SYRACUSE — The highly-anticipated Northern Lakes Conference matchup between Wawasee and Northridge didn’t live up to the billing Saturday in Syracuse. Drawing WHME’s broadcast of the “Game of the Week”, weather forced the game to be pushed back a day, and then Wawasee was pushed around, losing 55-0. Outgained 435-65 in total yards of offense, the Wawasee Warriors trailed 41-0 at the half, forcing their former coach Tom Wogomon to send an unconventional message to his Northridge Raiders at the half. “At halftime we talked about there being a great group of kids playing at Wawasee, and we needed to get our kids out of there,” he said. “It’s awkward when you get a game out of hand like this.” The Raiders kept their starters in for their opening drive of the second half, which ended with a touchdown, putting Wawasee in a 48-0 hole with 9:58 still left in the third quarter. From there, Northridge went to second- and third-string players, while Wawasee seemed content with running the clock out. “(With this game taking place Saturday), we have one less day to prepare for Friday (at Concord),” Wawasee coach Josh Ekovich said. “From here, we need to worry about Concord, then NorthWood and Plymouth. But for now, we really need to work on Wawasee.” Scoring their most points since a 56-6 win over How Military on Sept. 20 1974, the Raiders relied heavily on a rushing attack and racked up 217 yards on 30 carries in the opening half. The bulk of those yards came from the 1-2 punch of senior running backs Travis Schlabach and Cam Ridenour, who 270 yards between. Attacking the middle of the Wawasee defense, Ridenour ran for 124 yards and three scores on 13 carries, while Schlabach worked the outside, tallying 146 yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts. As if they needed it, the Warrior defense added to the huge numbers from the duo by missing numerous tackles. “The first thing is, those guys are really talented,” Ekovich said. “But also, it’s about fundamentals and tackling with the correct form.” Neither guy played after the opening drive of the second half. While Schlabach and Ridenour had their way on the field, Wawasee’s top two players struggled mightily. With the Raider defense taking away star receiver Clayton Cook, who caught one pass for 12 yards and rushed once for negative-six, senior quarterback Gage Reinhard completed 2 of 14 passes for 21 yards and an interception. “Whatever they were going to do, we wanted them to beat us without Cook,” Wogomon said. “We wanted to take him out of the game. Cody Miller pressed up against him, and he just played a whale of a game. He did exactly what we needed, then we just played a soft safety at the top.” Ekovich commented that his staff won’t be referencing the loss much as it prepares to travel to Concord Friday. Even though he was on the winning side of Saturday’s contest, Wogomon knows the feeling of a blowout, as his 2008 Wawasee team had consecutive losses of 58-7 at Concord then 56-0 at home against NorthWood. “I’ve been on the other side of games like that and I know the feeling,” he said. “When it starts to roll, it kind of snowballs. That’s kind of what happened for Wawasee today.”
NORTHRIDGE 55, WAWASEE 0 N 14 27 7 7 — 55 W 0 0 0 0 — 0
N W 1st downs 16 4 Rushing yds 336 44 Passing yds 99 21 Comp-Att-Int 4-9-0 2-14-1 Total yds 435 65 Fumbles/lost 3/1 4/3 Penalties/yds 1/10 0/0 Punts/avg 4/40.5 9/36.8
First Quarter N – Travis Schlabach 36 run (Cam Nickell good) 7:48, 7-0. N – Payton Carson 1 run (Nickell kick) 3:39, 14-0. Second Quarter N – Cam Ridenour 6 run (Nickell kick) 7:52, 21-0. N – Schlabach 15 run (Nickell kick), 4:41, 28-0. N – Ridenour 9 run (Nickell kick) 1:42, 35-0. N – Carson 31 pass to Jake Wargo (kick failed) 1:29, 41-0. Third Quarter N – Ridenour 3 run (Nickell kick) 9:58, 48-0. Fourth Quarter N – Brody Miller 2 run (Bailey Lang kick) 2:27, 55-0.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing — Northridge, Schlabach 14-146, C. Ridenour 13-124, Dean Ridenour 15-47, B. Miller 6-13, Matt Miller 3-4, Carson 7-2, Bryce Miller 1-0; Wawasee, Nathan Katzer 12-26, Noah Wadkins 5-8, Nic Wilson 4-8, Paul Mendoza 3-8, Michael Katzer 1-4, Ryan Kuhn 1-0, Gage Reinhard 6-(-4), Clayton Cook 1-(-6). Passing — Northridge, Carson 4-8, 99 yds, TD; Schlabach 0-1; Wawasee, Reinhard 2-14, 21 yds, INT. Receiving — Northridge, Schlabach 1-35, Wargo 1-31, David Welker 1-26, C. Ridenour 1-7; Wawasee, Cook 1-12, Mylon Betts 1-9.
