A 27-yard fourth-quarter field goal by Chris Smith was the final scoring play of Peru’s 24-21 Mid-Indiana Conference victory over Northwestern Friday night, but you’d have a hard time convincing anyone in attendance wearing purple.
Smith followed his game-winning field goal with a kickoff that drove the Northwestern returner into the end zone. Northwestern took over on their 20 with 7:52 left, needing an 80-yard drive to win the game. They got 79.
The Howard County Tigers drove to a first-and-goal on the Peru 5 in 10 plays. On second down a mishandled pitch led to a fumble and an 11-yard loss, pushing Northwestern back to the 16. On third down quarterback Trevor Gibson hit Mitch Daily for 15 yards, setting up fourth and goal on the one. Gibson ran a quarterback keeper and appeared to get into the end zone. After a long debate over the spot of the ball, the officials said Gibson didn’t get in.
“It’s frustrating to score and have it taken away from the kids,” Northwestern coach John Hendryx said in a very quiet locker room. “Our kids deserve a lot of credit for fighting through that [and nearly scoring once again, as time ran out]. We just didn’t get it in there.”
Peru took over on its 1 with just 1:38 left. A Peru penalty and two timeouts by the home team allowed Northwestern to force a punt with almost no time off the clock. A short punt gave Northwestern the ball on the Peru 34 with 1:11 to go.
Northwestern managed to run seven plays in the final 71 seconds, and once again found itself staring right at the end zone. An 11-yard completion from Gibson to Daily gave Northwestern a first down on the two, but the clock was inside 10 seconds and it had no timeouts left. Gibson tried one more quarterback sneak, but was stopped short and time ran out.
Both teams entered the game on a happy note, earning a decisive win over an MIC rival last week. It was a high-stakes game for both teams and they played like it.
Peru tailback Austin Shaw scored once in the first quarter on an 8-yard run, then threw a halfback pass to Zach Brunnemer for another score, just seconds into the second quarter.
Northwestern battled back with a 64-yard, 11-play drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Erick Miller. Peru had a 14-7 lead at the half.
Northwestern put together an impressive 81-yard drive to start the second half. Gibson took the ball in from the one and Alex Crocker added the extra point for a 14-14 tie.
On its next possession, Peru pulled back ahead 21-14 with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mason Zimmer to Owen Jamison.
Northwestern’s final score came with 11:32 left in the fourth quarter. Derek Mumaw raced through the left side of the line, then dove into the end zone for a 16-yard score.
Injuries slowed Northwestern all night.
“We had two starters from our secondary come out, and Peru is not a team you want to play with your secondary hurt,” Hendryx said. “We also lost a defensive lineman, a linebacker and our tailback. It seemed like every time I looked up another kid was coming out. We prepare a lot of kids, ones and twos, but realistically the twos don’t expect to play that much. Whoever we put in [Friday] did a good job. We can’t ask any more than that.”
Peru improved to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the MIC and Northwestern dropped to 4-4 and 2-4.
Sports
Peru denies NW
Purple Tigers come up just short on two late drives
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Kats lose heartbreaker
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Tipton races by Taylor
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It’s tourney time
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What a kick for Hoosier native Weatherford
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Ice baths can improve your health
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Wiechmann comes up big in regional
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Wildkat wrestlers move nine onto Ft. Wayne semistate
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Visitors down at tourism office
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Kokomo guts out a win at Lebanon
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Western beats Taylor, secures shot at outright MIC title
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