FROM THE ELKHART TRUTH, SATURDAY, AUGUST 19

Jimmies roll out to big lead, hang tough late

By Bill Beck
Truth Sports Editor
JIMTOWN — It was far from a tease, but Jimtown played a little keep-away from NorthWood on Friday night.
The kept the ball for most of the first half, rolled out to a 24-7 halftime lead and held tough long enough in the second half to post a 30-21 season-opening high school football victory at Knepp Field.
“I really thought we played well defensively, especially against the run,’’ said Jimmie coach Bill Sharpe. “NorthWood ... they’re an accomplished option team.’’
But Jimtown’s ball-hawking defense throttled the Panthers’ ground game, which was missing starter Chaz Scherer, who is out for the regular season with a knee injury.
While the Jims followed an experienced offensive line and ripped off 39 first-half plays, their defense held NorthWood to just 24 rushing yards in the opening two periods and forced the Panthers to the air.
“We didn’t help ourselves ... especially in the first half,’’ said Rich Dodson, NorthWood’s coach. “We didn’t make defensive plays.
“Jimtown’s got experienced kids in the offensive line. We don’t. Jimtown’s got experienced kids at running back. We don’t,’’ added Dodson. “But we can’t use that as an excuse. We’ve got to make plays.’’
And Jimtown helped its own cause with timely execution.
The Jims banged out a 13-play drive and put up a Matt Menchinger field goal for a 3-0 lead, but Panther quarterback Mike Blosser followed up Jeff Baumgartner’s fumble recovery deep in JHS territory with a 29-yard touchdown scamper to make it 7-3.
On Jimtown’s first play after the ensuing kickoff, Brandon Squibb found Brad Clark wide open down the middle of the field for a 60-yard TD.
NorthWood then fumbled two snaps later as Justin Pontius fell on a Blosser miscue at the NWHS 32. Squibb went to the air again, lobbing a perfect pass to David Peterson at the goal line for a 17-7 lead.
When NorthWood was three-and-out on its next series, Jimtown’s offensive line of Ryan Gerschoffer, Mike Payne, David Clark, Justin Pontius and Shawn Kelley hammered out a 10-play scoring drive as Clint Pontius crashed in from the 10.
“All the running backs ran well and Brandon did what we wanted him to do,’’ said Sharpe. “We’ve got four kids up front that have played a lot of football.’’
Blosser, who was 10 of 15 passing, drove the Panthers to a quick score to make it 24-14 early in the second half, but he was forced to leave the game late in the third period.
“He got his bell rung in the second quarter and he struggled in the third quarter,’’ said Dodson, whose team missed several opportunities on dropped passes. “If we just get that score right before halftime, it might have been different and then we didn’t pick up a first down by inches.’’
Clint Pontius scored from the 4 with 5:34 left to make it 30-14 and Jesse Fink had a short TD dive for the Panthers in the final seconds.