Mishawaka clubs Rockies in NLC contest

Courtesy of The Pilot News, Photo by Sue Garrity

MISHAWAKA — Plymouth was trying to make it three straight underdog wins in a row but Mishawaka had just a little too much overwhelming the Rockies on the road 34-10.
While the final score speaks of a relatively easy win, the fact of the matter was quite different.
Once again, it was an old-school NLC slugfest with both teams trying to run the football but using drastically different methods. Mishawaka’s “flex bone” triple option is nothing tricky, Plymouth spreading the field and trying to gain a numbers advantage at the point of attack. Each team had only three possessions in the first half, Plymouth scoring on two of theirs and kneeling down on their third with just :31 in the second quarter.
“We only had two offensive possessions in the first half and we scored on both of them,” said Plymouth coach Adam Handley. “We’re in the ball game in the first half. That first drive of the third quarter was the difference in the ball game. The momentum shift happened after that drive. Two or three plays later they hit a big one and that was the difference.”
Plymouth kneeled down with just seconds left in the first half knowing they would have the first possession out of the break and it appeared they would make the most of it.
The Rockies went on an 11-play drive that took 6:30 seconds off the 12-minute clock and appeared about to put more points on the board. On a critical fourth and one at the Mishawaka 20 the Cavemen were able to rally for a huge stop and the complexion of the game completely changed.
“Toward the end of that drive, they were cutting our offensive linemen,” said Handley. “The goal when they are cutting is to get outside and we just missed a block. We didn’t execute the play.”
Two plays later, Mishawaka quarterback Landon Snyder read the option off the left side to take the ball 73 yards for the score that would be the difference maker. It was the biggest play of the night by either team.
“We gave them some shorter fields with the kickoff team because the five guys they have at the back are just such dynamic athletes we didn’t want a momentum shift to happen on a kick return,” said Handley. “You never want a momentum shift to happen on special teams. You want to make them earn it. We were trying to keep them from a big return.”
From there the Rockies were forced to put the ball in the air and play into a defense for Mishawaka that had been outstanding for the whole night.
“The first three-quarters of the game were fantastic,” said Handley. “We stalled out and kind of fell apart at the end there because we had to start forcing some big plays. When you are down by two scores we had to start working some things out like that.”
Plymouth quarterback Exzander Ramirez, forced to throw downfield ended the night with three interceptions.
Plymouth moves to 5-3 on the season and will finish the year at home with a game against the 5A #1 team Concord on Friday with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
•MISHAWAKA 34, PLYMOUTH 10
at Mishawaka
Plymouth 3 7 0 0 — 10
Mishawaka 7 7 13 7 — 34
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
P — 7:24 Carlos Castillo 36 yard field goal
M — 2:28 Landon Snyder 4 yard run. (Blake Vandenburg kick)
Second Quarter
P — 5:41 Exzander Ramirez one yard run. (Castillo kick)
M — Kadyn O’Neal one yard run (Vandenburg kick)
Third Quarter
M — Snyder 73 yard run. (Kick failed)
M — Snyder three yard run. (Vandenburg kick)
Fourth Quarter
M — O’Neal three yard run. (Vandenburg kick)