're starting to buy into the system, but it's not going to happen overnight."
scalzo@vindy.com