NAPPANEE – NorthWood football coach Nate Andrews said in the preseason that his defense would be good this season.

The Black Crunch are sure making him look very, very smart so far this fall.

The combination of that defense and a trio of big offensive plays paced the Class 4-A No. 4 Panthers past Wawasee 32-0 in a Northern Lakes Conference matchup Friday night.

Ten seconds.

That was all that it took for the explosive NorthWood offense to make it 8-0 as the Panthers rolled to the win at Andrews Field.

The defense did the rest.

NorthWood, despite four turnovers and a dozen penalties, rolled past the injury-plagued Warriors.

The Panthers improve to 4-1 overall and move to 2-1 in NLC play. Wawasee drops its fourth straight game to sit at 1-4 overall and 0-3 in league action.

Concord continues to lead the NLC standings at 4-0. Northridge is second at 3-0 with NorthWood and Plymouth both at 2-1.

The NorthWood defense, led by the likes of Bronson Yoder, Payton Bear and Jake Chupp, has now allowed a grand total of 25 points through five games. The Black Crunch now has posted three shutouts and was ranked among the state leaders prior to Friday night.

The feisty Andrews, who played strong safety and linebacker at Ball State, sees plenty to love from his defensive side of the ball.

“Our defense has just been tremendous this season,” said Andrews. “The thing is that we know who they are and we have had four years now to develop an identity. Coach (Dave) Wilson has just done a great job with them.

“The thing that is great about our defense is that we have such a neat mix of kids there. We have three-year starters, All-State guys and program kids, who have played on the JV in the past. It’s a unique blend. Bronson (Yoder) is flat out the leader out there for our defense.

“The thing is that they play hard and they fly to the ball. They deserve an unbelievable amount of credit tonight. Wawasee is talented and came ready to play and fought. They had opportunities and they came away empty every time. It’s all about how you respond to things when they don’t go your way. We embrace that because it’s a great challenge.”

The NorthWood offense, despite the turnovers and the constant calls from a flag-happy officiating crew, was dynamic.

Brayton Yoder got the hosts going as he took the first play from scrimmage 53 yards around the right end and down the sideline for a touchdown. A two-point conversion run by Bronson Yoder made it 8-0 ten seconds into the game.

Senior Brayton Yoder finished the night with 167 yards on 15 carries. He had three touchdowns, including a 50-yarder in the final quarter to complete the 32-0 rout.

Quarterback Landen Gessinger added a 57-yard scoring run on the first play of the second period. A pass from DeAndre Smart to Jake Lone made it 18-0.

Gessinger rushed for 196 yards on 18 totes of the pigskin as the Panthers piled up 454 yards on the ground on 46 carries on the night.

Wawasee had several trips deep into NorthWood territory, but were turned away every time.

“The big thing tonight was the missed opportunities by us to score,” said first-year Wawasee coach Mike Eshbach. “There was a whole lot of times that we did not take advantage of chances down in their territory.

“We just do not have consistency right now. We have a lot of guys going in and out with the injuries we have had and it’s just a breakdown here or there with one person one play and another on another play.

“We just have to go back to work and focus on getting better every day, every practice. There is no magic formula or magic pill. You can’t cry about what’s going on.”

Andrews admitted that his team still has plenty of things to work on.

“We have to get better with the turnovers, no doubt,” Andrews remarked. “Landen is pressing right now. He thinks that we need to score 50 points every game. We don’t. He just needs to settle in. We can play great defense.”

NorthWood outgained Wawasee 480-165 in total yards. The Warriors had just 68 yards rushing and punted 10 times.

The Homecoming game took 2:40 to play with more laundry, as in yellow penalty flags thrown from start to finish, on the field than at a dry cleaners.

A total of 16 penalties were accepted on the night and three were called on NorthWood on one punt attempt by Wawasee in the third quarter.

Aaron Evans, who was injured in last week’s loss to Concord, was gutty for the Warriors. The junior quarterback was 13-30 passing for 98 yards and ran for 36 more yards. Alec Rosbrugh had 31 yards rushing and Dylan Hepler  Fink five receptions for 55 yards for the Warriors.

Bronson Yoder had eight tackles to lead the Black Crunch effort.  Gessinger had an interception and Ethan Hochstetler a fumble recovery.

Will Ingle earned the defense two points in the opening period when he tackled Evans in the end zone for a safety.

The trio of Zak Linnimeier, Jacob Hand and Jesse Landeros each had an interception for the Warriors. Dalton Pearish had a fumble recovery.

NorthWood plays at undefeated Northridge (5-0,  3-0) and Wawasee hosts Plymouth (4-1, 2-1) in NLC action next Friday night. Northridge beat Warsaw 24-6 and Plymouth defeated Elkhart Memorial 35-6 in conference play Friday night.