Goshen IS That Good

NAPPANEE - NorthWood coach Rich Dodson walked off the football field and into the dark night, leaving behind the still-lit football field. As he walked down the ramp that would take him to the NorthWood locker room, the football coach broke out of his silence.

"It's all about perspective," he said. "From our perspective, Goshen is a better team."

The scoreboard said the No. 3 Redskins were 28-7 better on Friday, to be exact. Statistically, the game did two things to NorthWood.

It put a loss in the loss column, dropping the Panthers to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference.

It also ended NorthWood's 29-game winning streak in NLC games.

"I'm really proud of what we were able to accomplish," Dodson said. "But I never gave it much thought until it was always brought up in the papers."

A sign made up of styrofoam cups jammed into the chain-linked fence surrounding the football field said "Home Of The Mighty Black Crunch."

The crunch was there, but it was visiting Goshen's Mighty Red Crunch, not NorthWood's Mighty Black Crunch. The Redskins highly regarded offensive line smashed the Panthers early and often, dominating the line of scrimmage the first half and blasting craters for halfback Mason Ogle to run through.

Ogle, a junior, set Goshen's all-time rushing record against NorthWood. Coming in, he needed 40.

He got 180 on 20 carries, dashing through the openings his line created.

"Good for Mason," Goshen coach Brad Park said. "He's still a junior, but he's played a lot of big games for us."

The offensive line dominated to the tune of a 21-0 Goshen lead with 9:40 left in the first half. The first three times Goshen's offense touched the ball, the Redskins scored touchdowns.

NorthWood kicked off to Goshen to start the game. Seven rushing plays later, Goshen led 7-0.

Fans hadn't gotten settled in before Goshen led by a touchdown less than five minutes into the game.

NorthWood went three and out. Goshen's offense started near midfield. Fourteen plays later, Goshen led 14-0 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

The second time the Panthers' offense touched the ball, they went four plays and out. They got a first down, but 5-foot-7 defensive back Joe Camacho intercepted a Charlie Roeder pass to give the ball back to Goshen.

And the Goshen machine kept rolling. The Redskins started at their 30-yard line and marched down the field in eight plays to lead 21-0.

With more than nine minutes left before halftime, Goshen rolled up 138 rushing yards. Ogle had 90 of them.

"What can you say," Park said. "Our offensive line did a nice job of coming off the football. Our offensive line just dominated their defensive line the first half. Defensively, they started trying to tackle our ankles to keep us from moving as well as we could move."

After falling behind, a young Panthers squad would have had to play flawlessly to catch up.

They couldn't.

Right after Goshen went ahead 21-0, the Panthers moved the ball down the field. They successfully pulled off a fake punt to gain 37 yards. The Panthers had a first down at Goshen's 12-yard line.

They couldn't score. Camacho tipped away a third-down pass attempt. Goshen blitzed on fourth down, and Roeder overthrew intended receiver Aaron Huber to give the ball back to the Redskins.

With less than a minute before halftime, Huber intercepted a pass from Goshen quarterback Jamie Egli. The Panthers had the ball at Goshen's 46-yard line.

Two plays later, Camacho intercepted his second pass to end the NorthWood drive and send the game into halftime.

The Panthers scored their first touchdown to open the second half. A 38-yard run on an option play by Roeder helped set up their first score, a 10-yard pass to Jake Yoder with 8:48 left in the third.

Down 21-7, the Panthers had chances to pull even closer.

Facing fourth down and one yard to go at their 29-yard line, the Redskins went for the first down.

They got it.

On the same drive, it looked like NorthWood's Joe Abel had intercepted a Goshen pass. But a late flag came in, and the penalty was against NorthWood. Goshen went on to score on the drive to take the 28-7 lead.

On NorthWood's next possession, fullback Chad Knisely fumbled the ball to Goshen.

The Panthers had one more chance to make it closer. Midway through the fourth quarter, they had a first down at Goshen's one-yard line.

Goshen's defense held them. Four plays later, Huber threw an interception on a halfback option play.

The Panthers could never recover from the early 21-0 hole they fell in.

"We knew they had an outstanding offensive line," Dodson said. "Theirs is the best I've seen this year. We had trouble getting used to their line the first half. Give Goshen credit, they have what it takes to be a dominate team. They have a dominating line, and their defense is solid."

Goshen moved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the NLC. The most points the Redskins have allowed in any game is seven.

Perspective, Dodson said earlier.

"I knew coming into the season Goshen was the team to beat," Dodson said. "The second half, I thought we grew up, even though we didn't completely get back in it. We did some things that showed character.

"That personal foul was a big play. We're down 21-7 there, but who knows what happens. That was a big play. The first half, we had the fake punt but didn't get the ball in. That was big.

"Goshen stopped us, but we did just as much to stop ourselves."