Panthers Take Care Of Business
NAPPANEE – NorthWood took care of its job from the opening whistle Friday night, overwhelming Wawasee 49-3 in the Class 4-A Sectional 19 opener at Andrews Field.
NorthWood was off the races right from the start while Wawasee let some lackluster play and costly mistakes tell the tale.
The Panthers scored on seven of its nine possessions on the night, the ninth ran out the clock and the third emerged as a microcosm of the game. A 30-yard sprint from Nate Newcomer to cap NorthWood’s first drive had the Panthers up quick, then after a Wawasee punt, Ben Mestach erased some costly Panther penalties to scamper 35 yards for a second touchdown.
After a sloppy third Panther possession had NorthWood fumble a snap, then nearly send the punt snap into the Nappanee night, Jaden Miller corralled the ball and launched it over 40 yards and Wawasee watched it roll another 10.
Another pair of three-and-outs by the Warriors allowed NorthWood more opportunities, and between Mestach and Miller barrel rolls, NorthWood built a 28-0 lead after Mestach’s 3-yard run and a Newcomer 80-yarder that had him run straight through the teeth of the Wawasee defense.
“They’re seniors and this is the tournament,” stated NorthWood head coach Nate Andrews of Mestach and Miller. “Not only did you see those guys running hard, but you saw those guys inspiring people all week. There’s something a little bit different about them right now. You would hope you would get that when it starts to smell this way and look this way.”
Noted Wawasee head coach Jon Retuebuch on his team’s slow start, “It was right from the beginning. We made some silly errors, whether it was a back leaning in the backfield and goes from second and five to second and ten. Just those silly mistakes that bit us in the rear all season long. We just couldn’t quite get out of our own way. Against a team like that, it’s going to compound itself.”
Newcomer would find Jason Borkholder for a 48-yard score, Veshon Malone pounded in a run and Kyle Sellers added a one-yarder in the fourth to add to the NorthWood rout.
NorthWood pounded the rock 37 times for 374 yards, Newcomer leading the way with 175 yards and also had 77 yards passing on 3-5 attempts. Mestach had 78 yards and Miller 69 yards as the Panthers had 19 first downs to just eight for the Warriors. Andrews did note his displeasure in his team’s seven penalties for 46 yards, although NorthWood didn’t commit an infraction in the second half. Wawasee was flagged seven times for 44 yards, also several in crucial situations.
“Those penalties are showing up way too often,” quipped Andrews. “Sometimes that’s reflective in not being disciplined. I can’t say that about this team. We’ve got to get better, got to clean those things up. I think it’s attention to detail.”
Wawasee (2-8) struggled all season offensively and it continued Friday night. Wawasee rushed 25 times for 28 yards. Parker Young was 9-23 passing for 91 yards and its only points of the game came on a 34-yard field goal by Evan Dippon as time expired in the first half.
“We made some strides this season, but it’s not going to be built in a day,” Reutebuch said. “It’s going to take some time. This is not what we wanted to finish like.”
NorthWood (7-3), now 6-0 under Andrews in sectional openers, moves to the sectional semis, where it will visit Leo (9-1), the Lions a 21-16 winner over Angola. On the other half of the bracket, East Noble (10-0) doubled up Northridge, 42-21, and DeKalb (8-2) bested Columbia City, 29-14, setting up the other semi-final, which will be hosted by the Knights.