Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 133, Number 39, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 30 September 2010 — Page 6

Page A6

• Advance News • Thursday, September 30, 2010

Panthers beat Raiders in wild comeback

Br Sitve Smua Correspondent NAPPANEE —It happens every year about this time. The days get shorter, the air turns cooler, and the leaves on the trees start turning from green to brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red. And North Wood beats Northridge yet again in football. Oh, the Panthers made it exciting for the second straight year, this time digging themselves a 17-0 hole thanks to a lifeless first half, but like the inexorable march of time, North Wood stormed back with 21 unanswered second-half points to claim its first Northern Lakes Conference victory of the season, 21-17. In 32 meetings with the Raiders dating back to 1979, North Wood has prevailed 31 times, with the lone Northridge victory coming way back in 1988 before anyone on either current team was bom. That's so long ago that Notre Dame was even a good football team. The game began, like most of the Panthers games this season, as a defensive struggle, with both teams punting the ball away on their first two possessions in a scoreless first quarter. North Wood went three-and-out on both of their efforts, while Northridge managed to gain enough yardage each time to eventually make field position a factor, ultimately leading to a Tyler Priem 26-yard field goal with two minutes gone in the second quarter to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead. North Wood's offensive struggles continued on its next series as quarterback

Scoreboard

Boys cross country PANTHERS FALL; PARKER IST OVERALL Plymouth defeated North Wood in a Northern Lakes Conference boys cross country meet last Tuesday at Plymouth Country Club. Team scores were: Plymouth 21, North Wood 34. North Wood's Jamin Parker finished first overall with a time of 18:59. • PLYMOUTH 21, NORTHWOOD 34 At Plymouth Top 10: 1. Jamin Parker (NW) 18:59. 2. Derrick Lee (P) 19:01, 3. Santiago Ibarra (P) 19:17.4. Diego Ibarra (P) 19:19. 5. Jeffrey Overmyer (P) 19:34,6. John Robinson (NW) 19:47, 7. Jordan Winkler (P) 19:50, 8. Nathan Bailey (NW) 20:08, 9. Matthew Lee (P) 20:38, 10. N. Wagner (P) 20:40. Girls cross country MEDINA LEADS NORTHWOOD SWEEP Cynthia Medina clocked in with a first-place time of 20:39 to lead a North Wood sweep of the top five spots in a Northern Lakes Conference girls cross country win at Plymouth last Tuesday. Team totals were: North Wood 15, Plymouth 40. Lindsey Roe followed with a runner-up finish in 22:20. • NORTHWOOD 15, PLYMOUTH 40 At Plymouth Top 10: 1. Cynthia Medina (NW) 20:39, 2. Lindsey Roe (NW) 22:20, 3. Karlie Kratzchmar (NW) 23:29, 4. Layla Rhodes (NW) 23:43, 5. Brittany Grove (NW) 23:50. 6. Allasyn Slater (P) 23:59, 7. Gabi Ramirez (P) 24:25. 8. Megan Fisher (P) 24:48, 9. Shelby Harrell (P) 25:49, 10. Emily Walden (P) 26:00. Girls golf PENN DEFEATS NORTHWOOD North Wood's girls golf team lost to Penn at Knollwood Country Club Monday, Sept. 13. Team scores were: Penn 168, North Wood 200. Leading the way for the Panthers were Heidi Morganthaler and Sarah Smeltzer with 495. • PENN 168, NORTHWOOD 200 At Granger, Knollwood Country Club, Par 36 NORTHWOOD (200): Heidi Morganthaler 49, Kelbi Taylor 50, Sarah Smeltzer 49, Emily Myers 52, Lyndsey Smeltzer 63. PENN (168): Deanna Song 36, Anastasia Carter 39, Katie Willenbrink 42, Audrey Henderson 51, Madison Chesnutt 52. Record: North Wood 12-5. JV score: Penn 198, North Wood 223 NORTHWOOD (223): Kate Adams 52, Abby Hershberger 51, Cariey Hershberger 62, Katie Rhoade 58, Kayla Stankovich 70. PENN (198): Taylor Walter 46, Deanne Dekazor 46, Katie Zielinski 53, Leslie Bennett 53, Robyn Mills 53. Boys soccer PRATHER LEADS PANTHERS Roman Ortiz Prather scored twice in the first 19 minutes to propel North Wood to a 4-1 Northern Lakes Conference boys soccer win over Elkhart Memorial last Tuesday. Taylor Wegmiller and Eddie Salinas added a second-half goal apiece for die Panthers, r NORTHWOOD 4, ELKHART MEMORIAL 1 ffeKlhrTr""* North Wood 2, Elkhart Memorial 0 NW - Roman Ortiz Prather (Ryan Lincoln), 16th minute NW - Prather (Eddie Salinas), 19th minute NW <, Tty!or Wegmiller (Collin Dicker), 44th minute EM-DavidDiiz/JOth minute Shote Elkhart Memorial 7, North Wood 8 Sms Elktat Memorial 3 (William Macedo). North Wood 6 (Kyle Dijkstra). Carnm Elkhart Memorial 2, North Wood 3.

Zac Coleman was sacked on third down, forcing the Panthers to punt from their own 14-yard line. Tanner Roberts' 33-yard boot was returned 19 yards to the North Wood 28 by speedy Thomas Nowack, setting up the Raiders deep in Panther territory. Two quick passes by Northridge quarterback David Letherman, the second a 21-yard completion to Kolin Adams, put the Raiders at the Northwood 3yard line and two plays later, fullback Chad Healey bulled in from the 1 to make it 10-0 Northridge after Priem's PAT kick. The Panthers finally managed to generate some offense on their next series after a 26-yard kickoff return by senior Thayne White. Coleman engineered a 62yard drive that included an 11-yard scramble and a 27yard completion to Coy Brown but a third-down pass from the Northridge 5 fell incomplete, forcing a field-goal attempt by Brendan Widner. Unfortunately for the home team, the snap was low and the resulting kick never had a chance, leaving the Raiders still in the lead with 3:34 remaining in the half. Not content to settle for a 10-point advantage, Northridge took over at the 20yard line and promptly marched 80 yards in just seven plays, with Priem doing most of the damage with a 16-yard run and two receptions for 36 yards, including the final 10-yard TD catch from Letherman. The ever-present Priem knocked home the PAT and the Raiders took a 17-0 lead to the locker room, having run up 185 yards of offense in the first half to

Sports

North Wood's paltry 78 yards. The Panthers, though, reversed course in the second half. An impassioned locker room speech by the senior White worked like a charm, as die Panthers took the sec-ond-half kickoff and quickly drove 61 yards in just seven plays. Brown pounded it- in from 1 yard out and Widner drilled a line-drive PAT kick through the uprights to narrow the Raider lead to 17-7. Northridge appeared as if it was going to answer, moving across midfield and into Panther territory, but a falsestart penalty on third down the first penalty of the night on the Raiders was followed by a huge hit by Brown on Healey, breaking up a fourth-down pass and turning the ball back over to the Panthers. Coleman promptly ripped off a 49yard run on an option left, the longest play from scrimmage for North Wood this season, and after two carries by sophomore fullback Derek Diemer and one by Brown, the Panthers had a first down at the Northridge 12-yard line. Panther offensive coordinator Rich Mortn then dipped into a seldomused section of his playbook, calling for a halfback pass which Brown executed perfectly, finding a wide open Aaron Rhoade in the end zone for a 12-yard TD pass, making it 47-14 Northridge after Widner's PAT. During Northridge's ensuing possession, the Black Crunch defense forced a fumble by Raider running back Nick Sherck and Taylor Anglemyer pounced on the tumbling pigskin at the North Wood 24 with 1:33

'' gpv. ’ •' g% -per JR||J „ ~ K ji \ 1 mr* & 1 '% t

Photo by Alan Hall North Wood's Cynthia Medina runs during the Panthers' meet at Plymouth Country Club last Tuesday. Medina finished in a winning time of 20-39 to lead North Wood to victory. Record: North Wood 7-3-0 (2-3-0 NLC). LATE SPURT DOOMS NORTHWOOD No. 15 Warsaw scored three goals in the final 16 minutes to knock off North Wood 3-1 in Northern Lakes Conference boys soccer action last Tuesday. Jason Callejas, assisted by Trent Jacobs, scored in the 52nd minute to put the Panthers up 1-0. However, the Tigers struck in the 65th and 66th minutes

iiFPlfnTmriT - : t?iiiT^ifylT

DAT photo Panther kick returner Thayne White (12) strikes a Heisman pose as he fends off a Northridge defender in the Panthers' 21-17 victory. A halftime speech by the senior White may have been the catalyst that sparked the Panthers to the stirring comeback win.

remaining in the third period. Off went the Panthers again with Brown, Diemer, and Coleman doing all the work on the ground, moving the ball to the Raider 34 as the fourth quarter began. Coleman then found Diemer open in the right flat and the sophomore took it the distance for an apparent goahead touchdown but the play was called back on an illegal block penalty, making it third-and-11 from the Northridge 40-yard line.

Not to worry, however, as on the next play, the Panthers shocked everyone with more "trickeration." Coleman flipped a lateral to Anglemyer who then lobbed a pass over several Raider defenders to a wide-open Rhoade who raced to pay dirt for his second score of the night. The magic continued as Widner banked in the PAT kick off the right upright, giving North Wood its first lead of the night at 21-17. The rest of the night

to seize control. • WARSAW 3, NORTHWOOD 1 At Nappanec Halftime acore: North Wood 0, Warsaw 0 Second half NW Jason Callejas (Trent Jacobs), 52nd minute W Nathan Kolbe (Diego Lopez), 65th minute W Lopez (Xavir Arellanes), 66th minute W Lopez (Scott Smith), 76th minute Shots: Warsaw 9, North Wood 6. Saves: Warsaw 3 (David Johnson). North Wood 8 (Kyle Dijkstra). Corners: Warsaw 6, North Wood 6. Records: Warsaw 8-2-0 (3-00 NLC), North Wood 5-2-0 (1-2-0). Girls soccer NORTHWOOD WIPES OUT WASHINGTON North Wood knocked off South Bend Washington 2-0 in a girls soccer match last Tuesday. Cassie Dyksen and Val Ostrowski both scored for the Panthers. North Wood's Danae Ehret recorded the shutout in goal. • NORTHWOOD 2, SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON 0 At South Bend Halftime acore: North Wood 2, Washington 0 First Half NW Cassie Dyksen (Brooklyn Moore, Val Ostrowski), 3rd minute NW Ostrowski (Allyson Jenkins), 35th minute Shots on goal: NW 21. W 3 Saves: NW 3 (Danae Ehret), W 18 (J’Shante Gunn) Corners: NW 5, W 2 Records: NW 7-3-3. JV Score: North Wood 1, S.B. Washington 0 (forfeit) JV Record: NW 5-3-2 PANTHERS FALL SHORT A second-half comeback bid fell short as North Wood lost to visiting Westview 3-2 in a girls soccer match last Monday. Kristyn Burt scored both of the Panthers' goals, including one in the 59th minute to pull the squad to within a single tally. • Westview 3, NORTHWOOD 2 At Nappanec Halftime score: Westview 3, North Wood 1 First half W Jeslyn Zimmerly, 6th minute NW Kristyn Burt (Kami Stutzman), 24th minute W not reported (penalty kick), 33rd minute W not reported, 35th min. Second half NW Burt (Val Ostrowski), 59th minute Shots on goal: NW 9, W 15 Saves: NW 12 (Danae Ehret), W 7 (Stephanie Hochstetler) Corners: NW 3, W 2 Records: NW 6-3-3 JV Score: North Wood 0, Westview 0 JV Record: NW 4-3-2 Tennis WARRIORS SHUT OUT NORTHWOOD North Wood's tennis team suffered a 5-0 Northern Lakes Conference defeat against Wawasee Monday. • WAWASEE 5, NORTHWOOD 0 At Syracuse SINGLES: 1. Gariy Windle beat Brennan Angle, 6-3,6-3; 2. Nathan Brady beat Ben Zercher, 6-1,6-2; 3. David Toemer beat Shawn Stahiey, 6-0,6-0. DOUBLES: 1. Nick Price-Westin Becker beat Tyler Rhoades-Jayian Linhart, 60.6- 2. Austin Sanders-Mitchell Reiser beat Derek Zurcher-Cole Love, 2.6Record: North Wood 0-14 (0-7 NLC). JV acore: Wawasee 4, North Wood 0 SINGLES: 1. Kyler Love beat Matthew Newman. 8-1; 2. Isaac Rigdoo beat Greg Perrin, 80 DOUBLES: 1. Tyler Kissinger-Isaac Rigdon beat Abe Robinsoo-Riley Smith, 8-2; 2. Dylan Dunathin-Dylan Houser beat Abe Rohinaon-Riky Smith, 8-5. Record: North Wood 0-11-2 (04-1 NLC). See Scoreboard, Pigt A 7

belonged primarily to the Black Crunch defense, as it forced a punt on Northridge's next possession, then after a short series by the Panther offense, made a huge stop near midfield when Lucio Chumas and Kyle Mishler stuffed Healey for a 1-yard loss on a fourth-and-inches play with 3:30 remaining. North Wood ground out two crucial first downs, the last on a gritty fourth-down run by Brown, See Panthers, Page A 7