GOSHEN – After the Goshen Redskins rallied to within a point at halftime, Wawasee senior quarterback Bauer Schmeltz threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to John Essex in the third quarter, and the Warrior defense held the home team to three first downs in the second half of a 23-12 victory at Foreman Field Friday night. Schmeltz also ran for a touchdown, giving Wawasee a 10-0 at the 6:52 mark of the second quarter. Goshen responded just nine seconds later with a 48-yard touchdown run by senior Casey Looker. On the second play after the ensuing kickoff, a high snap pinned the visiting Warriors at their own 5-yard line. Schmeltz dropped back to pass on third down, but was tackled in his own end zone for a safety. Goshen moved the ball well on its final two possessions of the half, but missed a pair of field goal tries that denied the home team a halftime lead. "There were a lot of heads hanging at halftime. Quite frankly, Goshen had the momentum. We were fortunate to be up one," said Wawasee head coach Tom Wogomon. "Our team needed to come up with answers, and they did. We didn't scream at them, but we did challenge them to play the football we're capable of. I'm proud of them for taking a whole momentum swing, one play at a time. I thought the way we came out in the third quarter was impressive." Schmeltz's scoring pass capped an eight-play, 74 yard drive in the first four minutes of the second half. Goshen took advantage of consistently poor kickoff coverage by the Warriors and a long run by senior Chunie Pung to get within two yards of the end zone before settling for a field goal and cutting the lead. "We've got plenty of things to talk about with the kickoff team on Monday," said Wogomon. "We actually discussed kicking the ball out of bounds before settling on a squib kick on the last one, but we've got to get that fixed." The Warriors sealed the win with a 10-play, five minute touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, all on the ground. Schmeltz, DJ Semon and Andrew Hepler handled the ball, with Semon scoring from nine yards out. Meanwhile, the Warrior defense held Goshen to one second half first down until the last two minutes of the game. Ball control and time of possession were factors cited by Goshen head coach Mike Cheviron. "Our defense was on the field too long, but there's a reason why they're 6-1 in the conference," he said. "They run the ball very well, but I thought our defense played great. Obviously they wore us down, and missing those two field goal opportunities, plus not getting seven when we got the ball to the two yard line, hurt us a lot." Wogomon added, "DJ did a really great job. Here's the deal, though; if our offensive line is blocking with attitude, then our running game picks up, and we're a pretty good team then." The win wrapped up second place in the Northern Lakes Conference for Wawasee, which will take a 7-2 record overall into Friday's sectional rematch at NorthWood. The Warriors won a 20-12 decision in Nappanee Sept. 16. "We'll take it," Wogomon said of the runner-up finish. "(Conference champ Concord's) defense is solid, and they earned it. Now, here we go with all these NLC teams in the sectional." Goshen fell to 2-5 in conference play and 3-6 overall.
