The Warsaw football team got some good news Sunday night.
The Tigers will get to open sectional play at home on Oct. 19.
Now, for the not so good news.
Penn, ranked No. 8 in Class 5-A, is the first-round sectional foe for Warsaw. The Kingsmen, who were state runner-up in 2011, are 7-1 this fall. Penn has won 19 sectional championships and five state titles.
The IHSAA drew sectional pairings Sunday for the 40th state tournament. Sectional play begins Friday, Oct. 19. Sectional semifinal games are Oct. 26 with sectional championship games Nov 2. Regionals are slated for Nov. 9, semi states Nov. 16 and the State Finals Nov. 23-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Warsaw closes regular-season play at home Friday versus Concord. The Tigers, who are 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference, clinches at least a share of the league championship with a win Friday night. Warsaw is tied with Concord and Plymouth for the league lead.
Warsaw coach Phil Jensen knows the Penn program very, very well. Jensen, who collected his 100th career coaching win earlier this season, played for the Kingsmen in the early 1980s before going on to play at Butler University.
The winner of the Warsaw-Penn game in Class 5-A Sectional 2 advances to face the winner of the Fort Wayne Carroll (6-2) versus LaPorte (1-7) contest. Other first-round games in this sectional include Elkhart Central (4-4) at Elkhart Memorial (0-8) and South Bend Adams (5-3) at Goshen (2-6).
Wawasee will board the bus and head to Waterloo to face DeKalb in the Class 4-A Sectional 11. The Warriors evened their season mark at 4-4 with a win at Elkhart Memorial Friday night. DeKalb is 2-6. The Wawasee-DeKalb winner moves on to play the winner of the Plymouth (6-2) at NorthWood (4-4) game. The other first-round match ups have Angola (2-6) at Northridge (1-7) and Concord (6-2) at East Noble (6-2). NorthWood is the defending sectional champion.
Tippecanoe Valley, currently 6-2, will head to Ligonier to face West Noble (1-7) in Class 3-A Sectional 18. The Vikings, with a first-round win, advance to face either Lakeland (8-0) or Heritage (6-2) in a semifinal contest. No. 1 Jimtown, the defending sectional champion, headlines this sectional. The Jimmies (8-0) host Fort Wayne Concordia (2-6). Jimtown owns 20 sectional titles and four state championships.
Whitko, also in the Class 3-A Sectional 18, received a very tough draw. The Wildcats, who are 3-5, host Garrett (7-1). That winner moves on to play either Jimtown or Concordia.
Triton goes on the road to play at Adams Central in first-round play in Class 1-A Sectional 35. The Trojans are 1-7, while defending sectional champion Adams Central sits at 5-3. The winner of the Triton-Adams Central game advances to play the winner of the Fremont (3-5) at Southwood (1-7) game. The other bracket finds Northfield (3-5) at Central Noble (0-8) and LaVille (1-7) at North Miami (6-2).
