NORTHWOOD — Northwood clinched a tie for the Toledo Area Athletic
Conference championship Friday night with a 26-6 win over Ottawa Hills.The
Rangers, 9-0 overall ranked sixth in Division V, are 6-0 in the TAAC. They can
clinch the outright championship next week with a victory against Cardinal
Stritch (1-8, 0-6). PHOTO
GALLERYThe
loss was OH’s first in the TAAC. The Green Bears are 6-3, 5-1.True to form, the
Rangers utilized a ground-and-pound offensive scheme that accounted for 311
yards of their 368 total net yardage.The Green Bears were held to only 112 total
yards by the Rangers with 58 of those yards on the ground.Ottawa Hills got off
to a promising start in the first quarter with a 40-yard field goal kick from
Michael Geiger to take a 3-0 lead.“We had a pretty good scheme defensively in
the first half and the kids were able to tackle,” said Ottawa Hills head coach
Chris Hardman.Northwood was held scoreless in the first quarter thanks to a
stout defensive effort by Ottawa Hills. The Green Bears forced the Rangers to
turn the ball over on the Green Bears’ 5-yard line.“They were able to get some
defensive stops there in the first half and push us far enough to get some field
goals,” said Northwood head coach Ken James. “We needed to make adjustments in
that first half and we weren’t able to do it until the second half.”The Rangers
did not respond until one minute into the second quarter as Dominik Bermejo ran
in a 4-yard touchdown. After an unsuccessful PAT attempt, Northwood led
6-3.“Bermejo is not a big scary guy if you saw him in street clothes, but he is
an outstanding athlete that knows how to play football and always contributes to
this team,” said James.OH answered with 4:01 left in the second quarter as
Geiger scored on another field goal from 27 yards out to tie the game at 6-6
going into halftime.The Rangers found some holes in the OH defense, scoring 20
points in the third quarter.

“At halftime I don’t know that anyone made any adjustments except
number 34 (Nick Whitmore) who decided that nobody was going to tackle him,” said
Hardman. “He just ran us over and there wasn’t anything that we could do about
it … they’re good enough defensively that they started to get a little more
pressure on our quarterback so that he couldn’t step into throws.”Midway through
the third quarter, Whitmore found a seam and unleashed a 63-yard run for a
touchdown. After an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt the Rangers led
12-6.“The first half we didn’t play as a team, but then the second half we came
out on fire,” said Whitmore. “Individually, I felt really good about myself, but
its a team sport and I’d rather go out there and get the ‘W’ first.”Later in the
third quarter the Rangers managed to open another hole for Whitmore, and he
rushed 15 yards for another touchdown.“Whitmore, on the other hand, does look
big and scary in street clothes and is also a great football player who
contributes to this team on a regular basis as well,” said James.Bermejo
followed up the score with a successful two-point conversion run increasing
Northwood’s lead to 20-6 with 2:10 left in the quarter.“Our offensive line is
huge for a Division V school, so if I can get up to that second level, I’m just
getting in the open field, sticking my arm out there, picking my feet up, and
just going,” Whitmore said.After forcing the Green Bears into a three-and-out
series, quarterback Nick Russell connected with Bermejo on a 45-yard touchdown
pass with only eight seconds left in the third quarter. The Rangers attempted
another 2-point conversion that failed, giving Northwood a 20-point lead going
into the fourth quarter.“I don’t think anything went wrong. I just believe the
better football team really asserted themselves,” said Hardman. “They (the
Rangers) are big, strong, powerful, well coached, and our kids put forth an
outstanding effort against them.”Both teams were held scoreless in the fourth
quarter.NORTHWOOD 26, OTTAWA HILLS 6OTTAWA HILLS 3 3 0 0 —6NORTHWOOD 0 6 20 0
—26OH — Geiger, 40 field goalN — Bermejo, 4 run (kick failed)OH — Geiger, 27
field goalN — Whitmore, 63 run (run failed)N — Whitmore, 15 run (Bermejo run)N —
Bermejo, 45 pass from Russell (run failed)TEAM STATISTICSCategory OH NFirst
downs 7 12By rushing 4 11By passing 2 1By penalty 1 0Total net yards 112
368Rushing 58 311Passing 54 57Attempts 24 8Completions 7 3Interceptions 0
1Punts/average 8/40.4 5/46.6Penalties/yards 7/40 6/50Fumbles/lost 1/1
1/1INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING: (OH) Longthorne, 15-58. (N) Whitmore, 5-91;
Bermejo, 17-77; Russell, 13-64; Perkins, 4-27; Schell, 5-52.PASSING: (OH)
Rodriguez, 7-24-0—54. (N) Russell, 3-8-1—57.RECEIVING: (OH) Wollenburg, 4-24;
Harrison, 2-9; King, 1-21. (N) Bermejo, 2-52; Davenport, 1-5.