NAPPANEE – The NorthWood football team certainly did its part in providing entertainment during Apple Festival weekend. After Friday’s game with Wawasee was postponed due to lightning, the Panthers and Warriors resumed play Saturday night with 4:20 left in the first quarter. The Panthers carried over a 3-0 lead from Friday and ballooned that into an eventual 38-10 victory.

While NorthWood was certainly in the festive spirit throughout the night, the Warriors were left with a bunch of bad apples.

Wawasee’s first drive on Friday night showed promise before ending with a lost fumble. An eerily similar start happened Saturday night. The Warriors drove down the field only to fumble the ball away. Friday night the Panthers turned Wawasee’s mistake into three points, Saturday was a new day. NorthWood needed just one play to make the Warriors pay for the turnover as Bailey Gessinger sprinted 46 yards for the Panther score.

A 36-yard field goal from Lucas Garza cut NorthWood’s lead to 10-3 in the second quarter but the Panthers would respond quickly. Trey Bilinski hit a wide open Drew Minnich for a 66-yard score. The duo would connect again before the half to give the Panthers a 24-3 lead heading into the locker room.

Gessinger showed that he had more than just speed in the third quarter as he took a pitch then planted for a pass. The Panther tailback found Bronson Yoder for a 25-yard scoring completion. Wawasee finally found the end zone with a one-yard sneak by Tyler Smith on fourth and goal with 2:31 left in the third quarter. For that brief moment there was some relief on the sideline for the Warriors, which was then ripped away by “Gess” who?

Gessinger returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to set the Panthers up with a first and goal at the eight. Two plays later Bilinski found Braxton Linville for a score to give NorthWood the final 38-10 lead. Bilinski threw for 155 yards. Gessinger ran for 84.

Smith led the Warriors statistically with 152 yards on the ground and 67 through the air. Noah Wadkins added 53 rushing yards for Wawasee.

It seemed that NorthWood just wanted it more, that was a big key to the Panthers victory. But Wawasee could not get past its own mistakes. Three lost fumbles, several personal fouls and countless missed tackles and blocks really took a toll on the Warriors throughout the night. There was a lack of discipline from the players and it was something that Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich was clearly bothered by.

“I don’t know,” replied a visibly upset Ekovich when asked about his team’s discipline, or lack thereof, throughout the game. “We do things intentionally throughout practice, throughout the offseason and through the winter to instill discipline, to force kids to be disciplined, to have discipline.

“I guess it’s the million dollar question. Maybe I’m not tough enough on them, maybe I’m too tough. Honestly, right now, I don’t have an answer. Our lack of discipline is what killed us tonight. And the abilities inabilities to handle highs and lows and the turnovers. It’s the same things that have killed us the last three weeks. The only difference is that our offense was a little more productive than the past few games.”

Ekovich was right with his silver lining. The Warriors seemed to have better rhythm on offense, but it’s not an offense built for playing catch up. The turnovers put Wawasee in a manageable hole but continued missed opportunities piled up to take the Warriors out of the game.

There were other positives to take from the game, but the overall attitude of the players left a lot to be desired. With class 4A No. 1 Plymouth (5-0, 3-0) coming to Syracuse next Friday, Wawasee (2-3, 0-3) should have every reason to be fired up and willing to prove something after the disappointing showing against NorthWood. The Panthers (3-2, 1-2) will travel to Northridge.