It was a drastically different start but a similar ending as Plymouth fell to top ranked NorthWood in round one of IHSAA sectional action at Andrews Field by a final of 40-7.
It was certain to be a different outcome as Plymouth took the opening possession straight into the end zone when Joe Barron hit Garrett Schrameyer with a 19 yard scoring pass.
But NorthWood showed why they are the number one ranked team in 4A scoring on their first possession just two minutes later on an eight yard run by Bronson Yoder and took the lead a little over a minute later in the first quarter on another Yoder touchdown run of 11 yards.
The Panthers could manage just a pick six in the second quarter by Ben Mestach but finally put the pedal down in the third quarter with 20 of their 40 unanswered points and put the game away.
“I’m proud of our kids really for the week that we had,” said Plymouth coach John Barron. “They could have bagged it in after the way we got beat last week. The kids fought hard. They showed that they came over here with a purpose to win a football game.
We got off to a great start but the penalties really killed us. They got away from us a couple times for big plays but not like they did a week ago.
Penalties were killers as the Rockies were hit with 14 flags for 156 yards many of them at key moments.
“When you are playing a good opponent those things are big,” said Barron. “The penalty on the pass to Rundell with the guy downfield that was a killer for us. We turned the ball over and they turned that into points.”
With Plymouth still within three scores early in the third Barron found Seth Rundell downfield for what appeared to be a 70 yard gain and a first and goal inside the ten. A flag for an illegal man downfield changed that.
The Rockie defense also appeared to make a big stop forcing a fourth and long but an offside penalty made the fourth an short an easy first down for the Panthers.
“That’s the sign of a good team,” said Barron of the Panthers. “They were confident of what they were doing but we were confident of what we were doing too.”
“I thought (Offensive Coordinator) Mike (Kershner) had a good game plan,” said Barron. “Defensively I felt like we had the right combination out there to play. They battled. They got off blocks. They got down the hill. Our kids played really hard.”
Plymouth senior Brayson Leazenby – in his first start on the defensive side of the ball as a varsity player – ended an outstanding night with 14 tackles. Blake Davis, Kendall Himes and Kam VanLue each had eight tackles for the defense.
Plymouth ends their season with a record of 6-4. NorthWood moves on with a perfect 10-0 mark.
•NORTHWOOD 40, PLYMOUTH 7
Plymouth 7 0 0 0 – 7 NorthWood 12 8 20 0 – 40
Scoring Summary: 1st Quarter
5:22 P – Garrett Schrameyer 19 yd pass from Joe Barron (Dylan Gamble kick)
2:36 NW – Yoder 8 yd run (Newcomer pass failed)
1:11 NW – Yoder 11 yd run (Newcomer pass failed)
2nd Quarter
11:50 NW – Mestach 35 yd interception return (Yoder rush)
3rd Quarter
7:24 NW – Yoder 2 yd run (Newcomer kick blocked) 05:36 NW – Newcomer 48 yd run (Newcomer kick) 01:34 NW – Bork 13 yd pass from Yoder (Newcomer kick) 40
RUSHING: (Plymouth 25 carries for 92 yards) Blake Reed 12-59; Blake Davis 3-22; Seth Rundell 3-8; Joe Barron 7-3. (NorthWood 63 carries for 398 yards) Yoder 27-161; Newcomer 14-111; Miller 4-60; Hauptli 3-12; Weigand 3-8; Mestach 3-2.
PASSING: Plymouth-Joe Barron 8-24-2-93; Cole Filson 1-1-0-21. NorthWood-Yoder 4-6-0-38; Newcomer 2-3-0-6.
RECEIVING: Plymouth-Garr Schrameyer 3-44; Jacob Deacon 3-38; Seth Rundell 2-29; Cole Filson 1-3. NorthWood-Miller 4-33; Bork 1-13; Sellers 1-minus 2.
TACKLES: Brayson Leazenby 14, Kam VanLue 8, Blake Davis 8, Kendall Himes 8.
