SYRACUSE — The Wawasee football team epitomized the phrase “opportunistic defense” Friday night at home against Goshen. Recovering four fumbles and picking off five passes, the Wawasee defense led the Warriors (5-4, 4-3 Northern Lakes Conference) to a 28-14 win over the Goshen Redskins (2-7, 2-5 NLC), ending their regular season on a three game-winning streak. “The night belonged to the defense,” Wawasee coach Tom Wogomon said. “What do you say? We forced issues tonight. That’s what we’ve been looking to do – letting our defense play fast, downhill. I can’t say enough about how well they played. Nine turnovers is great.” Looking at the stats, its clear to see it was the defense that brought home the win. In the NLC win, which brought the Traveling Chief Trophy back to Syracuse, Goshen had 22 first downs to Wawasee’s three, while Goshen outgained Wawasee 423-93 in total yardage. However, the longer the Goshen drive, the more likely a turnover was coming. And those turnovers started early. After nearly fumbling the opening kickoff, Goshen senior Justin Klabusich did put the ball on the ground on the Redskins’ second play of the game. Set up at the Goshen 38, Wawasee needed just two plays, as sophomore quarterback Gage Reinhard hit sophomore Clayton Cook for a 23-yard score, nabbing a 7-0 lead just one minute into the game. On the ensuing kickoff, Goshen put the ball on the turf again, but this time, Wawasee failed to convert the turnover into points. However, later in the quarter, Goshen sophomore quarterback Derek DeMeyer fumbled, and Wawasee senior lineman Chad Eppley scooped it up and ran 65 yards to the Goshen 7. From there, Wawasee senior Derrick Sorensen weaved his way into the end zone, increasing the lead to 14-0. Wawasee’s next score came after Sorensen picked off a DeMeyer pass, setting the Warriors up at their own 46. From there, Wawasee needed just six plays to find the end zone, as Reinhard connected with junior Austin Lutz with 9:14 left in the half. Goshen did get something going late in the half when it got its first score when DeMeyer capped a 12-play, 60-yard drive with a one-yard TD run with 33 seconds left in the quarter. Leading 21-7 at the half, Wawasee had been outgained 233-98, but the points on the board were all that mattered. “We hit well tonight,” Wogomon said. “Attacked the ball when it was in the air. It was a great night.” Both teams slushed through the third quarter and the game appeared all but over when the Redskins faced a third-and-31 from the Wawasee 45 with 2:32 remaining. However, after a timeout, DeMeyer found senior Austin Henke for a 36-yard gain. A play later, Goshen was within 21-14 when DeMeyer and Henke hooked up again with 2:16 remaining. On the night, Henke hauled in 13 passes for 154 yards, while DeMeyer completed 22 of 52 attempts for 269 yards, after entering the game having completed 41 of 113 attempts for 420 yards. DeMeyer had another chance later in the game, taking over at the Goshen 42 with 1:44 remaining. Running four plays, Goshen had only gained 11 yards, then DeMeyer threw a pick to Wawasee junior Brandin McCulloch, who returned it 63 yards for the score. As if that interception didn’t seal the game, McCulloch surely did so when he picked DeMeyer off again on Goshen’s next possession. “What a great night of football for him,” Wogomon said of McCulloch, who also had a fumble recovery to go with the two interceptions. Sorensen also had a pretty good night, adding a deflected pass and two interceptions to his first-quarter touchdown run. “You talk about a guy you’re going to miss,” Wogomon said of the senior, who also averaged 37.4 yards on nine punts. “Hopefully we have him for a while. Derrick had a great night.” Despite giving up 423 yards of offense, Wogomon was pleased with his defense’s resiliency. “When you’re getting 50 put on you at Plymouth and 50 put on us at Concord, there was a time when we could have folded our tents,” he said. “Could have said, ‘Defense, we’re not playing very well.’ I’ve seen it before, where you get to that midpoint of the season and you begin to tank a little bit. But this team here, is really playing its best football right now.” And his team is now gearing up for its first sectional win since the Warriors defeated East Noble 45-28 on Oct. 20, 2006. Coincidentally, Wogomon was a coach on that East Noble team that lost to Wawasee. “It’s been six years since we won a playoff game,” he said about gearing up for this Friday’s game sectional game at DeKalb. “That’s what we talked about in the offseason. It wasn’t only about being a quality football team throughout the regular season, and we weren’t in the beginning of the season, but we’re on the way. At least they’re playing excited, passionate football. That’s the key at this time of year.”
WAWASEE 28, GOSHEN 14 G 0 7 0 7 – 14 W 14 7 0 7 – 28
G W 1st downs 22 3 Rushing yds 154 18 Passing yds 269 75 Total offense 423 93 Fumbles/lost 5/4 2/2 Penalties/yds 4/30 2/20 Punts/avg 6/34.5 9/37.4
First Quarter W – Gage Reinhard 24 pass to Clayton Cook (Jordan Acton kick) 11:00, 7-0 W – Derrick Sorensen 7 run (Acton kick) 4:23, 14-0 Second Quarter W – Reinhard 8 pass to Austin Lutz (Acton kick) 9:14, 21-0 G – Derek DeMeyer 1 run (Jesse Good kick) 0:33, 21-7 Fourth Quarter G – DeMeyer 9 pass to Austin Henke (Good kick) 2:16, 21-14 W – Brandin McCulloch 63 interception return (Acton kick) 1:08, 28-14
