Hardin Northern’s Carter Curtis (21) follows teammate Clay Rager (62) during Friday night’s home game against Waynesfield-Goshen.
David Trinko | The Lima News
DOLA — Maybe the first three wins of the season were a little too easy for Waynesfield-Goshen, after outscoring opponents 140-6.
On Friday night, the Tigers (4-0, 3-0 Northwest Central Conference) were reminded of the satisfaction of a hard-fought win against a good opponent, as they rallied to beat Hardin Northern, 28-19.
“Hats off to our kids to rally tonight,” said W-G coach Shane Wireman. “We hadn’t been down yet. When you’re down for the first time all year, you want to see how your kids respond. I don’t think we could’ve gotten any better response than that.”
Hardin Northern (2-2, 2-1 NWCC) had pulled ahead 19-7 with Carter Curtis’ 52-yard touchdown run, his second touchdown of the game, with less than two minutes gone by in the third quarter. The Tigers responded with three unanswered touchdowns to clinch the win, including a rushing and receiving touchdown from Grant Breitigam.
“We just had to execute and get some motivation going,” he said. “We just had to make some plays, open up the field and put it away.”
His 17-yard run tied the game in the final minute of the third quarter. W-G lined up to kick the extra point for a possible one-point lead, but the team fumbled the snap. Kicker Lane Steinke picked it up and ran it into the end zone, clinching a 21-19 lead.
Grant Breitigam put an exclamation point on the game with a 59-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Drew Breitigam, who completed 7 of 11 passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns in the game while also rushing for a team-high 64 yards.
With the Tigers facing third-and-9, Grant Breitigam ran a crossing pattern over the middle, grabbing the ball and the first down. He made an impressive spin move at the 35 to leave his defender in the dust.
“Oh, it’s great, man,” he said of the sensation. “You feel like you’re on top of the world.”
The play was essentially invented on the spot, Wireman said.
“They were really committing a lot of resources to try to keep us from getting out,” Wireman said. “Grant just made a heck of play. It was the kind of play we kind of drew up in the dirt because of what they were doing. I’ll be honest with you, we put a little tweak off of a play we normally use, and we executed it well.”
The score with 3:06 left in the game also led to a weird silence at Hardin Northern’s field, as Carter Curtis suffered an injury that required an ambulance. Coach Jerry Cooper, who faced the Tiger team he coached back in 1988 and 1989, said Saturday that Curtis was evaluated and release from the hospital.
Despite that emotional deflation, Hardin Northern still went on a 16-play drive that brought the Polar Bears within a yard of a touchdown with 42.8 seconds remaining, but Waynesfield-Goshen’s defense held firm when it needed it most.
Curtis led the Polar Bears with 15 carries for 104 yards. Quarterback Nolan Hopson added 24 carries for 98 yards. He also completed 11 of 25 passes for 116 yards, including nine passes for 92 yards to Xander Wilson.
Waynesfield-Goshen welcomes North Baltimore next Friday, while Hardin Northern travels to Perry.
Game summary
Waynesfield-Goshen Hardin Northern
8 First downs 11
318 Total yards 327
130 Rushing yards 211
188 Passing yardage 116
7-11-1 Passing 11-25-0
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
1-37.0 Punts 3-43.7
5-54 Penalties 6-75
Score by quarters:
Waynesfield-Goshen 0 7 14 7 — 28
Hardin Northern 0 12 7 0 — 19
Second quarter
HN-Nolan Hopson 1 run (kick failed), 11:56
W-G-Dalton Jordan 62 pass from Drew Breitigam (Lane Steinke kick), 11:02
HN-Carter Curtis 13 run (run failed), 6:40
Third quarter
HN-Carter Curtis 52 run (Hopson kick), 10:23
W-G-Jace Kaufman 20 pass from Drew Breitigam (kick failed), 5:53 W-G-Grant Breitigam 17 run (Steinke run), 56.4
Fourth quarter
W-G-Grant Breitigam 59 pass from Drew Breitigam (Steinke kick), 3:06
David Trinko wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
