By JEFF ZUPANIC

sports@vindy.com

CRESTON

The final score doesn’t indicate it but the Southern Indians had Creston Norwayne Bobcats right where they wanted them before a couple of costly mistakes turned the game completely the other way.

The Indians marched down the field for a touchdown on their first series and were well on their way to doing it again when they turned it over five yards short of the end zone. The game was never the same after that.

Norwayne overcame an early two-score deficit and rolled to the second round of the OHSAA Division VI, Region 21 playoffs with a 52-16 win at Norwayne Community Field Friday night.

The Bobcats exploded for 19 points in the second quarter and followed that up with a 27-point third quarter to quickly erase what was once a 16-7 Indians’ lead.

Even with that early fumble, head coach Rich Wright thought the game got away from the Indians just before halftime when the Bobcats went ahead for the first time due to clock mismanagement by the Indians as a result of the scoreboard not working for the entire game.

Southern (9-2) took a 16-7 lead after touchdowns from quarterback Jayce Sloan and running back Dylan Milhoan. Norwayne returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards to make it 16-13 following a missed PAT with 5:18 left in the half.

The Bobcats (10-1) got the ball back with around three minutes to go before halftime and needed just six plays to go 63 yards to take a 19-16 lead on the second of five Clay Harvey touchdown runs. Wright admitted after the game he thought there was about 42 seconds left in the half when there was almost two minutes during a key sequence on the drive.

“That’s on me. I thought there was a lot less time than there actually was. There was a 1:55 and I thought it was 42 seconds. That mistake is on me,” Wright said. “I thought that was the turning point of the game and my mistake helped them get the momentum.”

Norwayne never gave it back.

The Bobcats blew the game open with four touchdowns in the third quarter, all by Harvey, who finished with 127 rushing yards and completed 11-of-17 passes for 140 yards.

“He surprised us a little bit by running the ball the way he did,” Wright said. “But no excuses, we made a lot of mistakes and let everything snowball. That’s what happens when you play great programs.”

Southern turned it over five times overall, but are probably left wondering what would have happened without that first fumble. The Indians might’ve had a 24-7 lead. Instead, it wasn’t long before they trailed and were unable to stop the Bobcats.

Cam Grodhaus had seven catches for 106 yards for Southern, which finished with 220 total yards.

“We won a conference title and made it to Week 11. I think we will be disappointed for a few days then we will look back and see we had a good year,” Wright said.