Bronson Yoder (9) and Micah Lehman celebrate following a NorthWood score late in Friday’s NLC game at Andrews Field in Nappanee. (Photos by James Costello)

NAPPANEE — After last week’s disappointing loss to Warsaw and with the playoffs just around the corner, it was important for NorthWood to play well in its regular-season finale with Plymouth. But perhaps equally important after a second loss in three weeks knocked them out of the rankings from the No. 5 spot in the coaches’ poll, the Panthers needed to have some fun.

They certainly seemed to enjoy themselves Friday night.

Flying around on defense, piling up big plays on offense and dancing in the huddles, the Black Crunch led pretty much wire to wire opposite the Rockies. With the game already clinched following Bronson Yoder’s 53-yard touchdown run at the 7:29 stop of the fourth quarter, the NorthWood reserves got in on the party in the Panthers’ last possession before the final horn sounded on a 30-6 Northern Lakes Conference win at Andrews Field.

“I think after the disappointment last week we needed to have some fun tonight, and I think we did that playing on Andrews Field,” said NorthWood head coach Nate Andrews. “Being able to celebrate with our fans is fun for our kids. Being able to get kids in the game and see them out on Friday night under the lights is fun, too.

“Go Panthers.”

Yoder provided the bookends to the win for NorthWood (6-3, 4-3 NLC).

Splitting time with Landen Gessinger under center, the junior — who broke his wrist in the preseason scrimmage and sat out the next two weeks after undergoing surgery on the injury — threw for a pair of touchdowns playing with a bulky cast on his right hand and ran for another, as well as a trio of two-point conversions in the win.

He connected with senior receiver DeAndre Smart in the corner of the end zone from 23 yards out to break a scoreless stalemate at the 2:33 stop of the opening stanza, then ran the first of his two-point conversions in around the left side to stake his team to an 8-0 lead. With just 24 seconds remaining until halftime, Yoder connected with Smart again — this time on a 69-yard catch-and-carry that staked his team to a 24-6 lead with his two-point plunge. And it was Yoder’s 53-yard ramble up the middle behind Gessinger’s blocking that brought the score to its final margin with 7:29 left to play Friday.

Bronson Yoder gains some tough yards while Plymouth’s Zach Stiller, left, and Garret May try to bring him down Friday.

All told, Yoder went 2-for-2 with two touchdowns worth 92 yards through the air and needed just five carries to accumulate another 66 yards and a rushing TD for the home team.

“He sets the standard with his body, demeanor and language and the way he carries himself on and off the field. He’s a special kid that I’m glad is on our side,” said Andrews of the junior playmaker.

“Can you imagine doing that with a club on his hand and shot-putting one up there? He’s a special kid, and it’s great to have Landen a little bit more fresh as well and able to play defense. They’re both similar kids, but they give a little different dimension.”

The game got as close as it would ever get when the Rockies (6-3, 4-3 NLC) answered NorthWood’s first touchdown with a 19-yard completion from Cole Filson to Braxton Bennett at the 6:08 mark of the second period. But senior Brayton Yoder stopped Benji Nixon’s two-point conversion run attempt, and the Panthers needed just three plays to respond as the elder Yoder found the end zone from 57 yards out to push the Black Crunch out to a 16-6 advantage at the 4:39 stop of the clock.

“We gave up the six, but when we’re getting eight and they’re only getting six, I think that’s a big difference,” explained Andrews. “If we can finish off those guys with two-point conversions, that really, really helps us and gives us a psychological advantage, it feels.”

It was a gamble on fourth and 2 at the Panthers’ own 16-yard line that put the visitors in position to score their only touchdown of the night, but that Filson-to-Bennett connection was the NorthWood defensive unit’s only real mistake of the night.

NorthWood’s Evan Bonne, front, and Micah Lehman tackle Plymouth’s Benji Nixon.

The Rockies went 2 for 5 on fourth down attempts and were just 5 of 14 on third down at Andrews Field. The visitors came away empty-handed on three trips inside the Panther red zone Friday, and Sam Tanner missed a pair of field goal attempts from 27 and 45 yards out.

It was a return to form for the Black Crunch D, who gave up an uncharacteristic 31 points in last week’s loss at Warsaw.

“All year long the defense has risen to the occasion, whether we went for it on fourth down deep in our own territory or we turned it over or something like that,” Andrews said. “The defense has been rising to the occasion.”

The win also represented a pretty cleanly executed game by the Panthers, who finished with just five penalties for 47 yards after being flagged 11 times in Week 8. NorthWood’s costliest penalty came early in the first when a would-be 70-yard touchdown run by Bronson Yoder was called back for an illegal block.

But that flag was only a hiccup for the Panthers, who continued marching downfield and eventually finished off the possession with Smart’s first touchdown reception of the night.

DeAndre Smart hauls in his first touchdown reception Friday night.

“That has happened all year; I can’t count how many times we’ve had an 80-yard play be called back. It was a focus that those things weren’t going to bother us, and the kids came through and when some adversity hit, that was important,” said Andrews.

NorthWood tallied only eight first downs to 12 by Plymouth, but the home team used the big play rather than long drives to score its points. In the end, the Panthers finished with 376 offensive yards to 227 by the Rockies.

Brayton Yoder recorded a game-high 128 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries, and Smart made all three of his team’s catches for 132 receiving yards and a pair of scores.

Nixon paced Plymouth’s offense with 109 rushing yards and four catches worth 37 yards.

NorthWood opens Class 4-A Sectional 19 play at home versus DeKalb next Friday night at 7 p.m. Plymouth plays host to East Noble in the other Sectional 19 bracket at 7 p.m.