MIDDLEBURY – Wawasee and Northridge opened the Northern Lakes Conference season in a typical grind-it-out game Friday that saw the home Raiders have a few more things go their way in a 21-0 win over Wawasee. After a scoreless first quarter, Wawasee’s Lucas Garza missed a 35-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, and Northridge scored on the ensuing possession. After Brody miller’s 1-yard run for the touchdown, the snap on the point after was short. Holder Matt Miller ran around the right side for the two-point conversion. The Raiders were headed for a second touchdown in the quarter, but as time expired Wawasee held Northridge out of the end zone on four plays inside the 8-yard line, the last from the Wawasee 2. Business as usual in the NLC. “I’ll tell you what, that was a good, physical game. What I saw tonight, that was typical NLC,” said Northridge head coach, and former Wawasee head coach, Tom Wogomon. “I credit both sides; they both played really hard, We were able to do a few things out of a three-back set. I credit a lot of guys; we were moving some guys around for necessity because of injuries. “But our defense played really well. They had a good nose for the football, played their assignments, we got pushed around a little bit early on the dive underneath, but all-in-all, just a good NLC football game tonight.” Northridge got the ball to start the third quarter, and after a single first down was forced to punt. Wawasee had a mix-up between quarterback Tyler Smith and running back Noah Wadkins, and the ball came loose and was recovered by Northridge. Six plays later, including a converted fourth-and-11, Northridge expanded its lead on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Nick Hooley to Matt Miller. Wawasee blocked the point after, keeping the lead at 14. Wawasee wasn’t as effective moving the ball as it was in two wins against Griffith and West Noble, but the Warriors were able to move the ball some. Northridge tacked on a touchdown on a 9-yard run by Hooley with 59 seconds left, as the Raiders were running the ball and working the clock. “We had our chances. We moved the ball a little bit, We forced them to punt in the third quarter, then fumbled the first snap,” said Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich. “They kinda kicked us in the butt, and that’s something that as an inexperienced team, that’s the kind of stuff you can’t have but have to expect sometimes.” “I told the kids ‘penalties killed us. We can’t have second-and-long, third-and-long; our offense isn’t built for that.’ That’s something we’re going to work on this week because at times, I didn’t think we were very disciplined.” Ekovich and Wawasee stuck with the new option offense put in over the summer. The programs that run it well have had it for several seasons. A change in the talents necessitated the change, and Ekovich doesn’t see the need or ability to switch away from it, even if Wawasee tries less than a half-dozen passes a game. “I’ve had more people come to me in the community in the last two weeks, asking me ‘are we going to throw the ball more?’ The thing is, if we have to be able to run triple first; we have to be able to run midline first,” Ekovich said. “Then we can throw the ball. We have guys that are tough, disciplined kids who play hard. We’re going to go with the option attack, and that’s something that our community is just going to have to live with.” Wadkins had 17 rushes for 58 yards, his first sub-100 yard effort of the season. Smith had 22 yards rushing and completed a pass to Michael McKee for 33 yards. Northridge’s Brody Miller rushed for 82 yards, and Hooley passed for 135 yards and ran for 64 more. Wawasee fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the NLC. The Warriors will host 3-0 Concord at 7 p.m. Friday. Northridge improved to 3-0 and 1-0 and will travel to 4A No. 2 Plymouth, a 35-21 winner over Warsaw, Friday.
NORTHRIDGE 21, WAWASEE 0 WA 0 0 0 0 — 0 NR 0 8 6 7 — 21
WA NR 1st downs 6 16 Rushing yds 124 196 Passing yds 33 135 Comp-Att-Int 1-5-0 7-17-0 Total yds 157 331 Fumbles/lost 4/2 4/0 Penalties/yds 7/60 3/20 Punts/avg. 3/39.7 2/42.0 Second Quarter N – Brody Miller 1 run (Matt Miller run) 3:44 8-0 Third Quarter N – M. Miller 19 pass from Nick Hooley (kick blocked) 14-0 Fourth Quarter N – Hooley 9 run (Cam Nickell kick) 0:59 21-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Wawasee: Tyler Smith 6-22, Noah Watkins 17-58, Michael Katzer 5-36, Zac McKee 2-8; Northridge: Hooley 20-64, Dean Ridnour 10-42, B. Miller 15-82, Mason Troyer 3-8 Passing — Wawasee: Smith 1-5-33 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. Northridge: Hooley 7-16-135 yards 1 TD, 0 INT, Ridnour 0-1-0 0 TD, 0 INT, Receiving — Wawasee: McKee 1-33. Northridge: M. Miller 4-71, Zack Welker 1-13, Kurtis Hochstetler 1-17, Bryce Johnson 1-34
