NAPPANEE — Wawasee junior running back Derrick Sorensen rushed for 144 yards on 28 carries, and Wawasee defenders Jake Clark, Andrew Hepler and Zac Patrick each intercepted NorthWood quarterback Zac Coleman en route to a 20-12 road win over the Panthers at Andrews Field Friday night. Wawasee (4-2, 3-1 Northern Lakes Conference) was looking to rebound after last week's loss to Concord — a game that took a couple of days to digest, according to Warrior head coach Tom Wogomon. "Last week was such a hard loss, and it ruined a lot of people's weekends," he said. "But on Monday, we got back to practice and I told the kids it was the best medicine for getting that taste out of our mouths. We just said to ourselves 'O.K., we have NorthWood this week,' and really focused on this game." Against NorthWood (3-3, 2-2 NLC), the Warriors committed to running the ball early and often, with many plays looking like the one before. Sorensen and senior quarterback Bauer Schmeltz ran behind offensive tackles for consistent yardage and occasionally breaking a long run. Schmeltz added 85 yards in 14 carries, and Wawasee wound up with 270 yards rushing on the night. "This week, we said we were going to get something established," Wogomon said. "We committed to about two plays that we said 'We're going to run, and we're going to run those plays regardless of whether we got a few stuffs or not.' We planned on it, but we didn't expect to be able to run the ball on NorthWood that well. Bauer is starting to get command of the offense. He really had a nice game. "I was really proud of our offensive line, and Derrick, he's a kid with a motor running," Wogomon added. "He runs so hard, and I'm sure he'd tell you he was able to get two and three yards into the line. Then he was able to make some cuts and pick up some yards." Wawasee opened the scoring with a 15-play drive that used the last 6:48 of the first quarter before Kyle Clevenger kicked a 27-yard field goal nine seconds into the second stanza. After an exchange of possessions, and a Sorensen punt left NorthWood deep in its own territory, Clark claimed his interception at the Panther 16-yard line. From there, Sorensen ran the ball four times, the last being a scamper into the end zone from three yards out to stake Wawasee to a 10-point lead. NorthWood immediately answered, with senior running back Coy Brown carrying the ball on every play of a 67-yard drive to the end zone. However, the point after failed. After a Wawasee three-and-out, the Panthers drove 38 yards before getting a 27-yard Brendan Widner field goal as time expired. "The defense rose up," Wogomon said. "We knew NorthWood was going to make a run, they weren't going to sit back. They made a push and made a comeback right before half." On its first possession of the second half, Wawasee needed just four plays to score its second touchdown, with Sorensen rushing for 33 yards, then 23 yards for the score, with a Schmeltz 20 yard run in between. After Hepler's interception, the Warriors missed a golden opportunity to ice the game, driving to the NorthWood 5-yard line before stalling and getting a second Clevenger field goal. The Panthers got a second Widner field goal, this one from 25 yards out, to make it a one possession game. On NorthWood's final possession, Patrick gathered his second interception of the season, and Wawasee ran the final 2:21 off the clock top secure the victory. "I knew their defense was good," Panthers head coach Scott Hoover said. "At times, we moved the ball well, but we had some costly turnovers. What really surprised me was the lack of effort we played with defensively. Wawasee played very well. They were more physical than we were, they outplayed us in pretty much every aspect of the game, and we never gave ourselves a chance. They wanted it worse than our kids did." With the win the Warriors will take a 3-2 record, 2-1 in the NLC, into this Friday's homecoming matchup with Plymouth in Syracuse.
