PLYMOUTH – “Fourteen years is long enough – all I can say is ding dong the witch is dead.”
And that quote from Plymouth quarterback Jack Barron kind of says it all.
Barron presided over the exorcism of some football demons as Plymouth’s Rockies took a 37-29 win over NorthWood in the sectional final at Plymouth Friday night – ending a long Plymouth sectional title drought as well as a hex that NorthWood’s Panthers seemed to hold over the Rockies in recent years.
Barron threw for 136 yards and three touchdowns, led all rushers in the game with 155 yards and a score on the ground and just for good measure caught a touchdown pass.
“He’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders but we really saw a completely different kid in the second half,” said Plymouth head coach John Barron. “That first drive (in the second half) we scored in three or four plays and I think that just set the tone for the second half.”
“When you have a third year guy that’s what your hoping for. Early on I thought he was pressing. He missed some reads. But that option football – all three phases – with with McMillen at fullback and the pitches to Cam (Eveland) and (Terrance) Hooten were just huge toward the end.”
The first half was all NorthWood as Panther quarterback Trey Belinski had outstanding protection from his offensive line and was able to pick and choose receivers at will ending the night hitting 17 of 24 passing for 171 yards and a pair of scores.
Adding a 73 yard touchdown run from Bailey Gessinger the Panthers went to the half with a 21-15 lead. At one point – heading to the final two minutes of the first half they held a 14-0 lead.
“I think the resiliency that they’ve (Plymouth’s Rockies) shown, everything that they’ve been through – our kids didn’t have any quit in them – they just kept making play after play on both sides of the ball,” said John Barron. “The kids overcame that and in the end the defense pulled us through.”
After a masterful drive, NorthWood coach Nate Andrews rolled the dice and put all his team’s hopes in one play with fourth and goal from the five with six seconds to play. The call was perfect with Braxton Linville getting inside position across the end zone, but Plymouth’s Braxton Bennit recovered to close and make a huge defensive play in the endzone to seal the win.
It was just one in a series of many plays that made the game a classic.
“We just kept making play after play,” said John Barron. “Crum’s big catch. The fourth down play that Cam threw to Jack. But they (NorthWood) didn’t quite either they just kept coming back. That was a really, really good football team that we just beat.
“After all we’ve been through you can’t write a story like that,” said quarterback Jack Barron. “It’s the kind of stuff you see in movies.”
“We played hard and we played tough,” said Plymouth defensive stand out senior Brandt Peters. “We were playing together that’s the reason we won this game tonight.”
The Rockies (10-2) will be at home next week taking on top ranked Fort Wayne Dwenger (11-1) in regional action.
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 0 15 15 7 – 37
NorthWood 7 14 8 0 – 29
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NW – Tanner Cleveland 14 Yd Pass From Trey Bilinski (Jaron Mullet Kick)
Second Quarter
NW – Braxton Linville 18 Yd Pass FromTrey Bilinski (Mullet Kick)
P – Jack Barron 7 Yd Pass From Cam Eveland (Jeremy Drudge Kick)
NW – Bailey Gessinger 73 Yd Run (Jaron Mullet Kick)
P – Logan Crum 34 Yd Pass From Jack Barron (Matt Friar Run For Two-Point Conversion)
Third Quarter
P – Jack Barron 9 Yd Run (Jeremy Drudge Kick)
NW – Tanner Cleveland 5 Yd Run (Bronson Yoder Run For Two-Point Conversion)
P – Terrance Hooten 30 Yd Pass From Jack Barron (AJ Styers Run For Two-Point Conversion)
Fourth Quarter
P – Tristen McMillen 13 Yd Pass From Jack Barron (Jeremy Drudge Kick)
Rushing – (Plymouth) Barron 24-155 TD, Eveland 6-72, McMillen 9-19, Hooten 2-13. (NorthWood) Gessinger 19-112 TD, Cleveland 5-17 TD
Passing – Barron 7-15, 136 yards 3 TD, Eveland 1-1 7 TD, Bilinski 17-24 171 2 TD.
Receiving – Crum 2-64 TD, Hooten 2-49 TD, McMillen 1-13 TD, Linville 9-89 TD, Cleveland 5-50 TD.
Tackles – Friar 6, Peters 6, White 5.
