'It has been a grind.' Concord football remains unbeaten in win over NorthWood

NAPPANEE — The scheduling gods weren’t kind to Concord football this fall, putting six quality programs in the first six weeks. Going .500 would have felt good, with anything better feeling like a bonus.

Six weeks later, the Minutemen are 6-0.

A 27-17 road victory for Concord over NorthWood Friday continues the Minutemen’s reign as the lone unbeaten team remaining in the South Bend area. Its six wins have come against Elkhart, Jimtown, Mishawaka, Northridge, Warsaw and now the Panthers, who sport a combined 22-14 record.

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“We’re just getting going, but I’d be lying if I told you this has not taken a toll on us physically, mentally, emotionally,” Concord coach Craig Koehler said. “It has been a grind. Every week has been against a high-quality opponent with a tradition of success. It’s difficult to be prouder than we are of our kids right now.”

Thomas thrives for Concord

With a steady breeze of more than 20 miles per hour and gusts higher than that, the weather conditions were ripe for running the football.

Fortunately for Concord, they have a Division-I caliber running back in Jaron Thomas. The senior Purdue commit helped the Minutemen control the line of scrimmage all night, highlighted by two scoring drives that spanned double-digit plays. The first went 14 plays and 80 yards to put Concord ahead, 7-3, at the time, and the second was an 11-play, 63-yard march to the end zone to make it 27-10 in the third quarter.

Thomas ended the first long drive with a two-yard scoring plunge, while he capped the second off with a 16-yard scamper. He also added a 14-yard scoring run late in the first half.

“He played like we need him to play in these types of games,” said Koehler of Thomas. “Obviously, we knew the weather was going to be factor, and we were going to have to lean on him a bunch.”

NorthWood’s De Freitas makes state history

A week after setting a school record with a 60-yard field goal, NorthWood senior Dominic De Freitas one-upped himself Friday.

De Freitas boomed a 62-yard field goal for the game’s first points, easily clearing the crossbar. It’s a new Indiana high school football state record, beating the previous best by one yard (Jerry Spicer for Hobart, 1975 and Brian Robertson for Seymour, 1999).

“He banged another one, didn’t he?” NorthWood coach Nate Andrews remarked afterwards. “I kind of wanted to line up here at the end of the game and have him hit another one. It wouldn’t have been quite as far, but of course it was only three points and we were chasing at that point.

“I was telling Nate: bring (De Freitas) out here in pregame and see if he can hit from 70 or 75 – he probably could have,” Koehler added. “That kid is unbelievable.”

What’s next for NorthWood and Concord?

NorthWood travels to Plymouth next week to face a Rockies team that pulled a shocking upset Friday, defeating rival Warsaw, 33-32 (overtime). The Panthers might have to start emergency quarterback Landon Perry for the game, as the running back replaced Ryder Ransberger due to injury in the second half. Normal starter Micah Jarrell is also out with injury.

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Concord welcomes Goshen (0-6) to Dunlap next week. For Koehler, the next three weeks before the postseason is about one thing.

“We’ve got to focus on becoming better football players,” Koehler said. “We’ve got to work on our tackling; our tackling was not good (Friday). In our player’s defense, I don’t think I’ve focused enough on that because you get so enamored with the schemes you’re facing. … We’ve just got to get better and improve.”

Concord 27, NorthWood 17

Concord | 7 | 13 | 7 | 0—27

NorthWood | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7—17

SCORING PLAYS

FIRST QUARTER

N: Dominic De Freitas 62-yard field goal at 8:34 – IHSAA state record

C: Jaron Thomas 2-yard run at 1:04 (Rafa Sabas kick)

SECOND QUARTER

N: Landon Perry 50-yard run at 8:36 (De Freitas kick)

C: Reese Breveard 19-yard run at 6:39 (Sabas kick)

C: Thomas 14-yard run at 1:15 (extra point blocked)

THIRD QUARTER

C: Thomas 16-yard run at 2:12 (Sabas kick)

FOURTH QUARTER

N: Austin King 1-yard run at 0:57 (De Freitas kick)

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 'It has been a grind.' Concord football remains unbeaten in win over NorthWood