A dominating defensive performance by Northmor (4-2, 2-1 in KMAC play) paced them to a 35-0 win over visiting Fredericktown on Friday.

The Golden Knights held their opponents to a mere 127 yards, while mustering 332 of their own in a game they led the entire way.

Northmor opened the contest by taking the ball 73 yards in nine plays. Quarterback A.J. Bower hit on 5-of-6 passes, with four different targets hauling in receptions. Jaxson Wenger picked up a pair of those catches, including a seven-yard scoring reception. Caleb Schnuerer hit the first of five extra point attempts and the home team led 7-0 with barely over three minutes off the clock.

Head coach Scott Armrose noted that his offense is showing enough balance to be effective when an opponent focuses on one facet of it.

“Our offense is starting to fire on all cylinders and we’re able to take advantage of what the defense gives us,” he said. “They had a tight box and were trying to stop the run game and it opened up the pass and we were able to take advantage of shots down the field.”

Fredericktown put together their best drive of the game on the ensuing possession. Taking the ball on their 27, they methodically drove Inside the Northmor 25. However, the Golden Knight defense was able to recovered and stop their opponents on downs at the 22.

“Our guys kept their heads up,” said Armrose. “A couple times, they put a drive together and we really fought hard and either forced a turnover or got a stop. We claimed up a lot of the mistakes we made last week. We played good, physical football and our defense did a great job.”

And the offense didn’t waste time in taking advantage of that defensive effort. After a four-yard gain by Carson Campbell and two offsides penalties against Fredericktown moved the ball to the Golden Knight 36, Bower went deep to Bo Landin, who hauled in the catch and went the rest of the way for a 64-yard touchdown on the final play of the opening period.

The teams traded punts on their first possession of the second quarter, but Northmor then got great field position after a Paul Cramer interception gave them the ball on the Freddie 13. Bower then quickly hit Landin again for another touchdown to make it 21-0.

The Golden Knights then overcame a mistake to record two stops of the Freddies on one drive. Northmor forced a three-and-out, but muffed the Fredericktown punt to give their opponents the ball on their 41. However, they would simply force them to turn the ball over on downs — only giving up three yards over four downs.

“That’s the difference between last week (a loss at Danville) and this week,” said Armrose. “Things didn’t go our way last week and we just kind of crumbled and weren’t able to get it back and this week, we did a good job. Things didn’t go our way all the time. We turned the ball over on a punt and we gave up some plays on defense, but when our backs got against the wall and we really needed to get things done, we did. I’m proud of these guys; they did a great job.”

That defensive effort was rewarded on the other side of the ball. After a pass from Bower to Cowin Becker moved Northmor from their 38 to the Fredericktown 29, the team rode Campbell and Cramer into the end zone, with Cramer scoring on a one-yard dive to send his team into the locker room with a 28-0 lead.

After forcing a three-and-out to open the third quarter, Northmor battled through mistakes to cement their victory. In their drive, the Golden Knights had to overcome three holding penalties (one declined) and an illegal block in the back.

A 35-yard pass from Bower to Wenger played a big role in getting the team out of trouble and some strong running did the rest, as Campbell, Bower and Cramer handled the final 27 yards on the ground, with Cramer scoring on another one-yard dive.

“Paul does his job — to give us a couple yards when we need them,” said Armrose. “Our boys up front blocked really well tonight, too, and I’m proud of them. Fredericktown is a big, physical football team and we handled them well up front tonight.”

That would be the end of the scoring. While the Freddies had a promising late-game drive, Northmor would end it emphatically with a Hunter Fulk interception to preserve the shutout.

After each of the Northmor’s two losses, they’ve responded with a decisive win in which much of the second half was played under a running clock. Armrose is pleased with the heart his squad has shown under pressure.

“And even last week when we were down and things weren’t going well, we were able to fight,” he said. “And that’s one thing these guys do, they fight. They don’t give up and they worked really hard this week. It was a great week. I’m proud of these guys from top to bottom.”

Bower hit on 11-of-15 passes for 218 yards, with Landin catching three for 96, Wenger getting four for 76 and Becker adding two for 36 yards. On the ground, Campbell tallied 42 yards and Cramer contributed 35.

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS