By RICK SPRUNGER
GAS CITY — Opening night landed with a thud for Norwell Friday night.
The Knights traveled to Mississinewa and came home on the bottom end of a 35-0 loss to a team that was undefeated and a Class 4A sectional champion a year ago.
Three big plays and a pick-six helped stake the Indians to a 35-0 halftime lead, and the second half was played with a running clock.
“(Mississinewa’s) level of physicality was the difference,” said Norwell head coach Josh Gerber after watching the Indians dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball throughout that decisive first half. “We couldn’t get them blocked. It just wasn’t a clean offensive performance.”
The stat sheet told the story.
The first-half numbers saw Ole Miss roll up 293 total yards to Norwell’s 109.
In fact, Norwell went three-and-out on each of its first three possessions and didn’t pick up its initial first down until the 1:12 mark of the first period.
“(Norwell quarterback Cayden) Cassel threw the ball well tonight,” continued Gerber, “but we just couldn’t sustain anything.”
Mississinewa had no such difficulties thanks to its big-play capabilities.
It started on the first play of the Indians’ second possession.
Ian Newsom took a pitch from quarterback Kellen Rock to the left, broke one tackle, and was gone for 55 yards and a touchdown.
The next two scores also came on big plays but both of them through the air.
Rock found a pair of wide-open receivers downfield, first in Kallen Quaderer for 38 yards and then Newsom for 85.
“They ran the same play both times,” commented Gerber, “and our corner jumped to the short route receiver.”
Quaderer caught his pass at about the six-yard line and walked into the end zone; Newsome caught his at about midfield and turned on the jets to outrace the Norwell secondary. That made the score 21-0.
If that weren’t bad enough, on Norwell’s first play of its next possession, Mississinewa picked off a pass at the 25 and dashed into the end zone for the Indians’ second touchdown in nine seconds.
Norwell answered with a drive all the way to the Mississinewa 11-yard line before a fourth-and-two play fell a yard short.
Mississinewa then drove 90 yards in 13 plays and clinched a running clock for the second half when Monday punched it in from two yards out just 32 seconds before the end of the half.
Monday, who rushed for over 900 yards for Mississinewa’s powerhouse team of a year ago, finished with 76 yards on 14 carries without playing a down in the second half.
“He’s a load,” acknowledged Gerber. “He’s a big, strong back, and they owned the offensive line.”
Norwell very nearly got a late, cosmetic score after driving 70 yards in 17 plays in the fourth quarter to reach the Mississinewa 3.
But a fumble into the end zone on the final play of the game was recovered by the Indians to preserve the shutout.
Despite the one-sided loss, Gerber was optimistic.
“Nothing great happened tonight, but we’ve got something to build on,” said the coach. “We just need to stay the course, work hard, and get better.”
Norwell will host Delta in its home opener next Friday night at the Courtyard.
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MISSISSINEWA 35, NORWELL 0
at Mississinewa
Norwell 0 0 0 0 — 0
Mississinewa 14 21 0 0 — 35
First Quarter
M—Ian Newsom 55 run (Seth Yoder kick), 6:30.
M—Kallen Quaderer 38 pass from Kellen Rock (Yoder kick), 2:20.
Second Quarter
M—Newsom 85 pass from Rock (Yoder kick), 9:24.
M—Andrew Monday 25 interception return (Yoder kick), 9:15.
M—Ah’lijah Monday 2 run (Yoder kick), 0:32.
Team Stats NOR MISS
First Downs 10 9
Rushes-Yards 30-88 21-137
Passing (Att-Comp-Int)11-16-1 5-10-0
Passing Yards 80 160
Punts-Average 5-28.0 2-47.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-42 3-20
Time of Possession 31:03 16:57
Individual Stats
Rushing: Norwell — Alex Fojtik 9-27, E.J. Morgan 8-37, Kaidyn Inostroza 3-19, Drew Graft 2-(-4), Garry Riley 2-(-6), Ben Peterson 1-2, Cayden Cassel 1-2, Lance Merriwether 1-1, Drew Jolley 1-1. Mississinewa — Ah’lijah Monday 14-76, Ian Newsom 2-53, Jace Christopher 4-(-1), Tayjuan Weaver 1-9.
Passing: Norwell — Cayden Cassel 5-9-1 58, Garry Riley 4-4-0 14, E.J. Morgan 2-3-0 8. Mississinewa — Kellen Rock 5-8-0 160, Jacob Schwartz 0-2-0 0.
Receiving: Norwell — Garry Riley 4-11, Cooper Bunn 1-23, Drew Graft 1-21, Brady Smith 1-16, Lance Merriwether 1-6, Connor Fojtik 1-2, Cayden Cassel 1-2, Max Babcock 1-(-1). Mississinewa — Ian Newsom 2-92, Kallen Quaderer 1-38, Jaxon Ott 1-30, Merick Mobley 1-0.
