NAPPANEE – One more win.

That’s all that stands between the NorthWood football team and the second state championship in the program’s tradition-rich history.

Landen Gessinger signals to the Panther faithful following Friday’s win over Lowell. (File photos by Nick Goralczyk)

The undefeated Panthers take aim at that state title Friday afternoon in the Circle City. No. 2 NorthWood meets top-ranked and fellow unbeaten Indianapolis Roncalli at 3:30 p.m. in Lucas Oil Stadium in the Class 4-A season finale. Both teams are 14-0.

NorthWood, which has been a state runner-up on five occasions, hopes that its seventh trip to the big game is a lucky one. The Panthers won a Class 3-A state championship in 2005, which is the last time they played in the State Finals.

The Panthers take a prolific offense to the 15th and final game of the 2016 campaign. NorthWood ranks 12th in the state in scoring at 44.9 points-per-game and is 20th in winning margin per outing at 26.4 points-per-contest. The Panthers average 259 yards rushing and 228 yards passing per game in a well-balanced offensive arsenal full of weapons.

Senior Trey Bilinski is the catalyst for NorthWood. The 6-4, 194-pound quarterback has been brilliant all fall. Bilinski ranks among the state’s best with his 3,183 yards passing. He is 194-329 through the air with 39 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

The Panthers, who beat a tough Lowell team 21-14 last week to win the semistate, feature playmakers everywhere. Junior Brayton Yoder leads the ground game with 146 carries for 1,302 yards and 14 touchdowns. Sophomore Bronson Yoder has 163 rushes for 879 yards and 11 score, while junior Payton Bear has 109 carries for 656 yards and Bilinski 66 rushes for 388 yards. Both Bear and Bilinski have tallied six rushing touchdowns each.

The terrific tandem of junior DeAndre Smart and Bronson Yoder are Bilinski’s top targets. Smart has 57 receptions for 1,036 yards with 15 touchdowns and Yoder has 52 grabs for 1,008 yards and nine scores. Junior Landen Gessinger has 34 catches for 433 yards and senior Drew Minnich 27 for 402. Gessinger and Minnich each have six touchdown catches apiece.

Roncalli is also making its first trip back to the State Finals since 2005.  The Rebels though have won eight state championships under longtime coach Bruce Scifres, who is in his 27th year. Roncalli averages 28.8 ppt., while giving up 14.4 per contest. The Rebels, who kicked a 30-yard field goal to on the game’s final play to edge No. 7 East Central 24-21 in the semistate, average 189 yards rushing and 140 yards passing per game.

Andrew Miller will look to help NorthWood win the battle in the trenches against the Rebels.

The Roncalli offense relies heavily on Kenny Gillum. The 6-1, 195-pound senior tailback has 190 carries for 1,212 yard with 17 touchdowns. Junior Patrick McManama has 120 rushes for 751 yards and 10 scores, while senior quarterback Derek O’Connor has 143 carries for 520 yards and seven touchdowns. O’Connor, a 6-3, 176-pounder, is 148-212 passing for 1,850 yards with 17 scores and just two interceptions. The Rebels top two receivers are  junior Jacob Luedeman (35 receptions, 541 yards, five touchdowns) and senior Luke Smock (34, 484, three touchdowns).

NorthWood coach Nate Andrews is no stranger to Roncalli. Andrews, a three-sport star at NorthWood, was on the 1993 Panther team that lost 14-12 to the Rebels in the Class 3-A state title game. Andrews, who is now in his third season as the NorthWood coach after previous stints at Western and Lapel, is the son of the late Jim Andrews. The elder Andrews guided NorthWood to state runner-up finishes in 1980 and 1986.

The NorthWood defense is led by Minnich. He has 118 tackles, including 15 for loss, to go with four sacks and three interceptions. Bronson Yoder has 83 tackles, while juniors Jacob Chupp and Will Ingle each have 80. Bear has 76 stops and senior Dylan Brugh 71. Both Ingle and Brugh have 14 tackles for loss.

Junior Cade Morgan leads the way for Roncalli on the defensive side of the football. Morgan has 141 tackles. The senior trio of Christian Brueggemann (100), Josh Swan (67) and Alex Kuntz (63) are also keys on defense for the Rebels.

NorthWood is seeking to win just the third state championship in school history. The 2005 football team and the 1999 girls basketball team claimed state titles.

The State Finals begin at noon Friday in Indianapolis with the Class 2-A finale featuring Eastbrook (13-1) versus Indianapolis Ritter (10-4). NorthWood then meets Roncalli at 3:30, followed by the Class 6-A title game at 7:05 between Carmel (9-4) and Center Grove (12-1). On Saturday, Pioneer (14-0) meets Linton-Stockton (14-0) in the Class 1-A finale at noon, followed by Fort Wayne Concordia (12-2) versus Lawrenceburg (13-1) in the Class 3-A final at 3:30 and Westfield (11-2) against Columbus East (13-1) in the Class 5-A title game at 7:05.

Trey Bilinski leads a dynamic Panther offense into Lucas Oil Stadium.