New Haven's football team is off to a 5-0 start for the second time in three years, but coach Jim Rowland is far from satisfied.
“We've put ourselves in position to finish up the season and hopefully compete for a conference championship,” Rowland said. “We have three really good teams in the way for us. If we play like this against the next three, we'll lose all three of them.”
Rowland's dissatisfaction followed a 28-10 win over Norwell on Friday at Norwell. The Bulldogs came in off a big win over Northeast Hoosier Conference rival Carroll feeling perhaps a little smug.
Norwell, winless this season, hit them with a dose of reality early. Norwell scored first on a 41-yard field goal by Briar Bolinger to open the second quarter – its first lead of the season.
New Haven scored twice in the second quarter on runs by Anthony Moore and Jordan Hogue to go up 14-3 at halftime, a closer game than most expected.
“I don't want to sit here and not give credit to Norwell,” Rowland said. “Norwell played hard, their coaches had them prepared and they were a lot more physical than they've been all year long. Do I think our kids maybe looked past them a little bit? Absolutely. That was something we warned against all week long.”
New Haven (5-0, 3-0 NHC) scored a touchdown in the third on another Moore run and one in the fourth on a Bryce Hieber run to build a 28-3 lead. Norwell scored a late touchdown on a halfback pass from William Gerber to quarterback Piercen Harnish.
Moore carried 23 times for 206 yards to lead New Haven's offense.
New Haven plays at Columbia City next Friday. Norwell (0-5, 0-3 NHC) plays at East Noble.
