Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - In the country music world there's a song titled "Holes in the Floor of Heaven."
The song refers to friends who have gone on to better places, but still watch over us.
If the content in this song is true then longtime coach, the late Jim Andrews, might be looking down on the NorthWood Panthers. The football field at NorthWood High School has been named Jim Andrews Field for seven years.
In that time it's believed that the Panthers have lost two games on Andrews Field, both last year. NorthWood didn't lose a home football game for six years, but current coach Rich Dodson couldn't confirm it.
"I don't know our exact home record," said Dodson. "We've done well on the road too, but it's always nice to play on your field."
When asked if Andrews was watching over him Dodson really didn't seem to have an answer.
"Most of these kids never had that close of a contact with him," said Dodson. "I coached with him for 20 years and I lost a good friend, but I haven't really thought about it like that."
Whatever the case may be Andrews Field has become a traditionally difficult place to play, and the Panthers (9-3) will use that in their favor tomorrow when they host Fort Wayne Harding (10-2) in the Class 3A regional championship.
These two teams met in the regional championship last year in Fort Wayne with Harding earning a 28-21 victory.
This time around, the game will be played in Nappanee, and Harding coach Steve Cooley is optimistic.
"Everyone tells me it's a tough place to play," said Cooley. "But we have to play them somewhere."
Going into the regional, NorthWood has outscored its opponents by an average of 30.8-15.3 this year. The Panther defense has given up 77 points, an average of 15.4, in five home victories while the offense has scored 192 points.
"We played them last year in the regionals," said Cooley. "Their quarterback, (Charlie) Roeder runs the option well, and Aaron Huber runs the ball hard. They're very tough and physical, and they play stingy defense."
Harding is led by a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, Quincy Bright (1489) and Sean Casey (1255), neither of whom has negative yardage on the year.
Roeder's counterpart, Chris Smiley has passed for 1,365 yards and 14 touchdown passes. All while rushing for 328 yards.
Roeder has rushed for 985 yards and thrown for 1,562 yards and 11 touchdowns.
According to Dodson, this late in the year he is more apt to concerning himself with his team rather than his opponent
"At this stage of the season I don't think you prepare for them, but you just try to prepare yourself," said Dodson.
1998 FOOTBALL SECTIONAL
Fort Wayne Harding at NorthWood
7:30 p.m. Friday
NorthWood Team Stats
Points per game - NorthWood 30.8, opponents 15.3
NorthWood Leaders
Rushing (carries-yards, per game average) - Aaron Huber 178-1379 (114.9), Charlie Roeder 127-985 (82.1), Chad Knisley 84-386 (32.2)
Passing - Roeder 100-196-11, 1152 yards, 51 percent completion, 11 TD passes
Receiving (catches-yards, per game average) - Huber 33-518 (43.2), Brad Greenlee 15-246 (20.5), Blair Baumgartner 12-200 (16.7)
Touchdowns - Huber 27, Roeder 16, Knisley 3
Punts (attempts-yards, average) - Nick Juday 20-828 (41.4)
Punt returns (attempts-yards, average) - Huber 10-186 (18.6), Justin Lantzer 5-38 (7.6)
Kick returns (attempts-yards, average) - Huber 14-254 (18.1), Cory Brown 8-208 (26), Andy Sheets 4-42 (10.5)
Tackles - Brown 107, Justin Sellon 88, Joe Abel 79, Sheets 73
Sacks - Chad Martin 4.5, Brown 3.5, Todd McDonald 2.5
Interceptions - Greenlee 4, Brock Doty 2
Fumble recoveries - 6 individuals have 1 each
NorthWood Scores
Regular Season Record (6-3)
Overall Record (9-3)
Jimtown 21, NorthWood 20
NorthWood 39, Bremen 6
NorthWood 39, Concord 15
Goshen 30, NorthWood 7
NorthWood 34, Wawasee 14
NorthWood 42, Northridge 10
NorthWood 28, Dowagiac MI 0
NorthWood 34, Warsaw 28
Plymouth 17, NorthWood 13
Sectional 19
Round 1: NorthWood 42, Angola 21
Round 2: NorthWood 40, Northridge 7
Sectional Championship: NorthWood 49, Whitko 14
Regional: Fort Wayne Harding (10-2) at NorthWood (9-3)
Fort Wayne Harding Team Stats
Points per game - Harding 31.3, opponents 13.6
Offense per game - Harding 405.7, opponents 218.8
Harding Leaders
Rushing (carries-yards, per game average) - Quincy Bright 186-1489 (124.1), Sean Casey 147-1255 (104.6), Chris Smiley 92-368 (27.3)
Passing - Smiley 68-125-5, 1365 yards, 54.4 percent completion, 14 TD passes
Receiving (catches-yards, per game average) - Ike Davis 21-457 (38.1), Trai Essex 19-357 (29.8), Casey 17-299 (24.9)
Touchdowns - Casey 26, Bright 15, Smiley 4, Essex 4
Punts (attempts-yards, average) - Josh Davis 24-743 (31)
Punt returns (attempts-yards, average) - Casey 9-204 (22.7)
Kick returns (attempts-yards, average) - Davis 9-142 (15.8), Bright 7-167 (23.9), David Tubbs 3-27 (9)
NO DEFENSIVE STATS OR GAME SCORES PROVIDED
