By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves as Plymouth’s Rockies survived a sloppy start to run away for a 50-2 win over Goshen.
The game insures a second straight Northern Lakes Conference title for Plymouth as NorthWood fell to Warsaw 7-6 and Northridge upset Concord by a 24-23 final.

“It was the tale of two halves really,” said Plymouth head coach John Barron. “In the first half we had trouble sticking and staying with our blocks, you know? We made a little mental adjustment at halftime and we came back out and played Rockie football. No matter what happened we’re conference champions. I’m happy for these guys. I’m happy for our coaches. I think these guys realize that we want more than a Northern Lakes Conference championship. I think they want to continue to work hard.”
There was no lack of work in the first half, but after two days of monsoon rains, the field conditions and play was very sloppy for most of the game. Grinding it out in the mud really didn’t suit either team, but the Rockies still seemed to be able to get the upper hand.
A quick seven on their first possession spoke of big things to come but the Redskins defense had other ideas. In spite of great field position Plymouth could push across just one more score — spurred by a huge 84-yard run by Spencer Schalliol — and uncharacteristically gave away the ball.
“In the first half we fumbled the ball, we had a punt blocked and you just can’t win and do those things,” said Barron.
Goshen’s only points of the night came on that punt block that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety. All told the Rockies went into the locker room with an uneasy 13-2 lead.
Whatever Barron said at halftime, he should bottle it.
“We just had a brief discussion about what it means to be a Rockie football player,” he said. “The community is so behind us, and we were on TV tonight and we were just slopping around. We weren’t into it mentally, we didn’t have a good pregame and then we decided to get the ball to Leneil (Himes).”
And “The L Train” did the rest, as offensive coordinator Mike Kershner opened the play book to show a couple of new looks in the Plymouth offense. Along with a 52-yard pass and 67-yard interception return for a touchdown — set up by a big hit by Brock Smith — Himes also carried the ball twice for 29 yards.
“We put in a tight end counter for him,” said Barron of the new wrinkles. “We put in the ‘Wildcat’ with Houston at quarterback. We have to do that. We are a running team, we are a double tight ‘T’ but we’ve got athletes. We want to get the ball to these guys in space and utilize the athletes we have.”
In spite of 50 points, the Rockies defense was the big story, not allowing any points.
“The big play they got was a blown coverage,” said Barron. “They caught us on a little motion, but other than that the defense played really well tonight.”
Plymouth stays unbeaten (8-0) on the season and closes out the year at NorthWood next Friday. Goshen moves to 1-7 and ends their year at Wawasee next week.
• PLYMOUTH 50,
  GOSHEN 2
At Plymouth
Score by Quarters
Goshen:     2  0  0  0 —  2
Plymouth:  7  6 23 14 — 50
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
P —  07:25 S. Schalliol 12 yd run (T. Shook kick)
G —  00:43 Punt Block safety
Second Quarter
P — 03:53 B. Smith 3 yd run (T. Shook kick failed)
Third Quarter
P — 11:37 B. Smith 1 yd run (Hodges pass to Himes)
P — 07:54 L. Himes 52 yd pass from G. Holloway (T. Shook kick)
P — 04:12 L. Himes 58 yd interception return (T. Shook rush)
Fourth Quarter
P —  08:07 T. Keyser 3 yd run (T. Shook kick)
P — :07 J. Wendel 9 yd run (R. Soto kick)
Rushing – Goshen 36 for 91 yards; Roberts 8-36, Swihart 8- 36; Pung 14-15; Lewallen 3-11. Plymouth 42 for 249 yards; S. Schalliol 13-135; L. Himes 2-29; C. Peters 6-28; B. Smith 6-18.
Passing – Roberts 9-23 for 94 3 INT. Holloway 4-12 2 INT.
Tackles – D. Huff 9