GOSHEN – It’s not like Goshen was a finely-tuned machine against Wawasee in what might have been the final matchup for the Chief Trophy. But Goshen was indeed a far sight better in a 20-0 win over the Warriors at Foreman Field Friday night. The dagger came in the third quarter when Wawasee had the ball at midfield after the kickoff return and another personal foul on Goshen (a total of three in the game). The Warriors went three-and -out, but punter Lucas Garza pinned the home team at its own 10. Goshen then drove the ball 90 yards in 16 plays, taking 6:21 off the clock before junior quarterback C.J. Detweiler scored from two yards out. The Warriors made a hole for themselves after allowing two early second-quarter touchdowns in 36 seconds. First Goshen capped a 61-yard drive with junior tailback Jeff Stoll running up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown 29 seconds into the quarter. Wawasee then fumbled away the kickoff when junior Noah Wadkins was laid out on the return, with Goshen recovering on the Warrior 31. Three plays later Detweiler found Corbin Harrison open in the right side of the end zone. Stoll finished with 123 yards on the ground, and Detweiler threw for 101 yards in the contest. After gaining 462 yards last week in a win over Elkhart Memorial, Wawasee managed only 64 yards of total offense Friday night. “What it really came down to was they were more enthusiastic, they outhit us, and they won the turnover battle,” Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich said. “When it’s a rivalry game records don’t matter, how you played the previous week doesn’t matter; it all comes down to ‘how bad do you want it.’ “And that’s how I’m challenging the seniors; how bad do they want to keep playing. What it really came down to tonight was they played harder.” With the regular season wrapped up, Ekovich acknowledged the Warriors will have to play better if they want to make a run in postseason play, which begins Friday at No. 7 (in the AP poll) Plymouth. “It’s up to the seniors whether they want to keep playing,” he said. “Granted, there’s a lot of juniors who play on both sides of the ball, and it’s a team effort. You win as a team, you lose as a team. The whole football cliche. But what it came down to is they played harder than us tonight, and we can’t do that, or next week our season will be done.” With the win, Goshen finishes 5-4, 3-4 in the Northern Lakes Conference, and will travel to Fort Wayne Snider for its sectional opener Oct. 30. Wawasee completes its regular season at 3-6 overall, 1-6 in the NLC.
GOSHEN 20, WAWASEE 0 W 0 0 0 0 — 0 G 0 14 6 0 — 20
W G 1st downs 4 19 Rushing yds 64 189 Passing yds 0 101 Comp-Att-Int 0-1-0 11-17-0 Total yds 64 290 Fumbles/lost 3/1 3/1 Penalties/yds 6/45 10/97 Punts/avg. 7/34.1 14/31.5 Second Quarter G – Jeff Stoll 14 run (Tyler Brinson kick) 11:31 7-0 G – Corbin Harrison 17 pass from C.J. Detweiler (Brinson kick) 10:55 14-0 Third Quarter G – Detweiler 2 run (kick failed) 3:38 20-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Wawasee: Michael Katzer 4-30, Noah Wadkins 8-29, Tyler Smith 13-16, Zac McKee 3-(-2), Alec Rosbrugh 6-(-9); Goshen: Jeff Stoll 24-123, Cameron Kline 2-24, Dylan Back 1-20, Detweiler 5-15, Andrew Marlow 2-7. Passing — Wawasee: Smith 0-1-0 yards 0 TD, 0 INT; Goshen: Detweiler 11-16-101 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; Kline 0-1-0 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT Receiving — Wawasee: none; Goshen: Colton Potter 4-43, Corbin Harrison 4-43, Rummel Johnson 1-23, Brady Bechtel 2-(-2)
