MIDDLEBURY – It was opening night of conference play at Raider Field as Northridge welcomed in Wawasee. The two teams had been flaunting their defensive units the first two weeks of the season and the contest proved to be a defensive struggle throughout. The Raiders would take advantage of several miscues by the Warriors to earn a 21-0 victory.

Wawasee and Northridge would exchange possessions to start the game. The Warriors seemed to have the early advantage as they found ways to control the tempo with their offense. The visitors had the first shot at scoring but had their second drive with a missed 28-yard field goal attempt. Chalk that up as one missed opportunity for the Warriors.

After playing to a scoreless tie in the first, Wawasee forced a Raider punt. The punt was deflected by a Warrior defender and caught by Wawasee’s Stephen Possell who was hit and lost the ball, which Northridge recovered. Chalk that up as a second missed opportunity for the Warriors.

Northridge turned the ensuing possession into a scoring drive capped off by a one-yard run from Brody Miller. It seemed Wawasee could gain some momentum back on a botched snap on the extra-point, but Raider holder Matt Miller scrambled around and eventually found himself in the end zone, giving the Raiders an 8-0 lead. Chalk that up as the third missed momentum-swinging opportunity for Wawasee in the first half.

Northridge threatened to extend its lead in the final seconds of the first half by going for it on fourth and two on the Warriors two-yard line. Wawasee’s defense had, arguably, its brightest moment of the evening by stuffing the Raiders as time expired to keep the eight-point deficit intact.

Despite having that nice play going into the locker room, Wawasee kept shooting itself in the foot with penalties and turnovers in the second half. There is a majority of inexperience on the field for the Warriors and it showed at times Friday night.

“We have a lot of juniors and seniors and we just can’t make those mistakes,” said Wawasee head coach Josh Ekovich. “I guess you kind of expect it at times with an inexperienced team, but we have to get better at being disciplined in a lot of areas.”

Ekovich’s team is now in its third week of its new offense and there is still a noticeable learning curve. While some fans certainly have voiced their opinions against it in the Wawasee football community, the man on the opposite sideline felt lucky to get out with a victory.

“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about what Wawasee and coach Ekovich are doing with that offense,” said Tom Wogomon, Northridge’s head coach. “They’re running a system that can be very successful. Their linemen are strong, they’re getting underneath, they’re pushing. They’re learning, we are too. That was a good, physical football game. We just did a little more when all was said and done.”

Wogomon went on to talk about the triple option offense that Wawasee runs and how important it was for his team to see that this week before their big showdown with Plymouth, who runs the same offense, next Friday.

Wogomon’s team added a score in the third on a 20-yard pass from Nick Hooley to Matt Miller, Wawasee blocked the extra-point attempt. The Raiders then put the nail in the coffin with just under a minute to play with a nine-yard scoring run by Hooley.

Wawasee showed some flashes on offense in the second half, including a nice pass from Tyler Smith to Zac McKee for a 32-yard gain. Michael Katzer and Noah Wadkins had their moments out of the backfield as they rushed for 46 and 55 yards, respectively. Ekovich knows his team is close to figuring out the few kinks on the offense side of the ball, but patience is the key for a group of boys that have only been running this system for three months.

Wawasee finished with 174 yards of total offense to ‘Ridge’s 264. Self-inflicted wounds killed the Warriors as Wawasee tallied seven penalties for 60 yards and had two turnovers.

Wawasee (2-1, 0-1) will host Concord (2-1, 2-0) next Friday while Northridge (3-0, 1-0) will travel to Plymouth (3-0, 1-0).