Fallbrook running back Jake Ware has a message for his dad, Marine Lt. Col. Randy Ware, who is serving in Iraq: “I love you. I hope the good guys keep winning.”
Not sure if he was referring to the U.S. military or the Fallbrook football team. Probably both.
If you sit on the Fallbrook side of the field, then the good guys won last night, 17-13 over Mira Mesa in the opening round of the Division I playoffs at Mira Mesa High.
Had his father been stateside, he would have seen his son rush for 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Fallbrook (5-6) travels to Escondido next week for the quarterfinals.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Ware also plays ironman football as the team's starting middle linebacker.
“He's a special player,” said Fallbrook coach Joe Silvey, whose team won its first playoff game since 2003. “He plays every snap on defense and he tells us when he needs a break. He plays as much as he wants to.”
Behind Ware, Fallbrook controlled the ball and clock for most of the first half, running 37 plays to Mira Mesa's 17. The Warriors opened the game with a 12-play drive that stalled at the Mira Mesa 10, resulting in Brady Harrington's 27-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
They stretched the advantage in the second quarter, capping a monster 14-play, 80-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by Ware.
“We wanted to pound, pound, pound the ball,” said Fallbrook quarterback Michael Welsh, who completed 9-of-18 passes for 62 yards.
But the Marauders (6-5) got on the board with two minutes left in the first half when quarterback Kevin Ozier connected with Brandon Chambers on a 36-yard touchdown pass. The blocked PAT made the score 10-6 at halftime.
The pair hooked up again on the opening drive of the second half, this time from 19 yards out, giving Mira Mesa a 13-10 advantage.
But the Warriors stormed back behind Ware, who added a 2-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter, set up by a 41-yard pass from Kameron Drawhorn to Marquis Sumpter.
“We've battled adversity all year,” Ware said. “So when a team takes a lead on us, it's nothing. We knew we could do it.”
Mira Mesa had one last chance in the closing minute, but a failed hook-and-ladder with 2 seconds left turned the ball over to Fallbrook at its own 38.
Kevin Gemmell: (619) 718-5304; kevin.gemmell@uniontrib.com
