Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON - Too much laundry on the field. Yellow hankies in the grass.
These are just a few quick ways to say a penalty flag has been thrown in a football game. If one of these cliches was used for each and every penalty called in the Tippecanoe Valley/Norwell 3A sectional semifinal game Friday, at least 20 of them would be needed.
In a game that Norwell won 48-14, the Knights were whistled for 12 penalties that accumulated 125 yards. The Vikings totaled the same yardage on eight infractions.
According to Norwell coach Gary Scott, whose team improves to 10-1 with the win, this is very uncharacteristic of his fourth-ranked team. In fact, the Knights had only tallied 376 penalty yards in the first 10 games.
"We had a couple of holds last week, and I was not very pleased," said Scott. "They were calling them real close tonight. I noticed that only one person was throwing flags in the first half."
But what saved Norwell was Brent Schortgen's legs. All the 5-foot-11, 188-pound senior did was rush the ball 18 times for 268 yards and four touchdowns. His twin brother Brad carried the ball seven times for a total of 28 yards.
Valley's ground game was spearheaded by Derek Domenico's seven yards on three carries. Ryan Pritchett and Josh Carter combined for nine yards on seven carries. Nathan Patterson, Valley's ground leader all year with 537 yards coming in, carried the ball just three times for negative one yard.
The loss finishes the Vikings' season at 6-5.
"They were more physical, bigger and stronger," said Valley coach Scott Bibler. "We tried so many different schemes to stop the dive, the simplest play in football."
In all, Norwell rushed the ball 46 times for 353 yards. The Vikings, on the other hand, rushed the ball 21 times for -21 yards.
Norwell's offense outgained the Vikings 441-140 in terms of total offense.
The Knights put their first score on the board at the 8:16 mark of the first frame when junior quarterback Matt Hanselman found Brad Schortgen open for a 7-yard touchdown strike.
Hanselman led Norwell through the air with his 6-of-9 passing performance for 88 yards. Brandon Eaton paced Valley's struggling air attack completing 12 of 29 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
The Vikings trailed just 7-0 after one quarter of play, but they gave up 35 points in the second and third stanzas. Scott kept his first-team offense in for most of the game before sending in the replacements in the latter stages of the fourth quarter when the game was well out of hand.
"They kept pressing," said Bibler. "That's football. There's no rule that says they have to stop. The kids realized they were being out-hit and that they were outmatched. You see a kid across the line out-hitting you it's hard to keep focused."
Valley notched its first score of the evening when Eaton found senior Eric Carlin open for a 28-yard circus touchdown-catch at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter. The Vikings cut Norwell's lead to 14-7 at the time.
Patterson scored the second Valley touchdown with 6:12 remaining in the game on a 28-yard pass from Eaton.
"There's no excuses," said Bibler. "They (Norwell) are flat out a good football team. If you were down there when they walked on or off the field, they looked like a small college team."
Norwell advances to the championship round of the sectional to face Maconaquah, who pounded Peru 40-3 in Friday's sectional semifinals game. Should Norwell, ranked fourth in the state, win, the Knights could then possibly host No. 5 NorthWood.
NORWELL 48
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 14
Norwell 6 21 14 7 - 48
T. Valley 0 7 0 7 - 14
N TV
First Downs 8 6
Rushes-yards 46-353 21--11
Passing Yards 90 161
Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-9-0 12-29-1
Total Offense 441 140
Fumbles-lost 5-1 1-1
Punts-avg. 2-37 4-36.3
Penalties-yards 12-125 8-125
First Quarter
N - Brad Schortgen 7 catch from Matt Hanselman (kick failed), 8:16
Second Quarter
N - Brent Schortgen 19 run (Jon Huddlestone kick pass to Brad Schortgen), 9:23
TV - Eric Carlin 28 catch from Brandon Eaton (Derek Eby kick), 6:23
N - Brent Schortgen 16 run (Huddlestone kick) 5:31
N - Brent Schortgen 78 run (kick failed), 4:43
Third Quarter
N - Dan Nagel 4 run (Huddlestone kick), 6:44
N - Brent Schortgen 31 run (Huddlestone kick), 2:00
Fourth Quarter
N - Brad Schortgen 4 run (Huddleston kick), 11:47
TV - Nathan Patterson 28 catch from Eaton (Eby kick), 6:12
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Norwell, Brent Schortgen 18-268, Jon Neuenschwander 6-35, Brad Schortgen 7-28; Valley, Derek Domenico 3-7, Josh Carter 3-5, Ryan Pritchett 4-4
Passing - Norwell, Hanselman 6-9-0-88; Valley, Eaton 12-29-161
Receiving - Norwell, Matt Beste 1-30, Brad Schortgen 2-24; Valley, Patterson 3-41, Pritchett 4-27, Carlin 2-43
