Warsaw star receiver Riley Rhoades is helped from the field after suffering a knee injury at Concord Friday night.

DUNLAP – The big play has been the calling card of the Concord football program for a long time.

It took a pair of big plays late for the Minutemen to turn back Warsaw 22-17 Friday night in the Northern Lakes Conference and regular-season finale.

Concord scored two touchdowns on long pass plays in the final four minutes to rally past the Tigers at chilly Jake Field.

The Class 5-A No. 8 Minutemen cap off a perfect run through the NLC on a night where their game was anything but perfect.

Concord overcame a slew of penalties (13 to be exact), two blocked punts, a key turnover on a punt, numerous dropped passes and a game Tiger team to finish at 7-0 in league play for the first time since 2011.

Concord would have won the NLC title Friday night win or lose. Plymouth lost 33-30 at NorthWood Friday night to finish at 5-2 in league play. The Minutemen did not know the outcome of that game until after the game as the Concord P.A. man chose not to announce the Plymouth-NorthWood final until after the contest.

The Minutemen, who lost 24-21 in double overtime at Warsaw last season, are 7-2 overall.

Warsaw, which lost for the second straight week, drops to 4-5 overall and finishes 3-4 in the NLC.

Senior Josh Emerson made the most of his chance at redemption for the Minutemen. The receiver, who had let a Warsaw punt bounce off him deep in Concord territory to set up the go-ahead touchdown for the Tigers with 6:16 to play, grabbed a strike over the top in the middle of the field and raced 64 yards for a touchdown for the game winner with 1:52 to play.

The Concord defense then got three straight sacks from Andrew Neveraski to halt the Tigers’ final possession.

The Tigers, who fought tooth and nail, may have lost much more than just a game. Star receiver Riley Rhoades suffered a knee injury in the second quarter after catching a short pass and taking a helmet hit directly on his left knee. The senior, who has 74 receptions for 783 yards and eight touchdowns, was back on the sidelines on crutches in the second half. The early diagnosis was a serious, season-ending knee injury, but Rhoades is to be examined further and undergo X-rays on Saturday.

The athletic 6-4 Rhoades, who was garnering attention from Division I colleges, is also a key basketball player and a track standout.

Warsaw quarterback Michael Jensen is wrapped up by Concord’s Seth Shroyer.

“Our kids played hard, they played their brains out tonight and I’m extremely proud of them with the adversity that we had,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen. “We did not lose this game because of lack of effort. The numbers are the numbers though. They scored 22 points and we had 17.

“None of us wanted to be 4-5, but that is what we are.”

“It was hard when Riley was injured. His teammates were concerned about him. Our coaches were concerned about him. You can’t replace Riley. But our kids did a good job staying focused.”

Warsaw got a huge break when Emerson touched a punt, but could not field it at his own six-yard line with 7:39 to play. Jacob Foster pounced on the pigskin for Warsaw with the game tied 10-10. Rob Sullivan then ran in from two yards out on a fourth and goal play to make it 17-10 with 6:16 left.

Concord cut the lead to 17-16 with 3:59 left. Cedric Mitchell made a diving catch of a 34-yard touchdown toss from Jason Grooms on a fourth-and-10 play on a ball that appeared to hit the ground before settling between Mitchell’s knees in the end zone. The officials ruled it a catch, but Concord kicker Josh Gorball missed the PAT try.

The Minutemen defense then forced a three and out series to set up the game winner from Grooms to Emerson.

Warsaw led 2-0 early as Jeremy David blocked a Concord punt that was recovered in the end zone by the Minutemen. Concord then got a field goal by Gorball and a 44-yard touchdown strike from Grooms to Emerson to take a 10-2 lead.

The Tigers got another huge punt block from David with 4:36 left in the opening half to get the ball at the Concord 42. A pair of key Concord penalties, including an offsides call to give the Tigers a first down, helped Warsaw get a one-yard touchdown run by Jensen with just 19.8 seconds to play. Jensen then hit David with a pass for the two-point conversion to tie it at 10-10.

Concord quarterback Jason Grooms is crushed by a Warsaw defender.

“We get two big punt blocks from Jeremy and then a great drive and score right before half to tie it,” said Jensen. “Jeremy and Riley (Brock Riley) both played well for us tonight.

“We just could get nothing going in the second half. We struggled. Our lack of consistency on offense has been our Achilles heel all season long. It was again tonight. Their defense up front got after us.”

Concord outgained Warsaw 316-127 in total yards. Jensen was 13-35 passing for 114 yards. Will McGarvey had 24 rushes for 43 yards, but the Tigers had just 13 yards on the ground due to lost yardage on sacks of Jensen.

David had five receptions for 40 yards and D’Andre Street two for 36.

Dylan Childers led the defense with 10.5 tackles and Mason Faas had five.

Grooms was 12-35 passing for 247 yards for Concord. Emerson had five catches for 131 yards.

The flag fest saw a total of 21 penalties called for 155 yards.

Warsaw plays at Carroll (6-3) next Friday night in a Class 6-A sectional opener. Concord opens postseason play at Fort Wayne North Side (4-5) on Oct. 30.

Will McGarvey takes a handoff as a pair of Warsaw linemen open a hole Friday night at Concord.