PREP FOOTBALL: Northridge hits the road, rolls over Logansport 39-3

Oct. 20—LOGANSPORT — It was a little bit more difficult than running through a berry field, but that's essentially what Northridge did Friday night, defeating the Logansport Berries 39-3 in the first round of the Class 4A sectional round

The No. 8 Raiders' offensive line helped power 310 yards of offense on the ground, giving plenty of room for senior McClain Miller and junior Derek Sherwood to run on the road.

"There's two drives that we should have scored on in the first half, but other than that, our offense performed and our defense obviously did a really good job," Northridge head coach Chad Eppley said after the win.

Not forgotten was the Northridge defense who sacked Berries quarterback Bryson Herr three times, entering the backfield with urgency, consistently putting Logansport behind the sticks.

The Berries, who traditionally run a similar style offense to the wing-T format, had fallen around 136 yards of offense. The drops by Logansport receivers on short routes didn't help the offense either.

"They were very physical," Logansport head coach Mike Johnson said. "We knew offensively they were a two-headed monster. They have a hell of a running back and they can throw the ball. Tonight it was mismatch really physically."

With the win, Northridge (8-2) moved on to the sectional semifinals where they'll meet Wawasee in Middlebury next week. Logansport's season ended with a 4-6 record.

"We always talk about the importance of controlling the line of scrimmage," Eppley said. "I think our offensive line stepped up really big this week. They didn't do such a great job last week, and so we kind of let them know that and I think they did a 180 this week."

Both offenses turned the ball over on 4th down pass incompletions to begin the action and that's when Northridge's second drive of the game featured Miller running off six-straight rushes, capping it off with a 7-yard rush for the games first points at the 10:02 mark in the second quarter.

The ensuing Logansport drive went backwards, and when the Berries fumbled a punt inside their own 10-yard line, it set up Miller to walk in a three-yard score, upping the Raiders lead to 14-0 with eight minutes remaining in the first period.

"Of course, we're fairly young upfront," Johnson said. "We're playing freshman, sophomores. You can't really matchup with those guys."

Northridge kicker Dylan Ritchie lined one short on a 42-yard attempt and Logansport opted to drain the clock with their final possession, sending the Berries down two scores heading into the break.

The second half didn't fair much better for Logansport. Northridge used a 17-yard strike from Brayden Clark to Chase Clark, a 13-yard rush from Sherwood and a 61-yarder from Miller to set themselves up 32-0 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Chris Anthony Delvalle and Cayden Walker propelled the Berries forward to start the fourth. Herr hit Deagan Kitchel and Jackson Walker for consecutive first downs, but Logansport couldn't sneak in the endzone, settling for a 26-yard field goal from Dylan Hamm with nine minutes remaining.

Northridge would score once more on a Sherwood 16-yard rush, paving the way to a 39-3 final score.

"We're very proud of this group," Johnson said following the end of the Berries season. "There's a couple ballgames that we might have been [able to] have a winning season. For this group to win four ball games, we're pretty proud of them."

Eppley was already aware of Wawasee's score, who was up on South Bend Riley at the conclusion of the action in Logansport.

"It sounds like we're gonna see an opponent that we've already seen this year, so they kind of know what we're about," the Raider head coach said referring to the strength on the ground and in the air. "We did not throw the ball well against them the last time we saw them so we're going to try and do better throwing the ball."

With the win, Northridge will be home next week for the sectional semi-final game against Wawasee (2-8). The Warriors beat South Bend Riley (8-2) 35-26. The Raiders won in Syracuse earlier this season 14-7 as the game also featured a pair of ejections.

PREP FOOTBALL

#8 Northridge 0 14 18 7 — 39

Logansport 0 0 0 3 — 3

SCORING First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

N (10:02) — McClain Miller runs through the middle for a 7-yard touchdown run. PAT is good. (N 7-0)

N (8:25) — Miller runs in 3-yard touchdown. PAT is good. (N 14-0)

Third quarter

N (6:44) — Brayden Clark pass complete to Chase Calrk for 17-yard touchdown. PAT is no good. (N 20-0)

N (3:40) — Derek Sherwood outstretches at the goal line for 13-yard touchdown rush. Two-point rush by Miller is no good. (N 26-0)

N (0.35) — Miller runs for 61-yard touchdown. Two-point try fails. (N 32-0)

Fourth quarter

L (9:00) — Dylan Hamm's 26-yard field goal is good. (N 32-3)

N (5:53) — Sherwood runs for 16-yard touchdown. PAT is good. (N 39-3)

STATISTICS

(N) McClain Miller: 20 rushes, 199 yards, 3 TDs / 1 catch 16 yards

(N) Derek Sherwood: 13 rushes, 90 yards, 2 TDs

(N) Brayden Clark: 6-8, 63 passing yards, TD / 2 rushes, 21 yards

(N) Chase Clark: 2 catches, 17 yards, TD

(L) Chris Anthony Delvalle: 9 rushes, 53 yards / 1 catch, 13 yards

(L) Cayden Walker: 4 rushes, 40 yards

(L) Bryson Herr: 6-15, 41 yards, INT

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.