NAPPANEE – NorthWood made several big plays, but Wawasee also made several key mistakes in the 38-10 Panther victory over the Warriors in a game completed Saturday night at Andrews Field. The contest was about eight minutes old when strong storms forced a postponement Friday night. Wawasee was down 3-0 and had just received the kickoff when play was called off Friday. On Saturday, the Warriors three plays before losing a fumble to the Panthers. On the next play Bailey Gessinger ran a reverse around the right side of the Warrior defense, where no one was home, for a 45-yard touchdown run. The Warriors answered with a Lucas Garza field goal from 37 yards out, but less than 90 seconds later NorthWood junior Drew Minnich hauled in the first of three touchdown passes on the night from his classmate, quarterback Trey Bilinski, this one from 62 yards out. The duo also had touchdowns of 17 and 11 yards. Wawasee fumbled the ball four times on the night, losing three, and gave up 60 yards in penalties. “We do things intentionally throughout practice, throughout the offseason, and throughout the winter to instill discipline; to force kids to be disciplined, to have discipline, but that’s the million dollar question,” said Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich. “A lack of discipline is what killed us tonight, along with the ability to handle the highs and lows and the turnover game; (it’s the) same things that have killed us the last three weeks. “The only difference is the offense was a little more productive tonight. Tyler Smith has taken over the quarterback position. He can throw the ball, he’s a (heck) of a runner, and he’s taken over the position. Cole Vanlue made a good catch and played well at cornerback.” Smith capped a third-quarter drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge on fourth down. Vanlue had a reception for 23 yards, and Zac McKee caught two passes for 32 yards. The completions and yardage are both high-water marks for Wawasee this season in the run-first option offense installed this season. “There’s things we can take from this game,” said Ekovich. “They had a couple of big plays, but a lot of our issues are so self-inflicted. If we clear that up it would be a completely different game. As far as our ability to be in the right position; we gotta coach ‘em up even more.” The Northern Lakes Conference schedule isn’t providing any breaks for the 2-3 Warriors. They will go for their first NLC win of 2015 against top-ranked (Class 4A coaches poll) Plymouth at Warrior Field Friday night. NorthWood is now 3-2 and 1-2 in the NLC. Note: Times-Union correspondent Steve Krah contributed to this report.
