“We were struggling at the beginning,” VanNoord said. “We had to regroup, get ourselves together and make a few adjustments. We got back on track and played our style of football.”
VanNoord scored a school record six touchdowns — three receiving, two rushing and another on a punt return — as the Warriors (2-0) beat Northeastern 41-0.
VanNoord caught four passes for 78 yards and three TDs, while rushing for 63 yards on two carries, both of which went for TDs. He also scored on a 62-yard punt return.
Warriors senior quarterback Gavin Thomas was 11-for-18 with 128 yards and three TD passes. Thomas is in his first season as the Warriors starting quarterback after playing wideout last year.
“He’s doing really well in our system,” VanNoord said. “He’s a dual threat quarterback and that’s a plus for us.”
The Warriors started slow against Northeastern’s 3-3-5 stack defense, Northwestern coach Shane Carter said, but they were able to respond quickly, capitalizing on an interception by senior Nathan Dewey. On the next play, VanNoord scored on a 29-yard run to make it 7-0.
“We had some adversity, we responded and now we’re on to (Milton-Union),” Carter said.
After stopping Northeastern, VanNoord scored on a punt return to make it 14-0. He followed with a 34-yard TD run and touchdown catches of 39, 3 and 26 yards to make it 41-0 with 5:44 remaining in the second quarter.
“He’s a special talent,” Carter said. “I’m looking forward to working with him this year and next year. His goal is to go play college football. I think he’s good enough. We’re working on the fine things now in terms of when the ball is not coming to you, how hard do you go, do you block downfield, are you unselfish? … If we’re able to keep working on the small things, I think he’s going to have a spectacular year.”
Northeastern freshman running back Hunter Albright led the Jets (0-2) with 58 yards rushing on 17 carries. They host Greenon in Week 3.
The Jets started five freshmen on offense, including quarterback Cade Houseman, who found out Thursday he’d be starting for injured junior Jake Nichols.
“We stopped the things we wanted to in those first couple drives,” said Jets coach Jake Buchholtz. “I thought our young kids played well. … They played like freshman at times, but it’s one of those things where you’re not going to see (VanNoord) every week. He’s a heck of a ballplayer. I told our guys we were in position, we just need to make a play and that’s going to come with experience.”
Before the game, Northwestern retired the No. 38 jersey in honor of Barrett Fitzsimmons, a Northwestern student who died earlier this year after a lengthy bout with cancer. The Warriors are wearing the number on their helmets this season as a tribute to Fitzsimmons, who wore No. 38 on the Warriors youth football team.
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