NorthWood's Season Ends At Semistate
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE -ÊA football game could not possibly get any closer. 21-20.
At the end of four quarters of play, No. 5 NorthWood and No. 6 Zionsville were knotted at 14-all, sending their Class 3A semistate championship game into overtime.
After a wacky set of seven - yes, seven - overtime plays in one drive, Zionsville held a 21-14 lead. Then NorthWood got the ball, and Jesse Fink punched it in from 10 yards out on the first play.
What happened next will have NorthWood fans asking "What if?" for years to come. The Panther coaching staff decided go for two and run the play that worked perfectly for the overtime touchdown.
However, the play did not work perfectly for the conversion. A dropped pitch left NorthWood one point short of the win, 21-20, and a chance to play in the state championship game next week.
NorthWood ends the season 11-3, while Zionsville improves to 11-3.
NorthWood struck first blood in the first quarter. After moving the ball from its 31 to the Zionsville 35, the Panthers were in a fourth-and-seven situation.
Mike Blosser connected with Jordan Adams on a fake punt to give the NorthWood squad new life. Four plays later, Fink ran one yard with 4:04 on the clock to give NorthWood a 7-0 lead.
But that lead did not last for long. With 45.2 seconds left in the first frame, Zionsville quarterback Cory Richmond connected with Chris Ransdell for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
NorthWood broke the 7-7 tie late in the second quarter. The Panthers moved the ball from their 15 to the Eagle 2. Then Ben Lehman ran two yards for the second NorthWood touchdown of the night, and the Panthers took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
NorthWood held the upper hand until the 4:45 mark in the third stanza. Richmond connected with Bill Slama for a 58-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14.
That's where the score remained for the rest of regulation. Zionsville was close to scoring early in the fourth quarter, but NorthWood's Eric Flickinger caught an interception in the end zone to stop the Eagle drive.
But it wasn't meant to be for NorthWood, even though the Panthers racked up 312 yards in total offense to Zionsville's 254. Even though NorthWood completed 12 of 18 passes to Zionsville's 8 of 19. Almost every category in the game went in NorthWood's favor.
Almost.
The one category that NorthWood did not win was perhaps the most important of all - penalties. The Panthers had five penalties for 65 yards, while the Eagles had four penalties for just 30 yards.
Two critical NorthWood penalties came in the overtime period.
On the first play of the overtime drive, Zionsville was charged with clipping. The call sent the Eagles back to the 40-yard line with just four plays to score.
After an incomplete pass, the Eagles faced a second-down-and-40 situation, but a pass interference call on NorthWood moved the ball to the 25 and gave Zionsville four more plays. Three plays later, Zionsville sat at third-and-18, but yet another pass interference call on the Panthers moved the Eagles to the 10-yard line.
On the next play, running back Ryan Wagner ran 10 yards for the first overtime touchdown. Then Mark Nicolet's extra point split the uprights to put the Eagles up 21-14.
"I just had a gut feeling," said Zionsville coach Larry McWhorter. "We just decided that we would force them to go for two for the win. We had no history with this team, so we really didn't know what to expect."
On the first play of the overtime drive, Fink scored on an audible. Then there was a decision to make.
"We called a timeout and (the coaches) talked amongst ourselves," said NorthWood assistant coach Gene Zercher. "Our decision was to let Mike (Blosser) run the same play again."
The two-point conversion failed as the pitch was broken up by the Zionsville defensive end, and NorthWood's tournament run ended with a 21-20 overtime score.
Zionsville (11-3) moves on to the state championship to play the winner of today's Indianapolis Roncalli/Heritage Hill game.
ZIONSVILLE 21
NORTHWOOD 20, OT
Zionsville 7 0 7 0 7 - 21
NorthWood 7 7 0 0 6 - 20
NW Z
First downs 21 11
Rushes/yards 43-187 34-122
Passing yards 125 132
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-18-1 8-19-1
Total offense 312 254
Fumbles/lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties/yards 4-30 5-65
First Quarter
N -ÊJesse Fink 1 run (Casey Lehman kick) 7-0 NW, 4:04
Z -ÊChris Ransdell 10 pass from Cory Richmond (Mark Nicolet kick) 7-7, 45.2
Second Quarter
N -ÊBen Lehman 2 run (C. Lehman kick) 14-7 NW, 2:35
Third Quarter
Z -ÊBill Slama 53 pass from Richmond (Nicolet kick) 14-14, 4:45
Overtime
Z -ÊRyan Wagner 10 run (Nicolet kick) 21-14 Z
N -ÊJesse Fink 10 run (run failed) 21-20 Z
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -ÊN: Jesse Fink 12-62, Ben Lehman 12-37, Mike Blosser 18-99, Willy Will 1-(-11); Z: Ryan Wagner 26-104, Chris Ransdell 6-17, Cory Richmond 2-1
Passing - N: Blosser 12-18 125 yards, 1 int. 0 TD; Z: Cory Richmond 8-19 132 yards, 1 int. 2 TD
Receiving - N: Will 1-31, Lehman 3-17, Fink 6-50, Jordan Adams 1-24, Ryan Mast 1-3; Z: Ransdell 2-23, Kyle Hall 2-17, Bill Slama 3-81, Wagner 1-5 [[In-content Ad]]
NAPPANEE -ÊA football game could not possibly get any closer. 21-20.
At the end of four quarters of play, No. 5 NorthWood and No. 6 Zionsville were knotted at 14-all, sending their Class 3A semistate championship game into overtime.
After a wacky set of seven - yes, seven - overtime plays in one drive, Zionsville held a 21-14 lead. Then NorthWood got the ball, and Jesse Fink punched it in from 10 yards out on the first play.
What happened next will have NorthWood fans asking "What if?" for years to come. The Panther coaching staff decided go for two and run the play that worked perfectly for the overtime touchdown.
However, the play did not work perfectly for the conversion. A dropped pitch left NorthWood one point short of the win, 21-20, and a chance to play in the state championship game next week.
NorthWood ends the season 11-3, while Zionsville improves to 11-3.
NorthWood struck first blood in the first quarter. After moving the ball from its 31 to the Zionsville 35, the Panthers were in a fourth-and-seven situation.
Mike Blosser connected with Jordan Adams on a fake punt to give the NorthWood squad new life. Four plays later, Fink ran one yard with 4:04 on the clock to give NorthWood a 7-0 lead.
But that lead did not last for long. With 45.2 seconds left in the first frame, Zionsville quarterback Cory Richmond connected with Chris Ransdell for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
NorthWood broke the 7-7 tie late in the second quarter. The Panthers moved the ball from their 15 to the Eagle 2. Then Ben Lehman ran two yards for the second NorthWood touchdown of the night, and the Panthers took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
NorthWood held the upper hand until the 4:45 mark in the third stanza. Richmond connected with Bill Slama for a 58-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14.
That's where the score remained for the rest of regulation. Zionsville was close to scoring early in the fourth quarter, but NorthWood's Eric Flickinger caught an interception in the end zone to stop the Eagle drive.
But it wasn't meant to be for NorthWood, even though the Panthers racked up 312 yards in total offense to Zionsville's 254. Even though NorthWood completed 12 of 18 passes to Zionsville's 8 of 19. Almost every category in the game went in NorthWood's favor.
Almost.
The one category that NorthWood did not win was perhaps the most important of all - penalties. The Panthers had five penalties for 65 yards, while the Eagles had four penalties for just 30 yards.
Two critical NorthWood penalties came in the overtime period.
On the first play of the overtime drive, Zionsville was charged with clipping. The call sent the Eagles back to the 40-yard line with just four plays to score.
After an incomplete pass, the Eagles faced a second-down-and-40 situation, but a pass interference call on NorthWood moved the ball to the 25 and gave Zionsville four more plays. Three plays later, Zionsville sat at third-and-18, but yet another pass interference call on the Panthers moved the Eagles to the 10-yard line.
On the next play, running back Ryan Wagner ran 10 yards for the first overtime touchdown. Then Mark Nicolet's extra point split the uprights to put the Eagles up 21-14.
"I just had a gut feeling," said Zionsville coach Larry McWhorter. "We just decided that we would force them to go for two for the win. We had no history with this team, so we really didn't know what to expect."
On the first play of the overtime drive, Fink scored on an audible. Then there was a decision to make.
"We called a timeout and (the coaches) talked amongst ourselves," said NorthWood assistant coach Gene Zercher. "Our decision was to let Mike (Blosser) run the same play again."
The two-point conversion failed as the pitch was broken up by the Zionsville defensive end, and NorthWood's tournament run ended with a 21-20 overtime score.
Zionsville (11-3) moves on to the state championship to play the winner of today's Indianapolis Roncalli/Heritage Hill game.
ZIONSVILLE 21
NORTHWOOD 20, OT
Zionsville 7 0 7 0 7 - 21
NorthWood 7 7 0 0 6 - 20
NW Z
First downs 21 11
Rushes/yards 43-187 34-122
Passing yards 125 132
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-18-1 8-19-1
Total offense 312 254
Fumbles/lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties/yards 4-30 5-65
First Quarter
N -ÊJesse Fink 1 run (Casey Lehman kick) 7-0 NW, 4:04
Z -ÊChris Ransdell 10 pass from Cory Richmond (Mark Nicolet kick) 7-7, 45.2
Second Quarter
N -ÊBen Lehman 2 run (C. Lehman kick) 14-7 NW, 2:35
Third Quarter
Z -ÊBill Slama 53 pass from Richmond (Nicolet kick) 14-14, 4:45
Overtime
Z -ÊRyan Wagner 10 run (Nicolet kick) 21-14 Z
N -ÊJesse Fink 10 run (run failed) 21-20 Z
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -ÊN: Jesse Fink 12-62, Ben Lehman 12-37, Mike Blosser 18-99, Willy Will 1-(-11); Z: Ryan Wagner 26-104, Chris Ransdell 6-17, Cory Richmond 2-1
Passing - N: Blosser 12-18 125 yards, 1 int. 0 TD; Z: Cory Richmond 8-19 132 yards, 1 int. 2 TD
Receiving - N: Will 1-31, Lehman 3-17, Fink 6-50, Jordan Adams 1-24, Ryan Mast 1-3; Z: Ransdell 2-23, Kyle Hall 2-17, Bill Slama 3-81, Wagner 1-5 [[In-content Ad]]