By Dan Vance
MaxPreps.com
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South Side was supposed to be a stepping stone for the Snider Panthers, win No. 6, and the setup to a Summit Athletic Conference title showdown with the unbeaten Saints of Bishop Dwenger.
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But Friday night, the Panthers may have got caught looking ahead as they fell victim to South Side, 20-17, and helped Bishop Dwenger gain a commanding position in the race for the conference title.
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With the loss, the Panthers would now need to beat Dwenger next week and see the Saints fall in the season finale against rival Bishop Luers to win the conference.
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The Archers took advantage of a fourth-and-one stoppage of the Panthers with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter while trailing, 17-12. It took South Side a little over three minutes to tromp 30 yards down the field, highlighted by a Deontrai Campbell one-yard run for the go-ahead score.
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"I felt like whatever we called, we would score," South Side coach Mike Cheviron said. "When you have more seconds on the clock than you do yards to go, it makes you feel pretty good as a coach."
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With the win, South and Snider are both now 5-2 as the Panthers would need a miracle to retain the Victory Bell, the symbol of the SAC champion.
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The Archers will look to maintain a piece of second in the conference next week in their big rivalry game with North Side at Chambers Field, home of the Redskins. North Side lost its second-straight Friday and now sits at 4-3.
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Wayne Route Extends Elmhurst Streak
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Wayne snapped a season-long losing streak in toppling Elmhurst 51-21 in battle of winless teams. It marked the second-consecutive season that the Generals beat Elmhurst while both teams were winless.
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Either Elmhurst or Wayne has gone winless in each of the last three seasons.
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The triple threat running game of Jeff Rogan, Brandon Tubbs, and Ray Byers helped put 29 points on the scoreboard for Wayne in the opening quarter alone. The Generals scored all 51 points in the first three quarters with Byers scoring a team high two touchdowns.
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Barrington Scott scored all three Trojan touchdowns in the loss, which is Elmhurst's 20th in as many games dating back to the 2004 season.
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Luers Off to Worst Start
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Bishop Luers put up all 22 of its points in the third quarter, but did not have enough to top Northrop last Friday, dropping the Knights to 1-6, the worst start in team history.
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The Bruins led 16-0 at halftime, but surrendered that lead in the third giving up 20-straight points to the visiting Luers team. Late in the game, the Knights looked to take a two-touchdown lead when sophomore Lawrence Barnett returned a punt 47 yards for a score after stopping Northrop and forcing a three-and-out situation. However, a holding call brought the score back and opened the door for the Bruins to gain momentum.
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"We thought we got a bad call on the punt return," Luers coach Matt Lindsay said.
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Northrop's Calvin Nelson returned an interception 45 yards in the third quarter to pull ahead, and Richard Gates added a 75-yard run as the only score in the fourth to keep the Bruins on top for the win.
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The Knights look to turn around their season next week when they host winless Elmhurst before facing undefeated Bishop Dwenger in the regular season finale for the Bishops Trophy.
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Homestead, Norwell Set Up NHC Title Game
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Norwell and Homestead will meet on the plush turf of Homestead's home in Aboite Township Friday. The contest between the two unbeatens has been highly-anticipated all season and will showcase two of the area's best quarterbacks in Chandler Harnish of Norwell and Jordan Wise of Homestead.
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Homestead improved to 7-0 by allowing only three points to Carroll on a 31-yard field goal by Tyler Cady late in the first quarter. However, Homestead had already put 16 points on the board by that point on two touchdown passes by Wise and a safety.
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Wise ran for 29 yards and a score in the defeat of Carroll while throwing for 259 yards and four more touchdowns on 18 of 24 passing. Wise is leading the NHC, completing 66 of 102 passes for 1,142 yards on the season with 13 touchdowns.
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Norwell also improved to 7-0 Friday with a 51-3 shellacking of the DeKalb Barons.
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Harnish scored six touchdowns - three through the air and three on the ground. Norwell also got help on the ground from Shane Sliger's 57 yards on seven carries and Cole Hoopingarner's 73 yards on six carries.
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Northeast Indiana Player of the Week
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Chandler Harnish of Norwell scored six total touchdowns in the NHC leaders' route of DeKalb. Harnish had an 8 of 11 passing night for 153 yards and three scores. The all-purpose quarterback also ran five times for 106 yards and three more scores.