Hornet Defense Forces 6 Turnovers, Shuts Out Northwest Area, 46-0

By: Ed Weaver  /  October 19, 2024  /  Photo: Matt Stevens

The Wellsboro Varsity Football team's defense pitched a shut out, and caused six turnovers, for a 46-0 win over Northwest Area on Friday, October 18.

It was the Hornets' second win of the season after defeating Cowanesuqe Valley 40-8 for Homecoming back on September 20.

"The kids played well. We looked good in all facets tonight and it was a much-needed win for our program and the season," said head coach Matt Hildebrand. "Going into next week is a big one for us with North Penn, so I'm very happy with the outcome. We got a lot of the young guys in during the second half and they were able to make some plays for us. Three interceptions in the second half with the young guys, that's promising for the future, and we came out relatively healthy."

Wellsboro turned the ball over on their first possession on an interception, which led to the Rangers driving all the way down inside the Wellsboro 30. It was then the team woke up as senior Evan Ingerick came up with a strip-sack on Jace McCoy. From there, the Hornets put together a 7-play drive, culminating in a 4-yard pass from freshman Griffin Morral to senior Ryder Bowen.

On the Hornets' next drive Bowen plowed his way into the end zone from 5 yards out, with Morral running in the two-point conversion, to push Wellsboro's lead to 14-0 and the end of the opening quarter. The Hornets scored just seven seconds into the start of the 2nd as they took advantage of a bad punt snap and taking over at the Rangers' 1-yard line. Morral scored on the ensuing play, to make it 20-0.

Another three-and-out by the Hornet defense led to another score midway through the quarter. After taking over at the Northwest 35, Bowen found a crease in the defense and rumbled his way down to the 19. A chop block penalty and a sack moved the ball all the way back to the 42, however Wellsboro was aided by a pass interference penalty to get back inside the 30, then Morral passed his way on three straight attempts for the score. His first pass went to Bowen for six yards, then he found junior Marek Mascho for 19 yards down the the 3, then he hit Mascho again for the score with 7:47 left before the half.

Wellsboro added two more scores before the clock ran out in the first half. The first one, with 3:09 remaining, was on a 14-yard pass from Morral to junior Jonathan Carl, then Bowen punched his way into the end zone on a 9-yard run with just over a minute remaining, giving the Hornets a 39-0 lead over the Rangers at halftime.

Neither team scored in the third quarter with the running clock, and it took until 1:55 remaining in the game before freshman Reed Richardson scored on a 2-yard run after intercepting McCoy three plays earlier.

Wellsboro had 5 interceptions on the night, one each by Bowen, Mascho, Richardson, and sophomores Asher Davenport and Wyatt Davenport. They also sacked McCoy five times and held the Rangers to just 71 yards of total offense. Senior Lincoln DeCoursey and Ingerick had two each and sophomore Levi Champaign had the fifth.

"The defense played really well and the JV guys secured it there at the end," continued Hildebrand. "Evan off the end played well with pressure, and Lincoln up the middle with a few sacks as well. We created some turnovers, Ryder Bowen almost got into the end zone for a pick-six, we did a lot of good things on defense."

Morral finished 9-of-12 through the air for 79 yards and 3 touchdowns, and rushed 5 times for 13 yards and a score. Bowen led all ball carriers with 111 yards on 13 attempts with 2 scores. Richardson ran the ball 3 times for 16 yards, freshman Kody Enck had 13 yards on 3 carries, and freshman Matthew Robbins ran the ball twice for 10 yards. Mascho caught 4 passes for 38 yards, Enck caught two passes for 17 yards, Bowen had 10 yards receiving on 2 grabs, and Carl caught one pass for 14 yards.

McCoy completed 10-of-26 passes for 68 yards. Christopher Martinez had 8 yards on six carries and Loegan Diltz caught 4 passes for 28 yards while RJ Moyer added 48 yards receiving on three receptions.

Next up for Wellsboro (2-7, 2-6 NTL Large School Division) is rival North Penn-Mansfield for Senior Night next Friday.

"They (North Penn-Mansfield) have had a similar season to us so far. They're young, and we're young. Our goal is to bring the Morton Jones Trophy back home. We've missed it for the last few years, so that's all we're focusing on now is bringing it back."