Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 127, Number 41, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 7 October 2004 — Page 7

Panthers tear up Memorial, 49-7

Improved offensive line play helps the Panthers By Kara Bough Correipondint NAPPANEE The North Wood Panthers continued their late season improvement last Friday by defeating Elkhart Memorial, 49-7. The Panthers are now 6-1 (4-1 NLC) with games against Warsaw and Plymouth to finish the season. Panther victories in both of these games would guarantee North Wood at least a tie for the NLC championship. Concord and Wawasee also have 41 NLC records. The Panthers have shown continued improvement since the last minute loss to Wawasee in the RCA Dome during week five of the season. Rich Dodson and his staff have used tape of this game to show the Panthers the need for improved execution and effort. It would appear that they made their point A large part of the credit belongs to the improved play of the offensive line. Coach Mark BeMiller’s crew has allowed the Panthers to generate over 400 yards total offense the past two games. The Panthers rushed for 286 yards against Memorial with Michael Ramirez leading the way with 106 yards on nine carries. Junior Denen Lengacher added 68 on 11 carries, and Jason Hochstetler had 51 yards. , The emergence of the passing game makes offensive coordinator Gene Zercher’s offense even more potent. Kiser Chamberlin threw for 127 yards and two touchdowns to senior Andrew Huber. The Black Crunch defense was outstanding again in limiting the Chargers to only one legitimate scoring opportunity. The Chargers had 201 yards total offense with 183 yards rushing and 18 yards passing. Memorial’s only score of the night cam? a 44-yard punt return by Nick Corpe in the fourth quarter. Kicker Ryan Burkhart continues to be a very big part of the Panthers’ success. His booming kickoffs and punts consistently give opponents poor field position. Burkhart, long snapper Brent Hollar, and holder Austin Yoder were a perfect 7-for-7 in PATs against Memorial. North Wood will host Warsaw this Friday in a key NLC game for the Panthers. Coach Rich Dodson has his team in a situation he relishes as they control their own destiny in pursuit of the NLC crown. The Warsaw Tigers will enter Andrews Field at 4-3 (2-3 NLC). First-year head coach Troy Akers has replaced the popular Phil Jensen. Recent games in this series have been very competitive and the Tigers have not forgotten last year’s game at Warsaw when the Panthers won 53-17. Game time is 7 p.m. Score By Quarters Memorial 0 0 0 7 North Wood 7 21 14 7 Scoring First Quarter NW (1:14) Hochstetler 33 run (Burkhaftkick) Second Quarter A NW (7:28) Chamberlin 3 ran (Burkhart kick) NW (1:37) Huber 24 pass from Chamberlin (Burkhart kick) NW (: 46) Ramirez 30 run (Burkhart kick) Third Quarter NW (9:20) Huber 40 pass from Chamberlin (Burkhart kick) NW (6:10) Lengacher 11 ran (Burkhart kick) Fourth Quarter ' ■ EM (10:18) Corpe 44 punt return, (Duvall kick) NW (6:58) Haviland 23 run (Burkhart kick)

Memorial Statistics J ■ ~ y ( > Rushing Team 160 (Corpe 17-97, Nodes 11-60,Walker 3-12, Bryant 71) Passing Bryant 5-12,20 yards, 0 INTs Receiving Team 20 (Jackson 3-10, Poertner 1-9, Sears 1-1) First Downs Penalty Yards Record —2-5 (2-3 NLC)

North Wood wins at Wawasee

mm mm |B|WH Iff PS V 4 % B J. bl V p^BL^^BiPJPr * 'm Am p&f 5 « t fj * *Jr JNH % mmWi 1 mi ■v ,** /-y - ; HO.- f-

PHOTO PROVtDtD The North Wood High School cheedeadfng competition squad brought home a first place win against six other teams at the Wawasee Invitational, Sept. 25. According to Coach Pam Slagle, “The team performed better than they have all year and it was good to end the season on such a high note.' Pictured In the front row (left to right): Seniors Heather Casteel, Kylle Callander and Stacy Hughes. Second row (left to right): Juniors Kelsey Sheets, Jessica Combs, Michaeline feopez and Chelsea Hahn. Third row (left to right): Coach Pam Slagle, Sophomores Kortney McCOy, Amv Zelfwanger, Calttyn Yoder, Whitney Frantz, Savannah Whitmer and Coach Amber Brlcker. Back row (left to right): Freshmen Erica Havlldnd, Kelsey Decker, Erica Combs and Brittany Shaw.

A / JIL - irr m £ / (C W yf B Wl. B Ltf la ~■ ■ jgk. ’s- <".»-<•• .<• ,i] iwww 7m|H| Eig • t. —'“i UllM

DAT PHOTOS ABOVE A large part of the Homecoming victory was attributed to the excellent play of the Panther offensive line, including center Brad Hollar (68). BELOW Michael Ramirez (28) was the leading rusher with 106 yards on nine carries. The Panthers running backs had tremendous help throughout the game from offensive linemen like Martin Magers (70), who consistently created holes for the running back.

■ ' PIUifiHEA. ~jH ggg^aNHMrcVg .-» *; lMfl| - ffi v ■fflßHS^^^^B||Bwfc*--*^Kwi.'-. ~, 1 M f jj^Wl' Hi ’'mifl&fc- ** W^ 1 w jlKjPi !' • •«#■ aV **JL If v%\ W 'ifcf <* *. * |jp.X^J sJHSfeLi, Hr Hji’^jP^ 1 $S3SnttF w Vti i

North Wood Statistics Rushing— Team 286 (Ramirez 9-106, Lengacher 11-66, Hochstetler 3-51, Haviland 5-40, Lehman 3-11, Shively 2-0, Chamberlin 4-(-3)) Passing Chamberlin 7-11,127 yards, 0 INTs Receiving Team 127 (Huber 2-64. Shields 2-29. Ramirez 1-16, Flickinger 1-11, Rupp 1-6) Frrst Downs Penalty Yards Record -1 (4-1 NLC)

Sports

Advance News • Thursday, October 7, 2004 •

Panther Sports Briefs

By Kern Bough Correspondent Football North Wood’s JV football team is 7-0 after defeating Elkhart Memorial 14-7. Brandt Ehret and Jed Beer scored touchdowns for the Panthers. Cory Emery led the defense with seven hits. Shawn Yoder had an interception. The freshmen football team lost to Northridge 20-18. Dustin Eby had two rushing touchdowns and Trevarious Green had one for the Panther scores. James Reynolds had 13 tackles and Travis Cassel added 10. Jordan Taylor had nine tackles and an interception. The frosh are 2-4 for the season. Tennis The Panthers opened sectional play last week by losing to a very good Fairfield team 3-2. Trent Chupp at No. 2 singles and Thom Kurtz at No. 3 singles had the North Wood wins. The Panthers finished the season at 3H. Volleyball North Wood’s Red Slam volleyball team won their 10th straight match last week by defeating Jimtown. Mindy Blosser and Erika Stouder had three aces and Casey BAugh had 31 assists. Audrey Duncan had 18 kills. In other action the Panthers lost to Warsaw in NLC action. Heather Stutzman had 13 digs. The Red Slam is 20-8 (3-3 NLC). The JV volleyball team moved to 15-2 for the year by defeating Jimtown and Warsaw. In the Jimtown win Bethany Ramer had five aces, Steph Stiener contributed 11 assists, and Kayla Graber had 11 kills. The Warsaw victory was led by Calley Tucker with 10 kills and Brittany Pruitt with two aces. The freshmen volleyball team defeated Bremen to even their record at 11-11. Alyssa Bates, Shantel Gamer, and Jill Witmer lead the Panthers. Soccer North Wood’s boys’ soccer team lost to Plymouth 4-3 but defeated Bethany Christian 3-0 this week. Tyler Slagle, Zac Lechlitner, and Neil Trinkley scored goals against Plymouth. Rodrigo Dosal, Slagle, and Lechlitner scored in the Bethany Christian win. The Panthers are now 10-4-1 (2-4-1 NLC). The girls’ soccer team is now 4-7-3 (0-4-2 NLC) after defeating South Bend Washington 1-0, Bremen 7-0, and losing to Plymouth 5-2. Sam Lewis scored the winning goal against Washington and three goals against Bremen. Mandy Yoder had two goals against Bremen. MacKenzie Lechlitner and Sherilyn Garcia also scored for the Panthers. Mandy Yoder had both goals versus Plymouth. Cross Country North Wood’s cross country teams competed in the New Haven Invitational last weekend. The top runner for the girls was Asha Stichter in 23rd place at 16:52. Other members of the team ate Courtney Bowen, Beene Capre, Heidi Stutzman, LaurerffrHawkins and Sasha Watts. Sophomore Chad Schmucker led the boys with a 22nd place finish in 17:37. Andy Troxel, Trevor Hershberger, Curt Blosser, Paul Schmucker, Scott Anglemeyer, and Dustin Wakely also ran for Mark Mikel’s Panthers.

Middle School Briefs

Cross Country The girls and boys cross country team continued to show outstanding improvement against West Side on Sept. 28. Outstanding improvement for the girls were: Ashley Treuchet, Kami Stutzman, Lindsey Sears, Amanda Eby, Maddie Mikel and Sarah Yoder. Other personal bests were: Sarah Smeltzer, Lindsey Roe, Emily Shay, Kaitlin McFarland, Chelsea Fox, Tess Anglemyer, Steph Robinson and Lindsey Smeltzer. Outstanding improvements for the boys were made by: Steven Lambert, Michael Paul and Steven Fox. Other personal bests were Jamie Sterling, Matt McGraw, Jared Lechlitner and Robby Hoffer. In a meet against Discovery on Sept. 30, Michael Paul not only set a new sixth-grade record of 12 minutes, but he was also the meet’s winner. He outpaced 40 other runners. Bth Grade A Football The team won against West Side, 8-6 on Sept. 28. Justin Titus threw a 30-yard TD pass to Derek Loucks. Brandon Williams kicked a twopoint conversion. Kyle Whitehead rushed for 42 yards. Adam Hostetter led with five tackles. Dan Feece recovered a fumble. Adam Hostetter and Kyle Whitehead stopped the PAT to provide the winning margin. The team lost to Plymouth LincSln, 12-6 on Oct. 2. Kyle Whitehead rushed for 28 yards and scored a TD. Skyler Titus rushed for 39 yards. Reyd Gamer led with eight tackles. The defense got two quarterback sacks from Skyler Titus and Dan Grabil. Tyler Ruber and Reece Martin each had a fumble recovery. 7th Grade A Football The team lost to West Side, 38-15 on Sept 28. Zach Deery had 62 yards rushing, all on a TD ran. Cesar Salinas added 54 yards rushing, one reception for 11 yards, and added two extra points. Kyle Yoder completed one pass for 11 yards. Cam Spitaels had seven tackles. Zach Softball alumni game WA-NEE The North Wood High School softball team is currently in the early stages of organizing an alumni game to be tentatively played on Saturday. June 4, 2005 after the completion of the season. All former players of the program who would be interested in being involved in this game are asked to call the North Wood athletic office at 7734127, or head coach Mike Hochstetler at 305-0534.

Deery had seven tackles, a blocked extra point and an 83-yard fumble recovery for a TD. The team won against Lincoln Plymouth, 14-13 on Oct. 2. Kyle Yoder scored on TD runs of 1 and 45 yards. Cesar Salinas scored two extra points. Brandon Menzie caught one pass for 37 yards. Cam Spitaels led with seven tackles and one interception. Jarvis Rogers had a fumble recovery. Nick Berkey and Tyler Wesley each had an interception. 7th Grade B Football The team lost to Milford, 32-8 on Sept. 30. Tony Keota had a 50-yard TD catch from Michael Bough. Mitch Anthony and Tyler Davis each had five tackles. Chase Chanley had an interception. Bth Grade A Volleyball The girls lost at home against West Side, 17-21,13-21 on Sept. 28. Leaders were: Amber Slone with five serves, Amber Slone with 16 passes. Alii Heeter with 19 sets and Courtney Simpson with eight hits. Alii Heeter and Jenae Rupp each had a kill. The girls won against Discovery, 21-17, 21-15 on Sept. 30. Leaders were: Alii Heeter with eight serves and one ace, Jenae Rupp with 11 passes. Alii Heeter with 10 sets and Courtney Simpson with five hits. 7th Grade A Volleyball The girls won at home against West Side 21-12, 21-17 on Sept. 28. Leaders were: Jennifer Miller with nine serves and two aces, Kelsey Diener with 14 passes, Jacki Hershberger with six sets and Lindsey Steffen with seven hits. The girls won at home against Discovery, 22-20, 15-21, 19-21 on Sept. 30. Leaders were: Jennifer Miller with 11 serves and four aces, Beth Brewer and Linsey Steffen with 17 passes, Jacki Hershberger with seven sets and Lindsey Steffen with nine hits. High School Football Sectionals First-round sectional pairings Oct. 22 in the 32nd Indiana High School Athletic Association football tournament (All games 7 p.m.. local; teams listed first are hosts, unless both agree to switch.): CLASS3A Sectional 19 Culver Academy vs. Tippe Valley North Wood vs. West Noble Lakeland vs. Mishawaka Marian New Prairie vs. S. Bend St Joseph’s)

Page B1