Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
When the NorthWood Panthers hit the field against the Norwell Knights Friday, they will face the toughest competition to this point in the season. Both NorthWood and Norwell are 11-1 on the season and considered two of the top football teams in the state.
NorthWood, a perennial football powerhouse, will look to skilled players and tradition to help capture its second straight regional title.
"I know NorthWood is team with tremendous tradition," said Norwell coach Gary Scott. The players and the whole community support that tradition."
The Panthers will look to quarterback Charlie Roeder to lead the NorthWood offense. Roeder took his place as NorthWood's all-time career leading rusher after rushing for 72 yards against New Haven last week. With 2,906 yards to this point in his career, Roeder passed the career mark of 2,853 set by Aaron Huber just last year.
"NorthWood plays hard every down," said Scott. "It's a good program with good players. The one who comes to mind first is Charlie Roeder. He can do as many things as anyone I've seen. He has the ability to run and pass the ball, and it will be difficult to key in on the quarterback. We will try to limit his ability to run the ball."
Roeder is 118-of-226 passing with 2,066 yards and 21 touchdown passes. Brock Doty leads all Panther receivers with 30 receptions for 532 yards, while Andy Mitschelen places second with 490 yards on 29 catches.
Although Justin Lantzer is NorthWood's second-leading rusher with 938 yards on 119 attempts, he also is a leading receiver with 16 catches for 327 yards.
To this point in the season, NorthWood's offense has scored an average of 39 points per game while the defense has allowed just under 12 points each game. However, the NorthWood defense has given up just three points in three postseason games while the offense has scored 162 points (an average of 54 points per game).
"Offensively, NorthWood plays without mistakes," said Scott. "Unfortunately, we have been mistake-prone lately. Our goal is to play without mistakes and put as many points as possible on the board."
But the Panthers will have to overcome the Norwell defense. The Knights will look to Darrick Hoopingarner, Nick Worden, Matt Beste and Ryan Gerbers to lead the defensive squad. So far this year, Hoopingarner has 104 tackles and two interceptions along with two fumble recoveries.
"Norwell is bigger than us," said NorthWood coach Rich Dodson. "Defensively, they bring a lot of guys near the line of scrimmage. It's tough to run against them. They also force you to throw the ball quicker."
The Norwell team is also able to put many points on the board. To this point in the season, the Knights have averaged 40-9 points per game while giving up 13.1.
Offensively, the Norwell squad will look to Brent Schortgen to lead the offensive ground attack. He has 140 carries for 1,255 yards and has caught seven passes for 123 yards. His brother Brad is the leading receiver for the Knights with 383 yards on 24 catches. Brad had also rushed 66 times for 539 yards.
Signal caller Matt Hanselman is 64-119 passing with 1,129 yards and five interceptions. Hanselman also adds 505 rushing yards to the Norwell offensive charge.
"Norwell is a well coached, big, physical football team," said Dodson. "They have several players who have been starters for three years. They have a good senior group like we do.
"They like to use the run attack, but it is not a predictable running game. They can also throw the ball adequately especially on the play action. That play action can really hurt you."
However, the Norwell squad will face a strong NorthWood defense that has given up just three points in this year's postseason. The Panthers will look to David Higley, Tony Garl, Josh Cook and Jeremy Hartzell to lead the defensive attack. Higley leads the team with 102 tackles (nine for a loss) and 4.5 sacks. Trent Stump adds to the defensive mix with 57 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
The Panthers have recovered 12 fumbles and caused 22 interceptions so far this season. Willy Will and Doty lead the team in interceptions with five each.
NorthWood and Norwell will hit the field Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Ossian for the regional.
1999 CLASS 3A REGIONAL FOOTBALL
NorthWood at Norwell
7:30 p.m. Friday in Ossian
NorthWood Team Stats
Points Per Game -Ê39.0, opponents 11.8
Offense Per Game -ÊNorthWood 412.9, opponents 240.8
NorthWood Leaders
Rushing (carries-yards, per game average) - Charlie Roeder 128-974, 81.2; Chaz Scherer 119-938, 78.2; Jason Brennaman 83-474, 39.5.
Passing -ÊRoeder 118-226-11, 2,066 yards, 52.2 percent completion, 21 touchdown passes
Receiving (catches-yards, per game average) -ÊBrock Doty 30-532, 44.3; Andy Mitschelen 29-490, 40.8; Ian Reed 22-411, 34.3; Scherer 16-327, 27.3.
Touchdowns -ÊScherer 18, Roeder 15, Doty 8, Brennaman 5.
Punts (attempts-yards, average) -ÊNick Juday 24-921, 38.4.
Punt returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊJustin Lantzer 17-189, 11.1; Roeder 4-69, 17.3.
Kick returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊLantzer 9-159, 17.7; Scherer 7-195, 27.9; Jesse Fink 4-83, 20.8
Tackles -ÊDavid Higley 102, Tony Garl 91, Josh Cook 78, Jermey Hartzell 71, Willy Will 69, Trent Stump 57
Sacks -ÊHigley 4.5, Stump 3.5, Garl 2.5, Jeff Baumgartner 2.0
Interceptions -ÊDoty 5, Will 5, Reed 3.
Fumble recoveries - Roeder 1, Lantzer 1, Brennaman 1, Reed 1, Mitschelen 1, Higley 1, Derek Mast 1, Ben Lehman 1, Richard Armon 1
NorthWood scores (Home team in caps)
Regular season 8-1
Postseason 3-0
NORTHWOOD 14, Jimtown 0
NORTHWOOD 34, Bremen 28 OT
CONCORD 35, NorthWood 28
NORTHWOOD 31, Goshen 14
NORTHWOOD 53, Wawasee 0
NorthWood 33, NORTHRIDGE 6
NorthWood 34, DOWAGIAC 21
NorthWood 42, WARSAW 21
NORTHWOOD 37, Plymouth 6
SECTIONAL 19
NORTHWOOD 67, Fort Wayne Elmhurst 0
NorthWood 47, WEST NOBLE 0
NORTHWOOD 48, New Haven 3
Norwell Team Stats
Points Per Game - Norwell 40.9, opponent 13.1
Offense Per Game -ÊNorwell 401.6, opponent 220.1
Norwell Leaders
Rushing (carries-yards, per game average) - Brent Schortgen 140-1255, 104.6; Dan Nagel 95-611, 50.9; Brad Schortgen 66-539, 44.9; Matt Hanselman 88-505, 42.1; Jon Neuenschwander 67-307, 25.6.
Passing -ÊHanselman 64-119-5, 1,129 yards, 64 percent completion, 15 touchdowns
Receiving (catches-yards, per game average) -ÊBrad Schortgen 24-383, 31.9; Landon Heyerly 18-341, 28.4; Matt Beste 13-269, 22.4; Brent Schortgen 7-123, 10.3
Touchdowns - Brent Schortgen 18, Brad Schortgen 17, Nagel 11, Neuenschwander 10
Punts (attempts-yards, average) -ÊNeuenschwander 26-2,917, 40.7
Punt returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊNagel 13-185, 14.2; Brent Schortgen 12-92, 7.7; Brad Schortgen 6-85, 14.2.
Kick returns (attempts-yards, average) -ÊBrad Schortgen 11-276, 25.1; Brent Schortgen 8-168, 21.0; Nagel 7-134, 19.1
Tackles -ÊDarrick Hoopingarner 104, Nick Worden 68, Matt Beste 65, Ryan Gerbers 56, Ryan Hartup 50
Sacks -ÊDan Costello 2, Zach Mapes 2, Nick Krinn 2
Interceptions -ÊLandon Heyerly 3, Ryan Carr 3, Hoopingarner 2
Fumble recoveries - Gerbers 3, Kleinknight 2, Hoopingarner 2, Beste 2, Hartup 2
Norwell scores (Home team in caps)
Regular season 8-1
Postseason 3-0
Norwell 40, MACONAQUAH 8
NORWELL 64, BLUFFTON 0
Norwell 67, CARROLL 14
NORWELL 55, Bellmont
Norwell 21, NEW HAVEN 14
NORWELL 28, East Noble 21 (overtime)
Norwell 51, DEKALB 7
Homestead 30, NORWELL 29
NORWELL 33, Columbia City 28
Sectional 20
NORWELL 17, Rochester 14
Norwell 48, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 14
NORWELL 38, Maconaquah 7
