Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - A team can't make up for what ails them in just one quarter, but they can make themselves feel a whole lot better.
NorthWood used this medicine against Plymouth Friday in a 28-7 Northern Lakes Conference win at Andrews Field.
The Panthers made up for three sluggish quarters by scoring three times in the fourth quarter to pull away.
"We didn't play very well tonight, but we played well enough in the spots where we needed to," NorthWood coach Rich Dodson said. "I don't know what kind of mind we were in, but it seemed like everybody took their turns at making mistakes tonight. We just never got momentum at times, but we hung in there."
The game was tied at seven early in the fourth quarter when Panther halfback Aaron Huber got a pitch around the left side, faked a reverse to split end Jake Yoder, and rambled 31 yards around the left end for a touchdown and a 14-7 NorthWood lead.
On Plymouth's next possession, Rockie quarterback Nick Chaney was called for intentional grounding on a third down play and Plymouth punted. NorthWood moved down the field after the good field position and used the fake again for another score. This time it was NorthWood QB Charlie Roeder faking the dive play into the line, and then bouncing outside for 22-yard score and a 21-7 lead.
NorthWood stopped Plymouth on a fourth-and-3 play on the Rockie 33, and took advantage when fullback Chad Knisley ran untouched up the middle for a 26-yard scoring play and a 28-7 Panther advantage.
"They made the plays when they had to, and we didn't," Plymouth coach Tom Condon said. "I thought we could have been a little more opportunistic in the first half when we had some chances.
"In the second half when we got down, we started gambling a little bit, and it didn't pay off," he said. "We started blitzing a little more."
Plymouth got on the board first when Chaney hit tight end Joel Grindle from 13 yards out late in the first quarter.
NorthWood came back early in the second quarter on a Roeder to Joe Able 9-yard scoring strike and a 7-7 tie.
After that, there wasn't much to talk about until the fourth quarter.
"We just had trouble getting going," Dodson said. "They struggled a little bit too. Ours were mental breakdowns. We had people doing things you don't do in the first game. I can't point any fingers at anybody, we just weren't with it for whatever reasons, but we will investigate heavily this week."
Plymouth tailback Eddie Rodriguez burned the NorthWood defense for 138 yards rushing, but the Rockie offense was hurt by turnovers and missed fourth down chances.
"I couldn't put us in any special defense to make plays," Dodson said about the second half plan. "We had to make the plays. We talked about that. We can't just show up to people in a friendly way and expect to bringing them to the ground. So we concentrated on wrapping them up and bring them down. I thought we played better defense in the second half. We put some pressure on the quarterback."
NorthWood (7-2, 5-1) clinched second place in the NLC after winning the last six straight conference titles. But it was a good performance in the regular season for a young Panther squad.
"It was a good ending to a regular season for these guys," Dodson said. "I am very proud of them."
NorthWood travels to Lakeland for a 3A sectional game Friday.
