NorthWood head coach Nate Andrews (center) holds his son, Cooper, while addressing Panther players, cheerleaders and fans following Friday’s 52-24 sectional championship victory over East Noble. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

KENDALLVILLE — There is no doubt about what the NorthWood Panthers are trying to do this postseason. As the final seconds ran off the clock during Friday’s 52-24 victory over East Noble, NorthWood’s students were chanting loud and clear, “Nate, take us to state!”

Andrew McCormick rifles a pass for East Noble.

The victory laid claim to the program’s 18th sectional title, it’s second in class 4-A, and first since 2011. The No. 2 ranked Panthers once again showed that they are a force to be reckoned with by completely overwhelming arguably the best team they have played to date.

“They’re writing their own story,” said NorthWood head coach Nate Andrews of his team. “They’ve heard so much about past teams and traditions and all that kind of stuff, which is great. That will always be a part of us. But these kids are writing their own story and that’s a lot of fun.”

The Panthers were having fun early on in Friday’s game. Bronson Yoder scored the first two touchdowns for NorthWood to give the visitors a 14-0 lead with just 3:40 to play in the first quarter. The second score was set up by a beautiful throw from Trey Bilinski to DeAndre Smart for 53 yards.

On the first play of the ensuing drive for the Knights, an attempted screen pass went horribly wrong. Andrew McCormick’s pass bounced off the helmet of his intended receiver and right into the hands of NorthWood’s Drew Minnich who returned it for a score. NorthWood was suddenly up 22-0 with 3:27 left in the first.

McCormick and the Knights did not role over at that point, but spotting NorthWood 22 points is never a recipe for success.

McCormick scored the first touchdown for the Knights to make the score 22-8 in the second quarter. That score was set up by a blocked punt from Xavier VanAllen. Payton Bear answered the bell on NorthWood’s next possession with a touchdown run. McCormick responded with a 25-yard run to make the score 30-16. but Bilinski found Landen Gessinger before the half to put the Panthers up 38-16 at the break.

Brayton Yoder pumps up the crowd after a big fourth down stop.

East Noble cut the lead to 38-24 to start the third quarter on another touchdown run from McCormick. NorthWood’s offense stalled and gave the ball back to McCormick and an increasingly hot Knights offense. East Noble drove down inside the 15 before literally fumbling the ball into NorthWood’s hands.

The loose ball went directly from the grip of the East Noble ball carrier, never touched the ground, and was caught by NorthWood’s Jake Stump. It was the third takeaway for the Panther defense, they would finish the night with four, and it was the biggest momentum killer of them all. East Noble never recovered while the Panthers scored 14 unanswered points to end the game.

“We knew they (East Noble) was going to be able to move the ball,” Andrews explained. “We kept hoping and praying that we could make them continue to snap it and hope that good things would happen for us. That’s kind of the story of what happened last year. They were going to move the ball, they were going to score at times, but if we kept making them snap the ball then we would have a chance to take it away. There were a couple of special kids that made some special plays.”

Bronson Yoder had two interceptions on the night in addition to his two rushing scores. Bronson also had the team’s final touchdown, a 10-yard reception from Bilinski. Brayton Yoder had a 21-yard rushing touchdown the possession before that, which capped a 91-yard drive for the Panthers following Stump’s fumble recovery.

The Panthers are now 12-0 for the first time 1996 and will host New Haven for the regional championship game next Friday. The Bulldogs come into the contest also with a 12-0 mark and are ranked No. 4 in class 4-A. New Haven defeated Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 28-23 Friday night to punch its regional ticket.

The Bulldogs and Panthers last met in 2001, also in a regional title tilt. New Haven won the contest 21-20. NorthWood holds a 3-1 all-time series lead against New Haven dating back to their first meeting in 1980.