Football Results: Sept. 28
WARSAW 48, GOSHEN 10
Goshen kept it close for a little more than a quarter, but Warsaw gained momentum in the second quarter and ran away with the win Saturday morning at Foreman Field.
After a Isaac Sawatzky 22-yard field goal cut the Warsaw lead to 7-3 to open the second quarter, Warsaw scored the game’s next 28 points, 21 of those in the second quarter. Colton Wampler scored on a two-yard run, Wyatt Amiss punched it in from a yard out and Keagan Larsh scored from eight yards out with 10 second left in the half, running the lead up to 28-3 at the break.
Amiss hit Larsh for a 58-yard scoring pass to open the second half, Juan Jaramillo added a one-yard score and Wampler got his second score late in the fourth on a seven-yard carry, capping a 99-yard drive.
Julius Jones opened the game with a 48-yard touchdown run around the left end to get Warsaw on the board. Goshen’s only touchdown came on a three-yard rush from Wesley VanHooser to break a 28-0 Tiger run.
Warsaw outrushed Goshen 333-65 in the game and averaged 6.8 yards per play for the game. Wampler led the team with 11 carries and finished with 57 yards and the two scores. Patrick Zollinger had a team-leading 78 yards rushing on just two carries and Jaramillo was one behind with 77 yards on just seven carries.
VanHooser paced the RedHawks with eight carries for 120 yards and a score.
Warsaw (5-1, 3-1 NLC) will host Wawasee next week while Goshen (1-5, 0-4 NLC) visits Northridge.
NORTHWOOD 34, NORTHRIDGE 14
NorthWood started off hot and maintained the pressure in a big NLC won at Northridge.
The Panthers scored on their second and third drives to open a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, then outscored the Raiders 13-0 in the second quarter to take a commanding 27-0 lead to the half.
Ben Mestach ran for a pair of touchdowns, 15 and 21 yards, and Nate Newcomer threw for a pair, one to Jake Lone for five yards and the other to Jason Borkholder for 74 yards. Kyle Sellers also hit Lone for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Oliver Eveler had two touchdown passes of 47 yards to Breckin Rudd and 15 yards to Jett Gott to highlight the Raiders’ day.
NorthWood outgained Northridge 456-263, Newcomer accounting for 267 total yards passing and rushing. Mestach had 75 yards on nine carries and Jaden Miller had 95 total yards. The Panthers held the prolific Raider rushing attack to just 94 yards on 31 carries.
NorthWood (4-2, 3-1 NLC) will visit Memorial next week while Northridge (3-3, 1-3 NLC) will look to recover in hosting Goshen.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 42, WHITKO 0
After a slow start, Valley ratcheted it up to put away Whitko for its fifth straight win. The shutout was the first for the Vikings since 2012, which is the last time Valley started a season 5-1.
Valley piled up 451 yards of total offense, 374 of which came on the ground. Braden Shepherd ran for a pair of touchdowns of 48 and 78 yards and Tanner Trippiedi added two rushing scores and passed for another. Jaydin Conley added a rushing touchdown in the win.
Valley moves to 5-0 in the Three Rivers Conference and will prepare for a huge conference matchup Friday at Maconaquah (4-2, 4-1 TRC). Whitko (0-6, 0-5 TRC) will host Manchester next Friday.
PLYMOUTH 35, WAWASEE 0
A 21-point second quarter put Plymouth over to spoil Wawasee’s Homecoming.
A missed Wawasee field late in the second quarter gave Plymouth the ball at their own 20 with under a minute remaining. Rather than taking the three-score lead into the lockerroom, quarterback Joe Barron went for the home run and got it, finding Zephan Nixon open on a go route for 80 yards and a stunning touchdown and a 28-0 lead at the half.
Barron threw three touchdown passes and Ivan Winkle ran in two for scores as the Rockies beat the Warriors for the fifth straight time.
Parker Young threw for 50 yards and Levi Brown ran for 34 yards to lead the Warriors.
Wawasee (1-5, 0-4 NLC) will head to Warsaw Friday while Plymouth (5-1, 4-0 NLC) will take on Concord in a battle of NLC unbeatens.
PIONEER 60, TRITON 0 (Late Friday)
Pioneer commanded the football game Friday night in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference matchup in Royal Center.
Pioneer scored 30 points in each of the first two quarters to overwhelm Triton. The game was called at halftime because of lightning.
Stats for the game were not provided.
Triton (2-4, 1-3 HNAC) will host North Judson (3-2, 3-1 HNAC) next Friday while Pioneer (5-1, 4-0 HNAC) have won five straight and will host Knox (5-0, 3-0 HNAC) Friday in a battle of the league’s top two programs.
NOTRE DAME 35, VIRGINIA 20
No. 10 Notre Dame’s defensive linemen had eight sacks in a 35-20 victory over No. 18 Virginia on Saturday. And Julian Okwara thinks they can to do more.
”We’re excited about the win, but we still have work to do,” said the defensive end, who had three of Notre Dame’s eight sacks and caused a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. ”I think we just had to hone in on what coach told us to do and just do our job.”
Notre Dame (3-1), coming off a 23-14 loss at No. 3 Georgia, trailed 17-14 at the break and then had the Cavaliers (4-1) complete a successful onside kick to open the second half. The Notre Dame defense held, setting the tone for the second half with five of its eight sacks in the third quarter.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, who challenged his team and coaches after the loss to the Bulldogs, liked what he saw.
”They were exactly what I wanted them to be – they were determined, they were persistent,” Kelly said. ”We were determined to play physical in the second half. We got a big-play defense. If we can make more plays on offense, this could be a special group.”
Reserve defensive end Jamir Jones started the Irish defensive onslaught in the third quarter when he sacked and stripped Virginia’s Bryce Perkins of the football and defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa recovered it in midair before rumbling 48 yards to the Virginia 7.
”That’s a d-linemen’s dream right there,” said the 285-pound Tagovailoa-Amosa who was tracked down by Perkins 7 yards short of the end zone. ”I’ve got to finish the dream and get in the end zone.”
Tony Jones, who had three touchdowns and a season-high 131 yards on 18 carries, scored two plays later from the 2 to give the Irish a 21-17. They never trailed again.
Later in the quarter, Okwara, who finished with two forced fumbles and fumble recovery, stripped the ball from Perkins and defensive end Adetokunbo Ogundeji recovered and ran 23 yards to put the Irish up 28-17.
”When you can pressure the quarterback with four and still play coverage, there is relatively no risk and that’s what they were able to do,” Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said.
Virginia scored first as Perkins, who completed 30 of 43 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, threw a 6-yard TD pass to Joe Reed. But the Irish answered with the next two touchdowns, a 5-yard run by Jones and an 11-yard run by C’Bo Flemister. The second TD came after Okwara stripped and recovered the football after a sack of Perkins near midfield.
Thanks to the sacks, Notre Dame held Virginia to 4 yards rushing. Notre Dame, which outgained Virginia 343-228, got 165 yards on 17-of-25 passing by Ian Book.
MINNESOTA 38, PURDUE 31
Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan played as close to perfect as he could Saturday.
His receivers were spot on, too.
Morgan completed his first 14 throws, finished with 396 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs, and made enough plays over the final four minutes to preserve a 38-31 victory at Purdue
That much was evident as Morgan wound up 21 of 22 and finished the first half just four yards short of his previous single-game high.
He became the fourth player in school history to complete 14 consecutive passes, tying a record last done by Mitch Leidner in December 2015. Morgan is now 8-2 as a starter and has Minnesota (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) off to its best start since 2013
But Morgan had plenty of help.
Of the 56 plays run by the Golden Gophers, 12 went for 16 or more yards. Morgan connected with Rashod Bateman on scoring passes of 45 and 47 yards, Chris Autman-Bell on a 70-yarder and Tyler Johnson’s 3-yard TD reception.
“I’m very disappointed in our pass defense and have been for a while,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. “We knew what they were going to do and that’s the disappointing part. Just a very poor performance.”
Even worse were the hits the Boilermakers’ offense suffered.
Starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar and All-American receiver Rondale Moore left on the same first-quarter play when SIndelar was sacked hard on his left shoulder and Moore appeared to pull up with a left leg injury. After spending more than 10 minutes in the injury tent, Moore was carted to the Boilermakers’ locker room.
Brohm said Sindelar would miss some time but did not update the status of Moore or provide details about either injury.
Purdue already was playing without its top two defensive players, linebacker Markus Bailey and defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal.
Rodney Smith opened the game with a 2-yard touchdown run and when the Gophers got the ball back, Autman-Bell’s score made it 14-3.
Jack Plummer threw a 7-yard TD pass to Zander Horvath to get Purdue within 14-10 after Sindelar’s departure, but Morgan hooked up with Bateman and Johnson for touchdowns to make it 28-10 at the half. He sealed the Gophers’ sixth straight win with the second TD pass to Bateman for a 38-17 lead.
Purdue rallied with two fourth-quarter scores from King Doerue before Morgan ran out the clock.
MICHIGAN STATE 40, INDIANA 31
On a rare day when Michigan State’s defense was struggling, Brian Lewerke and Darrell Stewart helped the Spartans prevail.
Lewerke threw two touchdown passes to Stewart, and those two connected again for a big gain on Michigan State’s final drive, which ended when Matt Coghlin made a tie-breaking 21-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining. The 25th-ranked Spartans beat Indiana 40-31 on Saturday — after Coghlin’s kick gave Michigan State a 34-31 lead, the Hoosiers tried to lateral their way down the field on their last offensive play, but that resulted in a fumble the Spartans recovered for a touchdown.
“It definitely feels good to be able to score when we need to and drive down there at the end and get points, when the defense wasn’t having their best day,” Lewerke said. “Which doesn’t happen a lot.”
Lewerke threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a game that turned into quite a quarterback duel. Michael Penix Jr. returned for Indiana (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) after missing the previous two games with an undisclosed injury — and he gave the Spartans (4-1, 2-0) fits, completing 20 passes in a row during one stretch.
Penix threw for three touchdowns, including an 11-yarder to Whop Philyor that tied the game at 31 with 2:00 remaining. Lewerke immediately led the Spartans back down the field. Stewart outfought defensive back Jaylin Williams for a 44-yard reception, then Lewerke broke free for a 30-yard run that put the ball at the 1.
Rather than try to score right away, the Spartans ran the clock down and set up Coghlin’s kick.
“Tough way to lose. Proud of our team, how our kids fought,” Indiana coach Tom Allen said. “It’s hard to face them in the locker room knowing how hard they played. Look them in the eyes, and there’s a lot of tears in there. And there should be.”
Elijah Collins gave Michigan State a 7-0 lead with a 4-yard scoring run, but Indiana answered late in the first quarter with a 28-yard TD pass from Penix to Philyor.
Lewerke put the Spartans back ahead with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Stewart in the second, but Penix scored on a 2-yard run to tie it at 14.
Lewerke found Stewart for a 26-yard TD with 33 seconds left in the half.
Penix completed his last seven pass attempts of the first half and his first 13 of the second, but Michigan State held the Hoosiers to a field goal in the red zone to start the third quarter.
Indiana went ahead 24-21 with 14:52 remaining in the fourth on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Penix to Donavan Hale, who appeared to make the catch with one hand while cornerback Josiah Scott was draped all over him.
Michigan State went back ahead 28-24 with 12:12 remaining when Lewerke threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Matt Seybert.