Penn's 'Wild Bunch' defense suffocates New Prairie in NIC football showdown
NEW CARLISLE — The “Wild Bunch” lived up to its nickname Friday night.
The Penn defense held New Prairie to nine total yards on offense (15 passing, minus-6 rushing) and two first downs in a 22-0 victory at Amzie Miller Field. It was the fourth shutout in five weeks for the Kingsmen defense.
“Great defense,” Penn coach Cory Yeoman simply stated after the game. “With that kind of an offense, they can run the ball, throw it and run play-action off it. Everybody has to do a great job and play assignment football, and those 11 guys got to trust the other 10 next to them. I think they played extremely hard. I loved how they flew around and tackled.”
New Prairie coach Casey McKim explained what went wrong for his team on offense.
“We didn’t execute at the level we needed to up front honestly,” McKim said. “In the pass game, where some of the explosive plays were at before, we just couldn’t get anything going there. The pass protection up front was a major struggle. … We just had to do our job. As offensive coaches, we need to make sure our guys can be successful at a higher level more consistently.”
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Penn (7-1, 4-0 NIC) was methodical on offense. It controlled the field position battle as well, starting six drives in New Prairie territory. The second one of those ended with the team’s first touchdown, as senior Jake Balis ripped off a 22-yard scoring run on a 3rd-and-1. Balis added a two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 1:40 left in the first quarter.
The Kingsmen added a second touchdown right before halftime, with senior Nolan McCullough tossing a 13-yard pass to classmate Elijah Coker with 21.6 seconds left in the second quarter.
After a scoreless third quarter, Penn scored on a defensive touchdown 10 seconds into the fourth. New Prairie quarterback Marshall Kmiecik bobbled a snap, with the ball rolling into the end zone. It was fallen on by Kingsmen senior Maverick Brown for an automatic score.
Penn dominated the time of possession. Excluding the kneel downs at the end of the game, the Kingsmen ran 64 plays compared to 34 for the Cougars. Penn had two, seven-minute drives in the game that ended in turnover on downs.
Balis finished with 106 rushing yards on 28 carries, while McCullough rushed 23 times for 90 yards.
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“We moved the ball well,” Yeoman said. “Coker made some big plays and (Cole) Bennett made some big plays as well in the passing game. We possessed the football. I think the special teams played a nice game as well.”
McKim commended his team’s defensive effort, holding the Kingsmen to just 15 points on offense.
“I told the defense: I’m proud of the guts they showed,” McKim said. “The first touchdown drive, there was multiple times where they pinned us deep, offensively … when you have a short field, you’re bound to get something and pop something.”
Penn clinches a share of the NIC East-West championship
It was the first road victory for the Kingsmen over New Prairie in three trips. It also secured the Kingsmen at least a share of the Northern Indiana Conference East-West division championship.
“That’s one of the goals when you start the season,” Yeoman said. “Number one is having a winning season. Number two is trying to win the Northern Indiana Conference. We’ve got a chance next week to accomplish that outright.”
What’s next for Penn and New Prairie
Penn can win the outright division championship with a win against South Bend Adams at home next week. New Prairie (6-2, 3-1 NIC) travels to Elkhart for its regular season finale.
Penn 22, New Prairie 0
Penn | 8 | 7 | 0 | 7 | — 22 |
New Prairie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — 0 |
SCORING PLAYS
FIRST QUARTER
P: Jake Balis 22-yard run at 1:40 (Balis 2-point run)
SECOND QUARTER
P: Elijah Coker 13-yard catch from Nolan McCullough at 21.6 (Dylan DeDario kick)
THIRD QUARTER
No scoring
FOURTH QUARTER
P: Maverick Brown fumble recovery in end zone at 11:51 (DeDario kick)
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn's 'Wild Bunch defense suffocates New Prairie in NIC showdown
