IBERIA, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—Everyone talks about the Northmor offense and make no mistake it’s a potent one.

But the defense and special teams of the second-seeded Golden Knights aren’t too shabby, either, as evidenced by the 42-0 victory over 15th-seed Caldwell in Division VI, Region 23 of the first round of the OHSAA playoffs Friday night.

“I was proud of these guys and how they prepared all week. It was just a regular preparation,” Golden Knights head coach Scott Armrose said. “They are focused when they need to be.”

The preparation paid off as Northmor held the Redskins to 69 yards of total offense, while racking up 391 of its own, with 315 coming before halftime. A 42-0 lead held up as reserves played a good part of the second half with a running clock.

“Special teams were fantastic tonight. Coach (Mitchell) Whisler does a great job with those things. We used a lot more varsity guys on our special teams tonight because we’re in the playoffs. Our guys did a nice job responding to that and they hadn’t had to do a lot of that this season.”

With the win Northmor goes to 11-0 and hosts Knox Morrow Athletic Conference rival Centerburg, a 34-12 winner over Eastern, at 7 p.m. Friday. The Golden Knights won 34-26 on the road in the Sept. 13 meeting.

“Defense was outstanding and the offense put the ball in the end zone a lot,” Armrose said.” Our defensive line was just so physical and overbearing tonight. They imposed their will on their offensive line and that was the story of the night.”

Jaxson Wenger caught a pair of passes from A.J. Bower, covering 26 and 21 yards and Cowin Becker’s 4-yard jaunt made it 21-0 just 11 minutes into the game.

A blocked punt set up the second score for the Golden Knights.

Bower entered the game with 25 touchdowns and just three interceptions to lead the KMAC. Wenger topped the league with 594 receiving yards and nine scores.

“It felt amazing. Everyone’s doing well; all nine units of the team,” Bower said.

The offensive unit was clicking from the first possession and Northmor had good field position most of the night.

“The line gave plenty of time and receivers got open and ran the right routes. The big thing is we watched a lot of film and knew what they were going to do.”

Northmor had 183 yards passing and another 208 rushing.

“We had a complete game on offense, running the ball and throwing the ball,” Bower said.

The final touchdown was a 26-yard toss from Bower to Bo Landin with 2:11 remaining in the first half.

“Our chemistry is pretty good. Me and A.J. have been throwing the ball for years now,” Landin noted. “In practice, it’s the constant reps of doing the same thing over and over. A.J. knows where to put the ball where I like it, and I’ll catch it.

“As seniors we’ve stuck together. We have 15 seniors, and we’ve put in the work in the off-season and during the season. It’s showing finally, and it’s coming together and we’re really proud.”

Armrose calls this a unique group.

“Eleven wins isn’t easy, and they’ve worked hard for that. I’m excited to get to do it again here in another week,” he said. “A special group of young men, special families and coaches that work really hard.”

Caldwell finishes at 5-6.

Box score

Score by quarters   

Caldwell         0            0           0           0   — 0

Northmor    21           21           0           0   — 42

Scoring summary

First quarter

N — Jason Wenger 26 pass from A.J. Bower (Bower kick), 7:21.

N — Wenger 21 pass from Bower (Bower kick), 4:13.

N — Cowin Becker 4 run (Bower kick), :54.

Second quarter

N — Carson Campbell 30 run (Bower kick), 7:58 kick.

N — Becker 2 run (Bower kick), 4:41.

N — Bo Landin 26 pass from Bower (Bower kick), 2:11.

Individual statistics

Passing

Caldwell: Ethan Crock 5-12-0 43; Northmor: A.J. Bower 11-12-0 184, Tanner Miley 0 2 0 0.

Rushing

Caldwell: Gavin Leake 9-19, Garnar Gaydos 8-13, Colten Grandstaff 1-2, Ethan Crock 11-(-1). Northmor: Carson Campbell 13-93, Cowin Becker 10-66, Tanner Miley 1-29, A.J. Bower 2-15, Rodney Acord 2-5.

Receiving

Caldwell Jonah Morracco 1-45, Gavin Leake 2-(-2), Brody Chandler 1-(-7); Northmor: Bo Landin 4-87, Jaxson Wenger 4-67, Cameron Goldbach 1-23, Cowin Becker 1-9.

Team statistics 

C               N

First downs                     5               12

Rushing                       29-33        28-208

Passes                          5-12-0       11-14-0

Yards passing                 43             184

Total yards                      76             392

Fumbles-lost                  0-0            0-0

Penalties                        4-28          4-25