Goshen Spoils Wawasee's Senior Night
October 15, 2016 at 6:26 a.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Three times the visiting RedHawks answered Warrior touchdowns with a TD of their own in 88 seconds or less. The last one, a 66-yard catch and run by Deven Love, was the difference in a 41-34 Goshen win in the Northern Lakes Conference and regular-season finale for both teams.
Wawasee had just taken advantage of a short field, taking over at the Goshen 44 after a punt. Wawasee senior quarterback Tyler Smith had all 56 yards rushing in a three-play drive to tie the game at 34 with 7:56 left.
On the third play after a touchback, Goshen senior quarterback C.J. Detwiler found Love open down the visitors’ sideline and hit him in stride to reclaim the lead, taking just 15 seconds off the game clock.
Wawasee’s last chance for a tying touchdown came when junior Will Geer stripped the ball from Jeff Stoll and recovered the fumble at the Warrior 37 with 4:03 left. The Warriors put the ball in Smith’s hands, and he gained nine yards and about 30 inches in four downs to give the ball back.
“When the game’s on the line, you give it to your playmaker, and that’s what we did, and he came up six inches short,” said Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich. “Unfortunately, it sucks. But that’s what was working. Earlier, he ran for a touchdown on the same play. If we’d have got the first down, it’d have been a great call. Hindsight is always 20/20.”
After Wawasee took the opening kickoff and capped a four-minute, 80-yard drive with a Noah Wadkins touchdown run, Goshen needed just 1:06 and four plays to tie it up, with Stoll doing most of the heavy lifting.
When Wawasee took a 20-7 lead with 11:33 left in the second quarter, the Warriors allowed a long kick return to the Goshen 47. Four plays and 1:28 later, Dylan Back ran the ball to the endzone from 35 yards out to draw the RedHawks back to a one-possession deficit.
Of Goshen’s six touchdown drives, each of them had a play of 15 or more yards to contribute to the drive. The shortest RedHawks scoring play was 10 yards.
“They made plays when they needed to,” Ekovich said. “Hats off to Goshen; they have a heck of a team, and they have some gazelles on the outside that can run for days, a tough inside running game and a quarterback that can run the ball pretty well.
“They made more plays than we did, and that’s what it came down to.”
Ekovich was happy with the way his team continued to compete, even after Goshen came back from two touchdowns down.
“They’re not quitters. I’ve had some teams that have struggled with that in the last few years,” he said. “But they don’t quit. They keep fighting and when you do that, good things will happen. I just feel bad for the senior class, going out with a loss on senior night. They’re sad, they feel bad, but they gave it everything they had.”
Smith had 187 yards rushing and 135 yards passing on the night for the Warriors. Wadkins broke the century mark with 103 yards on the ground for Wawasee.
Detwiler passed for 342 yards and three scores in the contest for the RedHawks. Stoll rushed for 165 yards, with Rummel Johnson and Love both getting 100-plus yards receiving and a touchdown.
Wawasee will take a 4-5 record (2-5 in the conference) into its sectional opener Friday against NLC foe Northridge in Middlebury. Ekovich sees the regular season, including the one-point win over the Raiders in double overtime on Sept. 2, as preparation for the postseason.
“Like I told the boys; everything we’ve done the last nine weeks has been to prepare us for sectionals. In the big picture, what we’ve done in the last nine weeks doesn’t matter,” he said. “You don’t get a 20-point lead because you’re 7-2 going into the first round of sectionals. (Playing well) helps with confidence, and I still feel like our boys are playing with confidence.
“It’s not like we’re getting our doors blown off. We’ve had our chances, and there’s times we’ve hurt ourselves, over and over again. I think we’ve made less mistakes in the last couple of weeks, but what it comes down to is we have to make plays.”
GOSHEN 41, WAWASEE 34
G 7 20 7 7 – 41
W 13 14 0 7 – 34
G W
1st downs 22 23
Rushing yds 235 325
Passing yds 342 135
Comp-Att-Int 21-33-0 6-14-0
Total yds 577 460
Fumbles/lost 3/3 2/1
Penalties/yds 4/40 7/60
Punts/avg. 3/22.3 4/44.3
First Quarter
W – Noah Wadkins 5 run (Ryan Edington kick) 7:44, 7-0
G – Jeff Stoll 10 run (Stoll kick) 6:39, 7-7
W – Paul Mendoza 9 pass from Tyler Smith (kick failed) 2:03, 13-7
Second Quarter
W – Mendoza 1 run (Edington kick) 11:33, 20-7
G – Dylan Back 35 run (Stoll kick) 10:05, 20-14
G – Stoll 55 run (Stoll kick) 7:21, 21-20
W – Cole Vanlue 44 pass from Smith (Edington kick) 3:00 27-21
G – Jason Bontrager 16 pass from Detwiler (kick failed) 2:04, 27-27
Third Quarter
G – Rummel Johnson 44 pass from Detwiler (Stoll kick) 7:01, 34-27
Fourth Quarter
W – Smith 24 run (Edington kick) 7:56, 34-34
G – Deven Love 66 pass from Detwiler (Stoll kick) 7:31, 41-34
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Goshen, Stoll 24-165, Back 6-59, Detwiler 2-11; Wawasee, Smith 33-187, Wadkins 13-103, Mendoza 6-25, Michael Katzer 1-5, Vanlue 1-5.
Passing – Goshen, Detwiler 15-21-342 yds, 3 TDs, 0?Int; Wawasee, Smith 6-14-135 yds, 2 TDs, 0 Int.
Receiving: Goshen, Love 8-149, Johnson 8-121, Josuel Sanchez 1-30, Tayler Glasgow 3-26, Bontrager 1-16; Wawasee, Mendoza 4-57, Vanlue 1-45, Jacob Hand 1-33.
Three times the visiting RedHawks answered Warrior touchdowns with a TD of their own in 88 seconds or less. The last one, a 66-yard catch and run by Deven Love, was the difference in a 41-34 Goshen win in the Northern Lakes Conference and regular-season finale for both teams.
Wawasee had just taken advantage of a short field, taking over at the Goshen 44 after a punt. Wawasee senior quarterback Tyler Smith had all 56 yards rushing in a three-play drive to tie the game at 34 with 7:56 left.
On the third play after a touchback, Goshen senior quarterback C.J. Detwiler found Love open down the visitors’ sideline and hit him in stride to reclaim the lead, taking just 15 seconds off the game clock.
Wawasee’s last chance for a tying touchdown came when junior Will Geer stripped the ball from Jeff Stoll and recovered the fumble at the Warrior 37 with 4:03 left. The Warriors put the ball in Smith’s hands, and he gained nine yards and about 30 inches in four downs to give the ball back.
“When the game’s on the line, you give it to your playmaker, and that’s what we did, and he came up six inches short,” said Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich. “Unfortunately, it sucks. But that’s what was working. Earlier, he ran for a touchdown on the same play. If we’d have got the first down, it’d have been a great call. Hindsight is always 20/20.”
After Wawasee took the opening kickoff and capped a four-minute, 80-yard drive with a Noah Wadkins touchdown run, Goshen needed just 1:06 and four plays to tie it up, with Stoll doing most of the heavy lifting.
When Wawasee took a 20-7 lead with 11:33 left in the second quarter, the Warriors allowed a long kick return to the Goshen 47. Four plays and 1:28 later, Dylan Back ran the ball to the endzone from 35 yards out to draw the RedHawks back to a one-possession deficit.
Of Goshen’s six touchdown drives, each of them had a play of 15 or more yards to contribute to the drive. The shortest RedHawks scoring play was 10 yards.
“They made plays when they needed to,” Ekovich said. “Hats off to Goshen; they have a heck of a team, and they have some gazelles on the outside that can run for days, a tough inside running game and a quarterback that can run the ball pretty well.
“They made more plays than we did, and that’s what it came down to.”
Ekovich was happy with the way his team continued to compete, even after Goshen came back from two touchdowns down.
“They’re not quitters. I’ve had some teams that have struggled with that in the last few years,” he said. “But they don’t quit. They keep fighting and when you do that, good things will happen. I just feel bad for the senior class, going out with a loss on senior night. They’re sad, they feel bad, but they gave it everything they had.”
Smith had 187 yards rushing and 135 yards passing on the night for the Warriors. Wadkins broke the century mark with 103 yards on the ground for Wawasee.
Detwiler passed for 342 yards and three scores in the contest for the RedHawks. Stoll rushed for 165 yards, with Rummel Johnson and Love both getting 100-plus yards receiving and a touchdown.
Wawasee will take a 4-5 record (2-5 in the conference) into its sectional opener Friday against NLC foe Northridge in Middlebury. Ekovich sees the regular season, including the one-point win over the Raiders in double overtime on Sept. 2, as preparation for the postseason.
“Like I told the boys; everything we’ve done the last nine weeks has been to prepare us for sectionals. In the big picture, what we’ve done in the last nine weeks doesn’t matter,” he said. “You don’t get a 20-point lead because you’re 7-2 going into the first round of sectionals. (Playing well) helps with confidence, and I still feel like our boys are playing with confidence.
“It’s not like we’re getting our doors blown off. We’ve had our chances, and there’s times we’ve hurt ourselves, over and over again. I think we’ve made less mistakes in the last couple of weeks, but what it comes down to is we have to make plays.”
GOSHEN 41, WAWASEE 34
G 7 20 7 7 – 41
W 13 14 0 7 – 34
G W
1st downs 22 23
Rushing yds 235 325
Passing yds 342 135
Comp-Att-Int 21-33-0 6-14-0
Total yds 577 460
Fumbles/lost 3/3 2/1
Penalties/yds 4/40 7/60
Punts/avg. 3/22.3 4/44.3
First Quarter
W – Noah Wadkins 5 run (Ryan Edington kick) 7:44, 7-0
G – Jeff Stoll 10 run (Stoll kick) 6:39, 7-7
W – Paul Mendoza 9 pass from Tyler Smith (kick failed) 2:03, 13-7
Second Quarter
W – Mendoza 1 run (Edington kick) 11:33, 20-7
G – Dylan Back 35 run (Stoll kick) 10:05, 20-14
G – Stoll 55 run (Stoll kick) 7:21, 21-20
W – Cole Vanlue 44 pass from Smith (Edington kick) 3:00 27-21
G – Jason Bontrager 16 pass from Detwiler (kick failed) 2:04, 27-27
Third Quarter
G – Rummel Johnson 44 pass from Detwiler (Stoll kick) 7:01, 34-27
Fourth Quarter
W – Smith 24 run (Edington kick) 7:56, 34-34
G – Deven Love 66 pass from Detwiler (Stoll kick) 7:31, 41-34
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Goshen, Stoll 24-165, Back 6-59, Detwiler 2-11; Wawasee, Smith 33-187, Wadkins 13-103, Mendoza 6-25, Michael Katzer 1-5, Vanlue 1-5.
Passing – Goshen, Detwiler 15-21-342 yds, 3 TDs, 0?Int; Wawasee, Smith 6-14-135 yds, 2 TDs, 0 Int.
Receiving: Goshen, Love 8-149, Johnson 8-121, Josuel Sanchez 1-30, Tayler Glasgow 3-26, Bontrager 1-16; Wawasee, Mendoza 4-57, Vanlue 1-45, Jacob Hand 1-33.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092