Panthers Win 6th Straight

NAPPANEE -ÊThe NorthWood Panthers won their sixth football game in a row by handing Dowagiac (Mich.) its first loss of the season, 39-20 on Friday.

NorthWood jumped out to an early 14-0 lead after Mike Blosser ran for one touchdown and connected with Jesse Fink for another in the first quarter.

The Panthers never looked back. The Panthers allowed the Chieftains three touchdowns in the remainder of the game.

Mike Blosser led the Panthers with 16 rushes for 85 yards. He also completed 12 of 16 passes for 281 yards. Willy Will caught six passes for 158 yards.

NorthWood, 6-1 and 4-0 in NLC play, will host Warsaw Friday in what is expected to be the NLC championship game. Warsaw is the only other undefeated team in the conference.

Dowagiac fell to 5-1.

NORTHWOOD 39, DOWAGIAC 20

NorthWood 12 0 13 14 - 39

Dowagiac 0 7 7 6 - 20

NW D

First Downs 16 18

Rushing yards 139 172

Passing yards 291 129

Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-16-0 11-20-0

Total offense 430 301

Fumbles lost 1 2

Yards penalized 35 25

First Quarter

N -ÊMike Blosser 10 run (kick failed), 6-0 N, 1:29

N -ÊJesse Fink 31 pass from Blosser (pass failed), 12-0 N, :02

Second Quarter

D - B.J. Willis 5 pass from Kyle Cox (Bobby Krukowski kick), 12-7 N, 4:13

Third Quarter

N -ÊFink 3 run (Casey Lehman kick), 19-7 N, 9:45

N -ÊEric Flickinger 18 pass from Blosser (kick blocked), 25-7 N, 4:52

D -ÊWillis 38 run (Krukowski kick), 25-13 N, 3:29

Fourth Quarter

N -ÊFink 1 run (Lehman kick), 32-13 N, 10:39

N -ÊWilly Will 46 pass from Blosser (kick blocked), 39-13 N, 9:00

D -ÊWillis 25 pass from Cox (pass failed), 39-20 N, 6:25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -ÊNorthWood: Mike Blosser 16-85, Jesse Fink 16-48, Ben Lehman 4-15, Dustin Croy 1-3, E.J. Yehl 1-(-2); Dowagiac: B.J. Willis 9-71, Ramon Caldwell 15-85, Kyle Cox 9-19, Chris Staley 4-17

Passing - NorthWood: Blosser 12-16-0 281, 3 TD; Dowagiac: Cox 10-19-0 100, 1 TD, Willis 1-1-0 29, 0 TD

Receiving -ÊNorthWood: Willy Will 6-158, Fink 3-54, Erick Flickinger 2-42, Jordan Adams 1-37; Dowagiac: Willis 5-40, Craig Schau 4-63, Josh Lesson 1-29, Caldwell 1-(-3)