NorthWood's Travis Bear makes 13 catches for 199 yards in 42-28 win
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
NAPPANEE – The Warsaw Tigers were without the services of their leading receiver Friday night. The NorthWood Panthers, on the other hand, may have found a go-to receiver in their 42-28 win. In a Northern Lakes Conference clash at Andrews Field in Nappanee, NorthWood senior Travis Bear – who has spent a majority of the season playing quarterback – caught 13 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Bear’s performance helped the Panthers rack up a total of 468 yards en route to snapping a three-game losing streak to the Tigers, who were without junior Riley Rhoades because of a concussion. “They did a good job of getting him the ball,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen, whose team fell to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play. “Their coaches had a good game plan.” Prior to Friday, Bear had made 15 catches for 167 yards this season. While splitting time at quarterback with sophomore Trey Bilinski, Bear threw for 561 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 461 yards and five scores in the first seven games. Bilinski handled all the plays under center Friday and completed 22 of 31 pass attempts for 242 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Panthers, now 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the NLC, also rushed for 196 yards, led by junior Tanner Cleveland’s 14 carries for 114 yards, a performance that included a 40-yard scoring scamper in the fourth quarter. As Jensen pointed out earlier this week, NorthWood has been able to move the ball up and down the field, but has struggled to score points. The Panthers, who had scored a total of just nine points in their previous two games, didn’t have a problem putting points on the board Friday. “They didn’t tonight,” said Jensen when asked about NorthWood having problems scoring at times this season. “They did things that hurt us. They made big plays out of little plays, and we didn’t tackle well. They deserved to win tonight.” The teams traded touchdowns time after time before NorthWood took the lead for good on a 1-yard run by Bilinski that made it 35-28 with 6:09 remaining. Cleveland’s 40-yard touchdown run then pushed the Panthers’ advantage to 42-28 with just under two minutes left. The Tigers tallied 365 yards of offense in the loss, including a season-best 143 yards on the ground. In the first seven games of the season, Warsaw only had a total of 344 rushing yards. Senior Ethyn Bradley rushed 22 times for 80 yards and a score for the Tigers, while classmate Jakub Wood had seven carries for 67 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run on the first series of the game. Senior Jake Mangas completed 20 of 42 pass attempts for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but threw two interceptions. Sophomore Kyle Mangas caught eight passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, while junior Thomas Hickerson had four receptions for 40 yards and sophomore Jeremy David made two catches for 34 yards, including one for a 15-yard touchdown. “Our kids fought,” said Jensen. “NorthWood just made more plays than we did. We missed a field goal, and we didn’t score after we blocked that punt ... you can’t do that.” After Bradley barrelled into the endzone from a yard out to give the Tigers a 21-20 lead in the third quarter, Warsaw forced NorthWood into a three-and-out and blocked the Panthers’ punt. Warsaw recovered the ball and started a drive at NorthWood’s 11-yard line. The Tigers, however, struggled to move the ball and the drive stalled when Caleb Klusman missed a 23-yard field goal. Heading into last week’s game at Wawasee, the Tigers were very much in the race for a conference championship. Warsaw, however, has lost its last two games, and the Plymouth Rockies won the crown outright Friday night when they improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the NLC. The Concord Minutemen also suffered a second-straight loss Friday and will be hungry when they pay a visit to Fisher Field in next week’s regular-season finale. Sectional pairings will be announced Sunday. “We’ve got to get better,” said Jensen. “Either that or quit, and quitting isn’t in these guys.”
