September 22, 2012 7:00 a.m. WARREN — Rarely will you witness as complete a game on the gridiron as Warren’s senior quarterback Austin Jerman put together on Friday night as the Dragons beat Meadville 49-28 in a Region 5 clash at War Memorial Stadium.

Offensively, Jerman completed 16 of 20 passes, missing just four targets all night. Those passes contributed 182 yards and three touchdowns to the Dragons’ effort. Jerman also rushed for 68 yards and another touchdown. On defense, he grabbed three interceptions. And as the team’s punter, he stuck Meadville inside the 10 on two of three kicks.

The kid just played a heck of a game.

“He’s a very dynamic player,” Warren head coach Brad Wright said about Jerman. “He’s a game-breaker, a difference-maker. I mean, you put him in any situation and he’s got the focus and the offensive experience to handle it. We ask a lot from him and he always steps up.”

With the win, Warren runs its record to 4-0 on the year and its record in Region 5 to 2-0.

Meadville drops to 2-2 on the year and 0-2 in the league.

“We battled hard,” said Meadville head coach Mike Feleppa. “But we’ve got to play four quarters of football. We made some mistakes in the game and we weren’t able to overcome them and get back into the game.”

Meadville’s offense looked to have the upper hand in the first quarter. The Bulldogs’ opening drive lasted eight plays. The second lasted 14 plays. But both possessions were stopped just outside of the red zone. The first ended on Jerman’s first interception of the game. The second ended on a fourth-down fumble by the ’Dogs.

“(Meadville) came out and they did what they said they were going to do — be physical with us,” said Wright. “They came out and ran the ball hard. And in the first half I thought we got pushed around for a series or two.”

The Dragons went nowhere on their first offensive drive. But they hit paydirt on the second. The team authored an eight-play, 72-yard series that ended with Jerman connecting with senior tight end Marc Davis on a 25-yard touchdown pass.

Meadville answered a short time later, capitalizing on one of the few mistakes Jerman made last night. The Dragons QB fumbled on the first snap of Warren’s next drive, and MASH’s Tyler Minnis scooped up the ball and took it 60 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 7.

However, Warren responded right back, this time with an eight-play, 56-yard scoring drive that again ended with Jerman hitting Davis for another TD. This one was for 11 yards.

Warren made it a two-touchdown game right before halftime. The Dragons started on their own 25 with just 50 seconds to play. But in that time, they put together an 11-yard run by Luke Wortman; a 10-yard pass from Jerman to Cody McGraw; runs of eight and 17 yards by Jerman; and finally, a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jerman to Jordan Willetts.

Meadville defensive back Caleb Schweter got his hands around the ball in the end zone, but Willetts snatched it away to score the TD. Warren went into the half leading 21-7.

Meadville kept in close in the third quarter. The Bulldogs had a short field after one of Jerman’s punts went out of bounds on Warren’s 30. Five plays later, Ryan Harkness powered in off the right end to make it a 21-14 game.

Willetts gave the momentum back to Warren with a 55-yard kickoff return to Meadville’s 39. Eight plays after that, the Dragons were back in the end zone on a one-yard dive by running back Matt Falvo.

The momentum swung back onto Meadville’s side when Trevor Martin returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards to Warren’s 19. Four plays later, Martin tacked on the score with a four-yard carry up the middle. The score was now 28-21 Warren.

“I thought at one point that we were getting back into it,” said Feleppa. “But they were able to answer back on us.”  

In the fourth quarter, Warren managed to gain some ground on the ’Dogs. On the first down of the period, the Dragons capped off an eight-play, 49-yard drive with another one-yard run by Falvo.

Meadville’s response was stopped short on Jerman’s third interception of the game. And on the Dragons’ next possession, Falvo broke off an 86-yard run from Warren’s 9 down to Meadville’s 5. A couple plays later, he made it count with a three-yard plunge up the middle. Warren now led 42-21.

“In the second half, I thought our line stepped up and took control of the game,” said Wright. “It was kind of a seesaw battle. But our line took control in the second half and allowed us to run the ball and chew the clock up. That was very key to getting this win.”

On the following kickoff, Willetts stripped Meadville’s Tim Bolden of the football and returned it to MASH’s 23. Three plays later, Jerman took a delayed keeper up the middle 15 yards to make it a 49-21 ball game.

Bolden had a much more successful return on the next kickoff, scampering a full 90 yards for the touchdown. But that put what would be the final points on the board for the ’Dogs.

“When you’re up against a good team,” said Feleppa, “in order to beat them you’ve got to play mistake-free football. If you do make mistakes, you’ve got to be able to overcome them. And it did not seem like we were able to do that.”

Falvo ended the game with 149 yards on 16 carries to lead Warren on the ground.

The team’s top receiver was Davis with eight catches for 96 yards. Willetts caught four for 50 yards.

The Dragons had 435 yards of offense for the game.

Leading Meadville offensively was Ryan Harkness, who carried the ball 22 times for 115 yards. Bolden had 15 carries for 70 yards. Martin finished with 39 yards on seven totes.