Columbian holds off Norwalk, 21-16

NORWALK — Understanding all three phases of the game is what wins games. The defense has kept Norwalk in games up until now. The Truckers continued to battle until the end, but it wasn't enough. Norwalk lost its Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division opener to Tiffin Columbian, 21-16, at Contractors Stadium on Friday. "Our kids continue to battle hard," Norwalk coach Keith Mora said. "We are a defensive team. We didn't get to do what we wanted to do and that was to get the pass game going." The Truckers (3-4, 0-1 SBC Lake) went on defense first. Columbian (4-3, 2-0) put together a lengthy drive that chewed nearly five minutes off clock off. In the end, Johnny Bremyer caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Logan Gooding. The extra point from Connor Reese put the Tornadoes up 7-0. The Truckers couldn't get anything going offensively, as they fumbled the ball on their own 26-yard line, which the Tornadoes recovered. "We had nice yardage on that pass," Mora said. "It was self-inflicted wounds that kept us out of it." The Tornadoes took advantage of the opportunity on the fumble recovery. Gooding hit Breymer for 22 yards and on the next play, Brock Siesel rumbled in from a yard out. The extra point made it 14-0 with 5:22 to go in the first quarter. Norwalk got on the scoreboard in the second quarter. After getting into TC territory, the Truckers stalled and settled for a 45-yard field goal from Thomas Vanderpool. "We haven't given up more than 14 points in the first half all season long," Mora said. "It has kept our team going all season long." It was his longest field goal of the season. Vanderpool had a game-winning 37-yard field goal in Week 1 against Toledo Start. "We are confident in Tommy," said Mora of the senior kicker. "On a nice calm night, he probably could kick at least 50 yards. But we have also been working on holding and short snaps." Columbian pushed the lead to 21-3 in the third quarter on a Shane Walker 17-yard touchdown pass from Gooding. The Truckers answered early in the fourth quarter as Brady Singer hit Cade Evans for a 58-yard touchdown. The extra point missed, but Norwalk was within 21-9. "They kept biting us on the run game," Mora said. "It opened up our pass play action and it's what we have been wanting to do. It just didn't open up early enough for us." A second Columbian turnover gave the Truckers another chance. Singer hit Kaedyn Warner to get the ball to the 3. AJ Weilnau covered that distance to finish off the 10-play drive. Vanderpool's point after made it 21-16. "With the threat of a jet sweep, it opened up a pass action play for us," Mora said. "We hit the same thing in the opposite direction. We got into the red zone on a three step pass which allowed us to hit a short run into the end zone." Norwalk was in 12th in Division III, Region 10 entering the game. The top 12 teams in each region make the playoffs this season. The Truckers will need to perform better over the final three weeks of the season to have a shot at a playoff appearance. "We have Perkins, Sandusky and Clyde," Mora said. "We aren't in now, that's for sure. We had to win more than two and will need more than three, that's for sure. We have to focus on all three areas of the game and especially on offense. Our defense has kept us in games." Columbian 14 0 7 0 — 21Norwalk 0 3 0 13 — 16 TC — Johnny Bremyer 28 pass from Logan Gooding (Connor Reese kick)TC — Brock Siesel 1 run (Reese kick)N — Thomas Vanderpool 45 field goalTC — Shane Walker 17 pass from Gooding (Reese kick)N — Cade Evans 58 pass from Brady Singer (kick failed)N — AJ Weilnau 3 run (Vanderpool kick)