ELKHART – The NorthWood football team takes great pride in its ability to run the football.

That was never more evident than Friday night.

The Panthers, focused from the opening kickoff, ran right past Elkhart Memorial in a 65-14 rout.

NorthWood finished off the host Crimson Chargers by scoring early and often in a first-half barrage in the Northern Lakes Conference blowout.

The Class 4-A No. 7 Panthers rushed for 465 yards in the league win and attempted just one pass on the night. That throw, by the way, went for a  53-yard touchdown.

NorthWood improves to 5-2 overall and moves to 3-2 in the NLC. The Chargers drop to 1-6 overall and 0-5 in league play.

Concord and Northidge, both winners in NLC play Friday night, sit atop the league standings at 5-0 each. NorthWood, along with Plymouth and Warsaw, are all 3-2 in NLC action.

One NorthWood assistant coach hit the nail on the head during his postgame comment to the team.

“At NorthWood, we run the football,” piped up the assistant.

When asked by head coach Nate Andrews what the rushing numbers were on the night, the assistant answered “a lot for a lot.”

He was so right on this night.

Memorial, which won for the first time last week in downing Indianapolis Shortridge 46-14, simply picked the wrong time to face the Panthers.

NorthWood, coming off a 72-yard rushing effort in a 24-14 NLC loss at Northridge last week, simply put the pedal to the metal all night long against the outmanned Chargers.

The Panthers led 44-0 by halftime after exploding for 28 points in a blur of offense in the second quarter.

Everyone got into the rushing act as eight different Panthers carried the pigskin. The four-headed monster of elusive quarterback Landen Gessinger and running backs Brayton Yoder, Bronson Yoder and Jake Chupp led the way in the devastating ground game.

“Obviously running the football was our focus tonight,” said NorthWood boss Nate Andrews. “We felt like we had gotten away from it a little bit lately. We went back to the basics. It was a credit to our kids tonight. They came out with pretty good focus and we had good finish and that was key for us.

“We got up on them and did not let up and that’s good. It’s good that our kids understand and know that we lost to a good football team last week, but we’re still okay.

“To see all the different guys carry the ball for us tonight was fun. It was fun to be a part of. It reminded me of some teams that I was on here (at NorthWood) in the 1990s that had a lot of guys run the ball.”

NorthWood, which beat Memorial 52-21 a year ago, wasted no time in taking control. The Panthers scored on a 37-yard run by senior Gessinger on its first play from scrimmage. The score, just 2:08 into the contest, came after a short Memorial punt after a three-and-out by the hosts to open the game.

Junior Bronson Yoder then raced in from 60 yards out late in the opening period to make it 16-0. Gessinger then threw the lone pass of the game, a 53-yard touchdown toss to senior Payton Bear. Senior Brayton Yoder then scored on a seven-yard run, followed by a one-yard run and Bronson Yoder capped the first half with a 10-yard run with 3:10 to play to make it 44-0.

Gessinger, who led the ground game with 15 carries for 115 yards, scored on a 27-yard keeper in the third period to make it 51-0. Senior Jake Chupp then dashed in from five yards out to make it 58-0.

Memorial then got a 68-touchdown toss from sophomore senior Tyler Lehner to Andrew Goodman with 7:59 left in the game. The Chargers added a score on an 11-yard run by sophomore Ivan Soeun  with 1:03 to play.

Sophomore Ben Mestach had the final touchdown of the night for the Panthers on a nine-yard run in the final period.

NorthWood outgained Memorial 518-199 in total yards. The Panthers averaged 8.5 yards per play.

Bronson Yoder had five carries for 94 yards, while Brayton Yoder had 21 for 90 and Chupp nine for 82.

Gessinger now has 924 yards rushing and Brayton Yoder 784 on the season.

Senior Rashaun Smith led the Memorial offense with 12 rushes for 58 yards. Sophomore Mark Brownlee, Memorial’s best player, was held in check with 15 carries for 29 yards.

The Panthers did lost three fumbles on the night, while Memorial turned the ball over four times. Bronson Yoder had an interception for NorthWood.

NorthWood has now outscored its seven foes 215-63, while Memorial has been outscored 214-114 overall (including 179-48 in its five NLC games).

NorthWood plays at Warsaw (4-3, 3-2) and Memorial is at Wawasee (1-6, 0-5) in NLC action next Friday night. Warsaw beat Wawasee 35-13 Friday night.