Indian Lake’s defense could not find a way to stop Northwestern standout running back Ben VanNoord as he carried the Warriors to a 20-14 win Friday in Central Buckeye Conference Mad River division play at Laker Stadium.
A junior, VanNoord piled up 200 rushing yards on 30 carries and had all three of his team’s touchdowns. The Warriors are now 4-3 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Lakers fall to 3-4, 0-2. Indian Lake got on the scoreboard first in the opening quarter when quarterback Clay Jacobs scored on a 13-yard TD run. Derek Cline added the extra-point kick for a 7-0 lead. Northwestern found the end zone less than a minute later. Ben VanNoord broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run with 3:52 left to play in the first quarter. The extra-point kick was blocked, though, leaving the Lakers ahead 7-6.
The Warriors moved ahead in the second quarter. VanNoord raced in for a 9-yard touchdown run to give the visitors a 12-7 advantage with 6:07 left until the break. After a scoreless third quarter, Northwestern extended its lead in the fourth quarter with a 34-yard TD run by VanNoord. He also added a two-point conversion run to put the Warriors up 20-7 with 11:51 left in the game. Indian Lake scored with one second left on the clock when Jacobs ran in for a 17-yard touchdown run. The Lakers’ offense was sparked by Jacobs with 67 passing yards on eight completions and 119 rushing yards on 15 carries. Lane Mefford had 32 rushing yards and 29 receiving yards, Austin Parker had 22 receiving yards and Luke Jackson had 22 rushing yards.
Indian Lake travels to Benjamin Logan for their annual CBC Mad River division rivalry game.