Northwest football archive: Sept 27, 1985

Tecumseh 23
Northwest 8

Mountie Stadium

Sept. 27, 1985

This story has been republished from the Leslie Local.

"NW Falls to Tecumseh, 23-8; Quarterback, Lead Rusher Injured"

By Jeff Rietsma

It was a battle of winless teams last Friday night. The Northwest varsity football team and the Tecumseh Indians had a pow-wow at Northwest's field, and when the dust cleared, the Indians came out victorious, 23-8.

The Mounties dug their own grave by committing four turnovers and being flagged nine times for 79 penalty yards.

Another key factor in the poor play was the injuries. Going into the game, Northwest had Ed Mosson, Karl Biggs and Aaron Heibel not even in uniform. Number one quarterback Scott Robertson was dressed but didn't play because of knee problems. In the first quarter, Jay Ciokajlo separated a cartilage that will put him out of action for an indefinite amount of time. Also watching from the sidelines were Matt Skeen and Zoran Novak.

Robertson's replacement was fellow senior Mike Richmond, who had a fine night. Richmond completed nine of 17 passes for 119 yards, but also threw three interceptions on drivers that were within touchdown range.

"I don't know how Scott will be for next week's game, but I'm going to stick with Mike as the starting quarterback. I was pleased with his efforts and we'll see how he does next week against Lumen Christi," said Mountie head coach Tom Goodwin.

Tecumseh and Northwest both entered the game with 0-3 records. Northwest's advantage was that Tecumseh hadn't scored a single point in their three previous games. The Mounties appeared to be a shoo-in for victory, but they played an unusually sloppy game that Tecumseh capitalized on.

With a full moon hovering over Northwest's field, Tecumseh came out strong and played a well-fought game. The Indians took their first possession of the ball at Northwest's 26-yard line, where Brian David fumbled it for Northwest. Tecumseh moved down field, and on fourth-and-five, Duy Dang booted a 31-yard field goal to give Tecumseh a quick 3-0 lead at the 8:13 mark in the first quarter. The Tecumseh fans and players erupted with joy to see their points in 1985, and what turned out to be the only points in the first quarter.

After three series of nothing, Northwest gave Tecumseh the ball at their own 26 yard line. It took them eight plays to score their first touchdown of 1985. It occurred with 39 seconds left in the first half. Jim Schwede blocked the extra point attempt, as the teams went into the locker room with the visitors leading, 9-0.

The Indians went on the warpath again in the third quarter. At the 6:19 mark, Robert Mendez dashed into the end zone from five yards out to boost the lead to 16-0.

Northwest finally got on the scoreboard using a little razzle-dazzle to excite the game a little bit. At his own 44-yard line, Northwest's punter, Dave Weller, got set to punt the ball, but instead threw to Kevin Miller who turned the play into a 56-yard touchdown. The Northwest crowd and sidelines were nearly delirious as Miller crossed the goal line. Richmond connected to Dan Sowers for the two-point conversion to give Northwest eight points.

But that delirium soon turned to dismay. The Northwest offense was going nowhere fast and couldn't produce any more points. The defense gave up a fourth quarter touchdown to put the icing on Tecumseh's cake.

One highlight was Northwest's passing yardage, which accumulated 227 yards, but the running game was held to -26 yards. One reason for the poor running game was due to Tecumseh's front line, which included 6'6", 283 pound Scott Thomas, who made the Mountie runners feel like they were running into a Mack truck.

Danny Sowers was Northwest's leading receiver with three catches for 85 yards. Kevin Miller also field three passes for 67 yards. The prime statistic though was turnovers. Northwest lost four while Tecumseh didn't lose any. Northwest finished the night with 201 total yards to Tecumseh's 250.

Heading Northwest's defense was Greg Ciokajlo who had seven tackles. Kevin Miller and Spencer Byrd added six each.

As Goodwin points out, Robertson's absence was also felt by the defense.

"Scott is our all-around man. He's not bad on offense and he really contributes on the defense. But I don't think injuries are taking their toll, yet. It's just a state of mind.

"Tonight the refs called some crucial penalties on us, very big penalties, and that showed in the final score."

The Mounties travel to Withington Stadium this Saturday night to play in a 7:30 contest with conference foe Lumen Christi.