By RICK SPRUNGER
KENDALLVILLE — A strong East Noble team took control of its game with Norwell with three first-half touchdowns, then put it away with three quick lightning bolts in the third quarter.
The end result was a 42-0 win for East Noble on a blustery night in Kendallville.
The score sounds one-sided, and certainly East Noble was never in any real trouble.
But Norwell played the heavily favored East Noble club tough, at least through most of the first half.
A game-ending injury to starting quarterback Cayden Cassel with 4:38 left in the second quarter, however, helped ground the Norwell offense.
East Noble only got one offensive score in the second half, and that on blitzkrieg 76-yard touchdown pass.
The other two third quarter scores were defensive scores on fumble recovery returns.
“We didn’t finish plays,” said Norwell coach Josh Gerber of his team’s performance. “There were times when we didn’t get off the field on third down when we should have. We missed tackles. We should have had tackles for a loss but let them break away. On offense, were able to execute, just not consistently. Obviously, getting Cayden dinged hurt us a little bit. (Back-up quarterback) E.J. (Morgan) did a good job of managing the situation handed him.”
East Noble scored on each of its first two possessions.
Quarterback Rylee Biddle set up the first with a 31-yard completion to Mason Treesh on third-and-six, and Dylan Krehl went straight up the middle untouched from eight yards out on the next play to give the home team the early lead.
Dallas Plattner went for 25 yards for a score on East Noble’s ensuing possession after breaking a tackle.
Krehl, who rushed for 150 yards on 14 carries, then broke away from what seemed like a sure tackle for a loss and went the other way for a 25-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter for the 21-0 halftime spread.
“We need to be finishing plays,” said Gerber.
Although Cassel went down with his injury shortly after that, Norwell got off to a good start in the third quarter when it forced an East Noble punt on its first possession.
But on Norwell’s second play, Krehl scooped up a fumble in the Norwell backfield and zipped in from just 15 yards out.
East Noble then forced a Norwell three-and-out, and Biddle hooked up with Treesh on that 76-yard scoring bomb.
That made it 35-0 and got the clock running, but not before Pace Agee picked up another Norwell fumble on the ensuing kickoff and dashed 17 yards the other way for a sudden 42-0 score.
Late in the final frame, Norwell reached the East Noble 18 on a 21-yard pass from Morgan to Lance Meriwether for its deepest penetration of the night. But the East Noble defense stiffened and preserved the shutout.
Next week, Norwell will host DeKalb.
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EAST NOBLE 42, NORWELL 0
At East Noble
Norwell 0 0 0 0 — 0
East Noble14 7 21 0 —42
First Quarter
EN—Dylan Krehl 8 run (Alexander Sprague kick), 6:44.
EN—Dallas Plattner 25 run (Sprague kick), 3:26.
Second Quarter
E—Krehl 25 run (Sprague kick), 4:59.
Third Quarter
EN—Krehl 15 fumble return (Sprague kick), 9:28.
EN—Mason Treesh 76 pass from Rylee Biddle (Sprague kick), 6:07.
EN—Pace Agee 17 fumble return (Sprague kick), 5:20.
Fourth Quarter
No Scoring.
Team Statistics
NOR EN
First Downs 7 17
Rushes-Yards 29-39 31-197
Passing Yards 90 131
Passing (C-A-I) 10-16-0 7-14-0
Punts-Ave 8-37.0 5-36.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties-Yards 8-65 7-60
Time of Possession 28:10 19:50
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Norwell-E.J. Morgan 10-11, Adam Mahnensmith 8-16, Cayden Cassel 8-12, Drew Graft 3-0; East Noble-Dylan Krehl 14-150, Dallas Plattner 7-61, Alexander Phillips 4-(-1), Ian Ramey 2-0, Rylee Biddle 2-(-10), Landon Hicks 1-1, Mason Treesh 1-(-4).
Passing: Norwell-Cayden Cassel 5-10-0 33, E.J. Morgan 5-6-0 57; East Noble-Rylee Biddle 6-12-0 134, Mason Treesh 1-2-0 -3.
Receiving: Norwell-Drew Graft 4-18, Garry Riley 2-30, Lance Meriwether 1-21, Brady Smith 1-15, Max Babcock 1-9, Adam Mahnensmith 1-(-3); East Noble-Mason Treesh 4-111, Dallas Plattner 1-21, Dylan Krehl 1-2, Lucas Conley 1-(-3).
