NAPPANEE -ÊA struggling Wawasee defense allowed a strong NorthWood offense to score 53 points, giving the Panthers a homecoming victory and their second Northern Lakes Conference win of the season Friday night.

After Wawasee's football team went three and out on the first drive of the game, NorthWood wasted no time in scoring its first touchdown of the evening. The Panthers moved the ball 42 yards in 53 seconds to score the first points of the game with 8:57 left in the first quarter. Jason Brennaman ran the ball one yard for the score.

The Warriors then moved the ball from their own 21-yard line to the NorthWood 24, but the Panthers refused to allow Wawasee to step into the red zone. A penalty sent the Wawasee squad back five yards, and then Tony Garl sacked Brent Doty for a 4-yard loss. After two incomplete passes, the Warriors turned the ball over to the Panthers on downs.

NorthWood's first score would not be its fastest of the evening as the Panthers advanced the ball 67 yards in just 52 seconds on their next possession. Charlie Roeder connected with Willy Will for a 29-yard touchdown to put the NorthWood squad up 12-0 in the first quarter.

The second quarter began much like the first as NorthWood's offense continued to dominate.

After tossing a 12-yard pass to Andy Mitschelen for another touchdown, Roeder ran the ball across the goal line for the two-point conversion. Then Brennaman repeated his first-quarter performance by running one yard for another touchdown to give the Panthers a 26-0 advantage going into halftime.

The third quarter was much like the first two as NorthWood's Chaz Scherer ran for two touchdowns (three yards and 45 yards) and Anthony Sanders nailed the extra points to put the Panthers up 40-0 with 6:06 still remaining in the stanza.

With 2:15 left in the third, the Panthers struck again when Nick Juday caught a 60-yard pass from Roeder to make the score 46-0 going into the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter was messy as NorthWood and Wawasee traded turnovers early. The Warriors punted the ball on a fourth down and 20 situation, but the Panthers fumbled on the return and gave possession back to Wawasee. However, just three plays later, Doty tossed a pass that was intercepted by NorthWood's Brock Doty.

"Our offense played hard," said Wawasee coach Joe Rietveld. "They have had to adapt because of injuries. That tends to limit what you can do."

Mike Blosser, who relieved Roeder at the quarterback slot, broke away for a 28-yard touchdown run with 53.9 ticks left on the clock to give NorthWood a 53-0 victory.

"Our defense was horrible tonight," said Rietveld. "I was very disappointed with our defensive performance. They did not play hard, and when they did play hard, they didn't do what they were supposed to do."

"Charlie (Roeder) played well, but you have to give the linemen and receivers a lot of credit," said NorthWood coach Rich Dodson. "Without them, he would not be able to play as well as he has.

"Overall I think we were more balanced tonight. I am pleased with the team's performance. We'll try to enjoy this win as much as we can, and then we'll look to next week."

NorthWood improves to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NLC, while Wawasee falls to 2-3 and 1-2 in the conference. The Panthers will face Northridge next week, and the Warriors will host Plymouth.

NORTHWOOD 53 WAWASEE 0

Wawasee 0 0 0 0 - 0

NorthWood 12 14 20 7 - 53

NW W

First downs 30 19

Rushes-yards 34-279 27-63

Passing 245 69

Comp.-Att.-Int. 15-22-0 7-18-1

Total offense 524 132

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 7-55 5-32.5

First Quarter

8:57 -ÊJason Brennaman 1 run (kick failed), 6-0 NW

2:51 -ÊWilly Will 29 pass from Charlie Roeder (kick failed), 12-0 NW

Second Quarter

10:37 -ÊAndy Mitschelen 12 pass from Roeder (Roeder run), 20-0 NW

6:03 -ÊBrennaman 1 run (kick failed), 26-0 NW

Third Quarter

9:23 -ÊChaz Scherer 3 run (Anthony Sanders kick), 33-0 NW

6:06 -ÊScherer 45 run (Sanders kick), 40-0

2:15 -ÊNick Juday 60 pass from Roeder (kick failed) 46-0 NW

Fourth Quarter

0:53.9 -ÊMike Blosser 28 run (Sanders kick), 53-0 NW

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing - NorthWood: Scherer 14-147, Jesse Fink 4-36, Brennaman 6-33, Blosser 4-30, Roeder 4-20; Wawasee: Logan Lees 14-36, Frank Perales 5-18, Luke Speakman 1-9, Mike Ellsworth 1-9.

Receiving - NorthWood: Nick Juday 3-113, Mitschelen 3-33, Ian Reed 2-25, Willy Will 4-64; Wawasee: Paul Gilliam 4-47, Peter Chang 3-28, Travis Klenke 1-14.

Passing - NorthWood: Roeder 10-15-193, 3 td, 0 int., Blosser 5-7-52; Wawasee: Brent Doty 7-18-69, 1 int. [[In-content Ad]]