Two late first-half touchdowns propel run-happy Mishawaka over Northridge

MIDDLEBURY — Under coach Keith Kinder, the Mishawaka Cavemen have been known as a run-oriented football team. But every once in a while, the Cavemen will surprise you with a pass.

Friday night at Interra Field, the Class 5A No. 10 Cavemen scored two touchdowns in the final 45.7 seconds and then some of the first half to stun host Northridge on their way to a 37-16 victory in the Northern Lakes Conference opener for both.

After junior fullback Novell Miller scored on a 1-yard run to complete a 19-play, 70-yard drive which consumed 8:49 of the scoreboard clock, Mishawaka got the football back with 5.4 seconds remaining at their own 46.

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Time for one play. Kinder elected to have senior quarterback Brady Fisher toss a pitch back to junior halfback Kaden Smith, who threw a flea flocker to halfback Ethan Bryce. Time expired when two Northridge defenders interfered with Bryce, giving the Cavemen another untimed play from the Northridge 39. This time, Fisher threw a long pass into the end zone to senior Trey Thomas, who caught the deflected pass for the touchdown that sent the Raiders reeling into halftime down 23-8.

“We were trying to be aggressive, trying to make something happen at the end of the first half,” Kinder said. “We threw one up after the penalty and got lucky there.”

Mishawaka, which was hoping to rebound from its 28-7 loss to crosstown rival Penn last week, did just that. The Cavemen (2-1 overall, 1-0 Northern Lakes) rushed 52 times for 355 yards, with quarterback Fisher, who had TD runs of 61 and 3 yards in addition to his TD pass to Thomas, gaining 169 on 16 carries and fullback Miller adding 153 yards on 31 carries, two of them scores.

“When we’re going right, that’s the Mishawaka way,” Kinder said.

Class 4A No. 7 Northridge (2-1, 0-1 NLC) totaled 247 yards, 157 on the ground and was without running threat McClain Miller for the second half.

Players of the game

Fisher and Novell Miller stood out for the Cavemen, but they both will tell you the players of the game were their offensive linemen — junior tackles Carmine Orozco and Ayden Brooks, senior guards Matt Willis and Ethan Williams and senior center Eddie Rodriguez. Those five players dominated Northridge’s front seven for 28 minutes of the game.

“Big props to them – we couldn’t have done this without them,” Miller said.

Fisher was equally complimentary. “Our offensive line is a young (inexperienced) group,” the Mishawaka quarterback said. “They started out a little rough, but they are making improvements every week. I think we may have a little something there.”

Raiders reaction

“That’s a heckuva football team over in Mishawaka,” Northridge coach Chad Eppley said. “I told our team there are two ways we can go about this season. You can either learn from this or go away content with losing.”

Up next

The Cavemen return to Steele Stadium next Friday to welcome NLC foe Goshen, which fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the league after a 34-21 loss to Wawasee. The Raiders travel to Class 4A No. 4 NorthWood next Friday for an important NLC meeting with the Panthers, who moved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the league with their 45-14 victory at Concord.

Mishawaka 37, Northridge 16

At Interra Field, Middlebury

SCORING PLAYS

FIRST QUARTER

M: Brady Fisher 61-yard rush at 8:53 (Novell Miller rush)

SECOND QUARTER

N: Brayden Clark 4-yard rush at 9:35 (McClain Miller rush)

M: Novell Miller 1 rush at 45.7 (Ethan Bryce rush)

M: Trey Thomas 39-yard pass from Fisher at 0.0 (Lucas Larson kick)

THIRD QUARTER

M: Miller 35 rush at 3:22 (Larson kick)

FOURTH QUARTER

N: Chase Clark 14-yard pass from Brayden Clark at 10:05 (Derek Sherwood rush)

M: Fisher 3-yard rush at 2:51 (Larson kick)

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mishawaka takes early lead to suprise NLC football foe Northridge