SYRACUSE — Wawasee senior running back Derrick Sorensen rushed for 177 yards and four touchdowns, and the Warriors amassed 355 yards total offense, all on the ground, in a 39-12 Northern Lakes Conference win over Plymouth Friday in Syracuse. Along with Sorensen's production, Wawasee senior quarterback Bauer Schmeltz got added problems for the Plymouth Rockies, adding a third quarter 29-yard touchdown run en route to 135-yard game. The Wawasee Warriors (4-2, 3-1 NLC) enjoyed a fast start, scoring on a three-play, 57-yard touchdown drive in the game's first minute, with Sorensen following a 40-yard gallop with a 12-yard scoring run. The Rockies (3-3, 2-2 NLC) then fumbled the ball on its second play from scrimmage, giving Wawasee the ball in the Plymouth 20. Three plays later, Sorensen scored to stake the home team to a 13-0 lead. Plymouth then answered with a trademark drive, taking 14 plays and 6:21 off the clock before senior running back Chase Peters scored from five yards out. Instead of being flustered by the Rockies' long scoring drive, Wawasee responded with a comparatively brisk nine-play drive, taking only 3:44 to before Sorensen scored for a third time early in the second quarter. In the back-and-forth affair, Peters returned the ensuing kickoff to his own 42-yard line, and Plymouth converted a pair of fourth downs en route to a Ike Kastner quarterback sneak from a yard out to cut the lead to eight, 20-12 by halftime. On its opening possession of the second half, Plymouth went three-and-out, and when Peters slipped while punting, Wawasee got the ball at the Plymouth 49. Given great field position, Sorenson ripped off a 20-yard run, followed by Schmeltz's score. Following a strong first half, Plymouth managed just four first downs in the second half, one on a 20-yard pass from John Ruff to Jordan Knapp on a fake punt. It would be the only completed pass by either team. The Wawasee homecoming victory was secured when junior running back Jordan Schmitt capped a 12-play, 46-yard, five-and-a-half minute drive with a six-yard run that put the game out of reach. "We couldn't get them off the field," Plymouth coach John Barron said. "We got beat by a better football team. They were more physical than we were and we didn't defend the run very well at all." After a Jake Clark interception, Sorensen capped the scoring with his fourth touchdown with a 21-yard run. Barron was complimentary of Sorensen and his teammates in his post-game remarks. "We saw it on file," he said. "(Sorensen's) legs never stop. They play with a lot of confidence because they only do a certain amount of things, and they're real good at it. They give you the threat of the pass, but they donít really want to throw the ball, and when you're running like they did tonight, with a lot of success, then you're going to continue to do that. My hat's off to them. Wawasee's got a pretty good football team. They're just a few plays from being undefeated. Who knows? Maybe we'll get to play them again sometime." The 39 points were the most scored by Wawasee since a 39-0 win over Whitko on Aug. 21, 2009, and the most points in a conference game since a 42-21 win over Warsaw on Sept. 29, 2006. But even with the big win, Warrior head coach Tom Wogomon wants his team to stay on an even keel. "Our approach is we can't get too emotional over nice wins, and we can't get too emotional when we have a tough loss," he said. "We've got to play consistent, physical football and that's what the kids are believing and doing right now. We've got to tighten some things up defensively, and we're still giving up some dumb penalties. That's gonna cost us, and we'll have to address that." He also complimented Sorensen, who has rushed for 321 yards in his last two games. "Derrick is really doing a great job for us," Wogomon said. "We're getting some opportunities for him to run it, and he's just hitting guys and churning (his legs), and bouncing off defenders. He's such a quiet kid, and on the sideline I told him 'nice day at the office,' He just smiled."
