Published: October 16, 2009 11:19 pm      

Redskins stop skid

Beats Wawasee on 'Senior Night'

GOSHEN, Ind — It was a “Senior Night” bonanza for Goshen High School’s football Redskins at Foreman Field on Friday night.

The Redskins snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 44-20 Northern Lakes Conference win over the Wawasee Warriors.

Senior Nathan Swihart rushed for over 200 yards and sophomore Chunie Pung topped 150 in an impressive offensive show on a chilly night.

Goshen now prepares for a Class 5A sectional first-round game next Friday night with kickoff scheduled for 7 o’clock.

Redskin coach David Wilson said, “We did a lot of nice things in the first half to take a good lead, Our offensive linemen did a great job of blocking and our backs were running with a purpose.

“We played physical football and that is when we are at our best. We still have some things to correct, like throwing an interception and fumbling near the goal line.

“We have had to rely heavily on Nathan Swihart this year and he is a real workhorse. He runs hard, is faster than most people think and his teammates trust him.

“We had another difficult week with a couple more injuries, but the team had a good week of practice and came to play.”

After warming up in their traditional red jerseys, the Redskins returned to the field in new black jerseys.

“It was just something for this game, giving the kids a spark and they seemed to like it. What’s really important is what happened between the white lines.”

An interception by senior Jon Swihart at the W-9 set up Goshen for its first score, a 6-yard slash by Nathan Swihart.

The Redskins were then rewarded two points when a high punt snap by Wawasee sailed out of the end zone. That made it 9-0.

Goshen went 82 yards in seven plays with Pung scoring on a 15-yard sweep to the left. It was a 16-0 score after one period.

Swihart scored from a yard out with 9:20 to go in the second and junior Miguel Sandoval, 6-for-6 on PATs this night, made it a 23-0 tally.

Wawasee found some life in the third quarter as senior Jake Sommers fired touchdown passes of 56 and 20 yards to senior Joey Melendez. Sophomore Kyle Clevenger kicked the extra points.

In between, Nathan Swihart broke free for a 61-yard scoring plays with several shifty moves to avoid would-be Warrior tacklers.

Later, Pung capped a wild third quarter with a 15-yard scoring dash to make the score 37-14 heading into the fourth.

Pung finished the Goshen scoring on a 6-yard run with 3:25 to play in the game.

Wawasee sophomore Andrew Hepler then carried seven consecutive plays for 64 yards, running seven on the last for a touchdown with 0:42 on the clock.

Sophomore Jordan Schmitt recovered a fumble for the Warriors during the game and junior Brendan Wegener intercepted a pass.