Alec Lehr sprints down the field showing possession belongs to the Redskins after stopping Wawasee on a fourth down attempt early in Friday’s 20-0 shutout of the Warriors. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

GOSHEN – With the inevitable change coming for Goshen’s mascot, Friday night’s football contest with Wawasee made for a unique setting. It would be the finale home game for the Redskins and the final time the two rivals would meet for the Traveling Chief Trophy.

The last night of Redskins football proved to be a memorable one for the players and fans as Goshen shutout Wawasee 20-0 to reclaim the Chief for the first time since 2009.

A uneventful first quarter saw several turnovers and not much offensive success between the two rivals. Goshen broke a scoreless tie 30 seconds into the second quarter on a 14-yard run from Jeff Stoll. Wawasee shot itself in the foot on the ensuing kickoff by losing a fumble giving the Redskins the ball at Wawasee’s 30-yard line.

C.J. Detweiler connected with Corbin Harrison, who made an excellent grab, for Goshen’s second score of the night. 14-0 would prove to be the score at the half.

Wawasee continued to struggle on offense in the second half. The defensive effort by the Redskins was about as good as it gets. Goshen held Wawasee to 64 total yards of offense and just 1.9 yards per rush. A lack of an offensive threat from a Warrior team that had its best offensive effort of the season last week against Memorial allowed Goshen to get comfortable on both sides of the ball.

Nick LeCount (27) forces a fumble for Wawasee on Goshen’s opening drive.

The Redskins expanded their lead late in the third quarter on a three-yard run from Detweiler. A missed extra-point attempt left the home squad with a 20-0 advantage which would prove to be the final score.

The tone for Goshen’s win was set in the first half as the Redskins appeared to come out with more energy than the Warriors. Knowing it would be their final home game for the Redskins name, Goshen certainly had plenty to play for and the Warriors never seemed to match that intensity.

“That’s really what it came down to,” said Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich when asked about his team coming out a little flat in the first half. “Goshen was more enthusiastic, they out hit us and they won the turnover battle. It’s the same thing we talk about every single week.

“When it’s a rivalry game, records don’t matter. How you played last week doesn’t matter. It all comes down to how bad you want it and that’s why we’re challenging our seniors now. How badly do they want to keep winning? That’s really what it came down to tonight, Goshen played harder than us. ”

Tyler Smith drops back for Wawasee.

Goshen tallied 290 yards of total offense led by 123 rushing yards from Stoll. Detweiler completed 11 of 16 passes for 101 yards and rushed for another 15. Michael Katzer led Wawasee’s rushing effort with 30 yards on four attempts. Noah Wadkins had 29 yards on eight attempts. Stephen Possell led the Warriors with nine tackles, Cole Van Lue added another six stops.

Wawasee (3-6, 1-6) will travel to play Plymouth in the opening round of the sectional next Friday. Wawasee nearly upset the then No. 1 ranked Rockies team in Syracuse last month before falling 29-20. Plymouth (7-2, 5-2) lost to NorthWood Friday night.

Wawasee entered its last contest against the Rockies coming off a poor performance at NorthWood. Ekovich is hoping for a similar rebound for the second meeting with Plymouth.

“It’s up to these seniors on whether or not they want to keep playing,” Ekovich said about next week’s game. “Granted, there are a lot of juniors that play on both sides of the ball and it’s a team effort. We win as a team, we lose as a team. Football cliché after football cliché. When it all comes down to it, our opponent played harder than us tonight and we can’t do that next week or our season will be over.”

Wawasee has not won a sectional contest since 2012 when it lost in the championship game at Concord. The Rockies and Warriors will kick at 7 p.m.

No decision has been made on the future of the trophy rivalry between the two schools. The Traveling Chief will be retired, outside of that no other decisions have been made though the two athletic departments plan on discussing the matter before next football season.

Corbin Harrison shows that he completed the catch for Goshen’s second score of the night.