Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 135, Number 38, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 22 September 2016 — Page 8

Page A8

> Advance News • Thursday, September 22, 2016

Panthers roll on with 53-30 thrashing of Wawasee

By Steve Sittler Correspondent SYRACUSE Trey Bilinski continued his spectacular senior season by tossing four touchdown passes in the first half and adding a rushing score in the third quarter as the Gass 4A No. 3-ranked North Wood Panthers pummeled the Wawasee Warriors 53-30. The victory kept the Panthers alone atop the Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) with a perfect 3-0 mark and improved their overall record to 5-0, the first time North Wood has been unbeaten this far into the season since 1996. With the early evening rain having moved on by re time, North Wood took opening kickoff and promptly marched 77 yards ip 11 plays to take a lead they would never relinquish. Bilinski hit tight end Drew Minnich with a 6-yard TD pass and then ran the twopoint conversion in himself to make it 8-0 Panthers just three minutes in. After forcing a Warrior punt, North Wood took over again on its own 12-yard line, and, after a critical 38-yard completion from Bilinski to Bronson Yoder, continued to drive into Wawasee territory. Finally, Bilinski spotted wideout DeAndre Smart on a skinny post as the Warrior safeties were sucked in by a masterful play-action fake, and the fleet-footed Smart hauled in the pass for a 21-yard score.

i: ”.y, $< < . ! tnd oth« i r jriu is • Able to i-urn hifjln i l ii : !■ :. li.it'-i-i i •• .• .i I'iii witti Ifit'-rra • i Vim r<*wards - : - :■ My I--'- / ii. i. Chfckiny. «No minimufn hdl it t- . i t'it -■• iit i . 't ! - ; /II I. ! f-1 ■' • tJ' i fjl ■[ 111 -.II'I t' l - I l ' i- ' . . /I -1 ,/- 1•.|,1 II .1 • -I |ty ':/‘l (l' -f • - -it .■ i I -1,11-| .|i . • .uiit .I<n nR< * w.i r < l\( I h < l< 111«| < <»111

CATCH THIS WEEK'S GAME

>r • « Play by Play: Craig Wallin Color Commentary: Jon Andrews

■ I T m 1 ; m Wi Ha

DAT photos North Wood's DeAndre Smart hauls in a TD pass from Trey Bilinski in the Panthers' 53-30 win over Wawasee.

Minnich grabbed the PAT pass from Bilinski, and the Panthers had a 16-0 advantage. North Wood quickly answered a Wawasee scoring drive with a great 38-yard kickoff return by Brayton Yoder that put the ball near midfield. Four plays later, Bilinski and Smart hooked up again on a 41-yard TD strike that made it 24-7 Panthers after Bilinski's second successful PAT run. On the next Warrior series, after they drove deep into Panther territory, North Wood's Brayton Yoder picked off a pass in the end zone and returned it to the North Wood 16-yard line. Just three plays later, the Panthers scored again,

Sports

this time on a 47-yard reception by Bronson Yoder, who made a terrific run after the catch to boost the Panther lead to 30-7 with five minutes left in the half. The Black Crunch defense then’forced a quick punt, but it was bobbled by the Panthers and the Warriors recovered at the North Wood 36. Smith took over and carried the ball on five of the next seven plays, the last one a 1-yard run to cut the North Wood lead to 30-14 going to halftime. Bilinski came out after the half and mixed runs and passes to drive the Panthers quickly down the field. Key plays in the drive included a 19-yard reception by Minnich, a fourth-down

? p - - wwjifiiH Panther defender Ethan Hochstetler wraps up a Warrior ballcarrier. Hochstetler led North Wood in tackles and was instrumental in stopping two Wawasee drives.

conversion run by Payton Bear, and a 26-yard reception by Bronson Yoder. Bilinski finally finished the drive by scrambling in from 4 yards out when a passing play broke down, and ran in his third two-point PAT of the night to make it 38-14 Panthers. Battered but unbowed, the Warriors answered with a drive that ate up most of the rest of the third quarter, with Smith finding Jacob Hand for 11 yards and a touchdown with less than a minute remaining. The pair hooked up again for the two-point conversion and Wawasee was within two scores at 38-22. The Warriors then perfectly executed an onside kick and took over in Panther territory, but a great play by North Wood comerback Ethan Hochstetler broke up a screen pass and Wawasee turned the ball over on downs. North Wood then chewed several minutes off the clock with a long drive to the Warrior 15-yard line, but the drive ended with a fourth-down interception at the 1-yard line with 4:27 left on the clock. After taking over on downs, the Warriors made just 5 yards on three plays but facing a two-score deficit, elected to go for it on fourth down but could not convert, giving the ball back to North Wood on the Wawasee 7-yard line. Bear promptly rumbled in from there, and Bilinski hit tight end Jake Stump for the PAT to give the Panthers a 46-22 advantage. After Wawasee answered on a 42-yard TD run by Paul

Trenshaw commits to lUSB North Wood senior point guard Taitlyn Trenshaw committed to continue her education and play basketball at Indiana University South Bend last week. lUSB is an NAIA school and a member of the Chicagoland Athletic Conference. Trenshaw is a two-time all-Northern Lakes Conference First Team selection and the 2015-16 MVP for the Black Swish. Pictured, from left, are front: mother Micki Heckaman, Taitlyn, father Brad Trenshaw; back: North Wood Head Volleyball Coach Hilary Laidig, North Wood Girls Basketball Associate Head Coach Gene Zercher, North Wood Head Girls Basketball Coach, Adam Yoder, lUSB Head Women's Basketball Coach Steve Bruce and North Wood High School Athletic Director Norm Sellers.

Mendoza in which most of the Panther defense had a shot at making the stop but could not get the job done, Minnich recovered yet another Warrior onside kick, and Brayton Yoder then tiptoed down the right sideline for a 41-yard TD scamper, making the final score 53-30 North Wood after Adler Chamberlain's PAT kick. The Panthers piled up 229 yards on the ground, led by 78 from Brayton Yoder and 77 from Bear, while Bronson Yoder kicked in 64 yards. Bilinski completed 18 of his 28 passes for 314 yards and four TDs, and added another score on the ground. Bronson Yoder led the receivers with six grabs for 140 yards and a score, while Smart hauled in five passes for 90 yards and two TDs, and Minnich added four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. The Black Crunch defense was paced by nine tackles from the relentless Hochstetler, while Bear and Jacob Chupp contributed seven stops each. Dylan Brugh added five tackles and was a disruptive force on the interior line throughout the evening. Wawasee rushed for 241 yards, led by quarterback Smith who gained 97 yards but took 26 carries to do it. Smith was 7 of 14 through the air for 85 yards and one TD. Rylan Kuhn and Alec Rosbrough led the Warrior defense with six tackles each, while Noah Wadkins added five stops. North Wood (5-0,3-0 NLC) finally returns to Andrews Field for only the second time this season, facing Northridge (1-4, 1-2 NLC)

in the first game of a threegame homestand. Wawasee (3-2, 1-2 NLC) will travel to the Rockpile in Plymouth to face the always tough Rockies (3-2, 2-1 NLC). • NORTHWOOD 53, WAWASEE 30 At Syracuse North Wood: 16 14 8 15 —53 Wawasee: 0 14 8 8— 30 NW Drew Minnich 11 pass from Trey Bilinski (Bilinski run) NW DeAndre Smart 21 pass from Bilinski (Minnich pass) W Tyler Smith 1 run (Ryan Edington kick) NW Smart 41 pass from Bilinski (Bilinski run) NW Bronson Yoder 47 pass from Bilinski (run failed) W Smith 1 run (Edington kick) NW Bilinski 4 run (Bilinski run) W Jacob Hand 11 pass from Smith (Hand pass) NW Payton Bear 7 run (Jake Stump pass) W Paul Mendoza 42 run (Cole Vanlue run) NW Brayton Yoder 41 run (Adler Chamberlain kick) North Wood Wawasee Yards Rushing: 229 241 Yards Passing: 314 85 Passing (Comp/Att/Int): 18-28-1 7-14-1 Penalties (No./Yds.): , 8-80 6-40 Fumbles (No./Lost): 1-1 0-0 Punts (No./Avg.): 1-46 3-43 Rushing: North Wood (Brayton Yoder 5-78, TD; Bear 12-77. TD; Bronson Yoder 12-64; Bilinski 6-10. TD); Wawasee (Smith 26-97, 2 TD; Katzer 10-38; Vanlue 4-39; Mendoza 1- TD; Rosbrugh 3-6; Peete 1-4; Hepler-Fink 1-4; Wadkins 4-8) Passing: North Wood (Bilinski 18-28-1, 314 yds., 4 TD); Wawasee (Smith 7-14-1, 85 yds.. TD) Receiving: North Wood (Bronson Yoder 6-140, TD; Smart 5-90, 2 TD: Minnich 4-50. TD; Bear 1-16: Gessinger 2-30); Wawasee (Hand 2- TD; Mendoza 2-17; Vanlue 1-7; Katzer 1-1; Rosbrugh 1-15)