NAPPANEE – Nate Andrews was ready to see his NorthWood football team bounce back from a tough loss.

The Panthers delivered for their coach Friday night.

Host NorthWood overcame a halftime deficit to top Goshen 19-10 in Northern Lakes Conference football action at Andrews Field.

NorthWood, which dropped a 15-12 NLC final at Concord in its league opener last week, improves to 3-1 overall and moves to 1-1 in the NLC. Goshen drops to 1-3 overall and sits at 1-1 in league play.

The RedHawks took a 3-0 lead on a 45-yard field goal by Tyler Brinson in the opening quarter.

NorthWood responded for a 6-3 lead in the second period as DeAndre Smart scored on a seven-yard scoring pass from Landen Gessinger. Goshen took a 10-6 halftime lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Liam Morales.

The Panthers scored in the third period on a 26-yard scoring jaunt by quarterback Gessinger to retake the lead for good at 12-10. The hosts added an insurance tally as Brayton Yoder raced in from 39 yards out in the final period of play for the 19-10 final.

NorthWood had 33 rushes on the night for 226 yards. Brayton Yoder had 12 carries for 142 yards and Gessinger added 89 yards on 16 totes.

Gessinger was strong through the air as the senior hit on 12-14 passes for 132 yards. Bronson Yoder had five receptions for 56 yards and Brayton Yoder four for 46.

Sophomore quarterback Wesley VanHooser rushed for 134 yards on 26 carries and Morales had 103 yards on 23 carries to lead the Goshen offense.

Bronson Yoder led the Black Crunch defense with 16 total tackles. Payton Bear had 11 tackles for the Panthers. while Ethan Hochsterler ….

NorthWood hosts Wawasee (1-3, 0-2) and Goshen hosts Concord (4-0, 3-0) in NLC games next Friday night.

Concordf won 51-29 at Wawasee in league action Friday night.