Warren scratched and clawed for those inches, but gave General McLane too many chances in a 28-20 loss on Saturday in the District 10 4A playoff semifinals.

General McLane had just scored to cut Warren’s fourth-quarter lead to 18-13. On a big third-down play, Warren executed a hook-and-lateral with quarterback Eric Dippold connecting with Kody Vega for 8 yards, and Vega pitching back to a streaking Ben White with only turf between he and the end zone. Vega’s catch and a McLane defender on his back didn’t give White much room to squeeze by and he stepped out of bounds by a tip-toe. Warren was forced to punt.

That subsequent attempt saw the snap fly over punter Carter Pascuzzi’s head, and the Lancers recovered in the red zone with 6:45 left in the game.

Nate Danowski plunged in from 4 yards out 25 seconds later. Quarterback John Amon — banged up earlier — stormed back for the 2-point conversation run for a 21-18 General McLane lead.

Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms Warren senior Ben White waits for a touchdown pass from Eric Dippold during Saturday’s District 10 4A playoff semifinal versus General McLane at Carter Field in Titusville.

“Unfortunately, when you get to the playoffs, the little mistakes and the little miscues get magnified and two special teams plays hurt us,” said Warren coach Mark Morelli. “The opening kickoff, we mishandled it and had terrible field position and never got out of the hole. And, in the fourth quarter, the snap kind of took the wind out of everything. That’s the way it is in the playoffs. You can’t afford those kinds of mistakes in pressure situations.”

McLane’s lead with 6:20 left in the game was its first since the game’s opening possession — Warren’s opening possession. The Dragons started at their own 7-yard line, and Dippold’s first pass was intercepted and returned to the 1-yard line. Amon plunged in for a 6-0 Lancers’ lead.

Warren garnered 176 total yards in the first half to GM’s 115 and broke through with 38 seconds left in the first quarter. Dippold hit the speedy White in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown to tie the score.

The Dragons’ defense also held strong, stopping multiple General McLane fourth-down plays in the red zone on the night. Gage Shaffer had a key tackle to stop Amon on fourth down in the second, and White recovered a fumble in the first half.

In the middle of the second quarter, Warren went 73 yards on two runs. Ethan Senz ran 43 yards to the Lancers’ 30, and Tommy Nyquist took the next rush 30 yards for a 12-6 halftime lead.

Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms Warren running back Tommy Nyquist runs away from General McLane’s Dillon Mayer (51) during Saturday’s District 10 4A playoff semifinal at Carter Field in Titusville.

Nyquist had 76 first-half rushing yards and 59 more in the second half before leaving in the fourth quarter due to injury. He finished with 175 yards from scrimmage.

Warren built an 18-6 lead by that point after a Senz 1-yard run.

Amon took the kickoff to the Warren 30, and 32 seconds later, connected with Magnus Lloyd for a 20-yard touchdown.

McLane took the lead after botched snap on the punt.

In Warren’s next possession, Dippold completed an 18-yard pass to White on third-and-19, but McLane held on fourth down at Warren’s 44. With a change in possession, Danowski took the next play 43 yards to the 1-yard line. He punched it in on the next play for a 28-18 lead.

Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms Warren receiver Kody Vega laterals to receiver Ben White on a hook-and-lateral play from quarterback Eric Dippold.

With the game all but over, the Lancers chose to run around the end zone and took a safety when the ball fumbled out of the back of the end zone.

Down 28-20 with 16 seconds left, Dippold connected with White for 28 yards and then tried a hook-and-lateral one last time. With the clock running out, he connected again with Vega, who pitched back to White. He was tackled out of bounds inside the 8-yard line and the clock ran out on Warren’s season. Not without a scare.

“It’s a season they can be proud of,” said Morelli. “They were competitive, they were in every game other than Cathedral Prep. We had some kids grow this year and got better and matured. Those underclassmen learned a lot this year and were a big contributing factor to this great senior class that we have.”

Of those seniors, “they hang in there together, they have each other’s backs, they’re leaders, they’re great kids,” said Morelli. “I’m proud of them. We battled and we were a few yards short.”

General McLane (6-3) moves on to face Meadville for the D10 title.

“This season meant everything, not only for me but for my teammates, and it stinks that it had to end the way it did,” said the senior White, who finished with over 700 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. “All of us seniors bought in right after the season ended last year and believed that we could do something special this year, which we did, and us seniors can’t thank enough all our fans who supported us, our coaches who put in the amount of time and for believing us, and our teammates for working hard at practice making us better. It was a season that we will never forget.

“I never would have thought that Eric (Dippold) would step in and fill the shoes of Landon (Douvlos),” said White. “Eric is a great quarterback and will have a great next two years.”

The sophomore Dippold finished with over 1,300 yards passing in a 5-5 Warren season with 14 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

Nyquist, also a sophomore, had over 900 yards rushing and receiving, plus eight scores. Junior complement Ethan Senz added over 300 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

“They could have hit the panic button when Landon got injured but instead they rallied around Dippold,” said Warren offensive coordinator Greg Miller. “They believed in him and honestly, from a coaching standpoint, once that happens it gets easier. The seniors encouraged and rallied around our younger guys. We were young at a lot of the skill spots and these kids responded amazingly. We never felt limited in what we could do on offense. Some things changed based on skill sets, but we weren’t limited. Any doubt faded quickly during the first game of the season. The older guys believed in the younger kids that were stepping in to key spots and honestly that’s half the battle anytime you bring younger kids in. I also want to point out a senior that made a huge off season change for us as well we asked Logan Smith to move from running back to center and he didn’t think twice about it. That was huge for us this season as well.”

On defense, Warren had to finish its season without injured senior Easton Hultberg. Senior Justice Greene finished among District 10 leaders in sacks with nine, as well as Shaffer and junior Nick Penucci in tackles.

“We’ve got Tommy (Nyquist) for two more years, Eric (Dippold) for two more, we’ve got Senz back, Caden Wright back and four of our five starting offensive linemen tonight were underclassmen,” said Morelli. “That’s something to build around.”

Warren 6 6 0 8 — 20

General McLane 6 0 0 22 — 28

First quarter

G–John Amon 1 run, 10:41 (kick blocked)

W–Ben White 18 pass from Eric Dippold, 0:38 (kick fails)

Second quarter

W–Tommy Nyquist 30 run, 5:34 (run fails)

Third quarter

None

Fourth quarter

W–Ethan Senz 1 run, 11:17 (pass fails)

G–Magnus Lloyd 20 pass from Amon, 10:45 (Kyle Cousins kick)

G–Nate Danowski 4 run, 6:20 (Amon run)

G–Danowski 1 run, 3:15 (Cousins kick)

W–Safety (ball fumbled out of end zone)

Individual stats

RUSH: W–Nyquist 20-135, TD; Senz 7-43, TD; Ben White 3-9; Dippold 2-(-9); Sam Harvey 1-3; Gage Shaffer 1-(-1); Team 1-(-32). G–Amon 15-54, TD; Danowski 14-87, 2TD; Dylan Sheeder 8-28; Lloyd 3-15; Skyler Kyanvash 1-9.

PASS: W–Dippold 16 of 24 for 198 yards, TD, 3INT; Nyquist 1 of 1 for 0 yards. G–Amon 3 of 7 for 46 yards, TD; Sheeder 1 of 1 for 4 yards.

RECEIVE: W–White 7-89, TD; Kody Vega 5-42; Nyquist 2-40; Cayden Wright 2-11; Justice Greene 1-16. G–Lloyd 2-38, TD; Cousins 1-8; Eric Salamonsen 1-4.