NAPPANEE – There was nothing to cheer about in Plymouth’s final regular season game – a loss at NorthWood 33-30.
“It boils down to one simple fact – we got beat by a team that played harder,” said Plymouth head coach John Barron. “We have to regroup. We have a group of kids that love to compete. No excuses. We got beat by a team that played harder than we did. Hopefully our kids read this and understand it that if we give that kind of effort we’re going to get beat.”
NorthWood made a statement from the opening kick, playing an up tempo offense that had Plymouth on their heels all night long defensively and in the third quarter stretched out a lead that the Rockies could never make up.
“There’s not a lot of good we can take from this game,” said Barron. “Right from the get go we let them take it right to us. We didn’t have a whole lot of fight to us. We didn’t get off blocks. I don’t know what is causing that. I don’t think we are very good up front on either side of the ball. And that to me is what is screaming after the ball game We don’t make plays up front. We’re not very tough up front on either side of the ball.”
“Those kids (NorthWood) looked like they were playing to win and we looked like were playing to get the regular season over and get to the playoffs.”
NorthWood scored on their initial drive with a 22 yard run from Bailey Gessinger, and the Rockies bounced right back to take a lead early in the second quarter at 15-6. The Panthers would recover near the end of the half with a huge drive that set the tone for the second half.
Helped by a tipped pass reception by Gessinger on third and 22 and a key pass interference call, a Trey Bilinski pass to Bronson Yoder in the end zone brought NorthWood to 15-12.
“We had a ball in our hands in the secondary and we tip it up in the air and that kid catches it,” said Barron. “If we get that maybe we score but certainly they don’t. We have two fumbles on the ground that we don’t come up with. Those are effort plays, or not concentrating plays, and how many times are we going to get the ball thrown over our heads? We work on those drills we talk about routes and we watch film. It’s just not really a good taste.”
The Panthers controlled the third quarter, scoring twice on big plays – a 75 yard TD pass from Bilinski to Yoder, and an 18 yard Bilinski pass to Drew Minnich. They added another score as the fourth quarter started on a pass from Tanner Cleveland to Jacob Stump.
Then the Rockies recovered, but it was too little, too late.
“We battled back and made some nice plays,” said Barron. “Guys made some huge plays at the end. We have some kids that love playing the game, but I think everybody had a part of this loss. They are one and done now. It’s do or die in every game. Hopefully we have a sense of urgency.”
The Rockies (7-2) take on Wawasee in round one of the sectional next week at Plymouth. NorthWood (6-3) takes on East Noble.
Score By Quarters
Plymouth 7 8 0 15 – 30
NorthWood 6 6 14 7 – 33
First Quarter
NW – Bailey Gessinger 22 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)
P – Cam Eveland 4 Yd Run (Jeremy Drudge Kick)
Second Quarter
P – Cam Eveland 1 Yd Run (Jack Barron Run For Two-Point Conversion)
NW – TD Bronson Yoder 5 Yd Pass FromTrey Bilinski (Jaron Mullet Kick No Good)
Third Quarter
NW – TD Bronson Yoder 75 Yd Pass From Trey Bilinski (Jaron Mullet Kick)
NW – TD Drew Minnich 18 Yd Pass From Trey Bilinski (Jaron Mullet Kick)
Fourth Quarter
NW – TD Jacob Stump 6 Yd Pass From Tanner Cleveland (Jaron Mullet Kick)
P – TD Cam Eveland 1 Yd Run (Nathan Nixon Run For Two-Point Conversion)
P – TD Nathan Nixon 21 Yd Pass From Jack Barron (Jeremy Drudge Kick)
Passing – (Plymouth) J. Barron 10/21 145 yards 1 TD, (NorthWood) T. Bilinski 13/18 200 yards 3 TD’s, T. Cleveland 1/1 6 yards, TD.
Rushing – (Plymouth) C. Eveland 29-170 3TD’s, T. McMillen 4-17, J. Barron 10-8, T. Hooten 2 -2. (NorthWood) B. Gessinger 20-105 TD, T. Cleveland 9-39, B. Yoder 2-13.
Receiving – C. Eveland 5-68. B. Yoder 3-84 2 TD’s.
Tackles – C. Schuler 13. T. Cleveland 12.
