Game Summary: Players make plays -- and everywhere you turned, there were Warriors making plays in Friday night’s 24-22 victory over Hanover Area. Katie Scalzo’s 32 yard field goal with 7:07 left in the third quarter was the only score in the second half—but it was enough to give Wyoming Area the lead and ultimately, the victory. Scalzo was also perfect in her three point-after attempts.
This game was the tale of two halves. The first half was a raucous run and gun game with QB Chris Murphy throwing strikes to numerous Warrior receivers. The Hawkeyes answered right back as their star running back, Andrew Forgatch, piled up over 100 yards on the ground--74 of them on his first touch of the game. Hanover Area also unleashed a successful passing attack as they scored their third touchdown on a 61 yard pass play. The Warriors were down 22-21 at halftime, and it seemed certain that the ultimate winner would have to put up 40 points. But the Warriors’ defense stymied Forgatch in the second half, while the offense did just enough (in between penalties) to tally a field goal.
It’s hard to imagine a quarterback having a better game than Chris Murphy did during the regular season against Hanover. In that game, Murphy beat the Hawkeyes with his legs, rushing for 165 yards. In this game, Murphy beat them with his arm completing 10 of 18 passes for 265 yards. He also ran for 70 yards, mostly on scrambles. Murphy’s interception with less than two minutes to play, sealed the victory for the Warriors. If passing, rushing, and intercepting wasn't enough, perhaps Murphy's biggest plays were his two punts that averaged 48 yards--both pinning Hanover deep inside their own territory.
It has taken 11 games, but this is the passing game Wyoming Area fans hoped to see all year. Eric Eramo, Larry Popovich, Rob Russick, Nick O’Brien, and Kody Nowicki were all on the receiving end of Murphy’s passes. Many of the passes were long passes, in long yardage, critical situations --thrown right on the money. At the same time, all of the receivers made top-notch catches, as many were well- covered. Rob Russick made a phenomenal catch along the sideline on a ball that seemed be destined for the Warrior bench. Eric Eramo had a great game-- 3 catches for 82 yards. Eric has made big, tough catches all year —and somehow always holds on to the ball in traffic. Larry Popovich had the best game of his high school career, making some great catches in clutch situations. Then there was Kody Nowicki’s 48 yard reception—another great catch when the Warriors needed it most. Nowicki has made big plays for the Warriors all year, and Friday was no exception.
The offense was impressive—but ultimately this game came down to the defense and stopping Andrew Forgatch . Forgatch may be the best running back in the state, averaging 230 yards per game. He showed us why, the very first time he touched the ball--running 74 yards and setting up the Hawkeye’s first touchdown. But after that run, it was tough going for Hanover Area's star, who was held to 47 yards in the second half and totaled 165 yards on 29 carries for the night. Warrior fans held their breath every time he touched the ball and worked up a head of steam.
It’s hard to call out names on the defense because they all played so well. Julian Campenni was in the Hawkeyes backfield most of the night and made numerous tackles for losses. The linebackers did a great job of knifing through holes and clogging up the running lanes. Credit the guys up front for holding their own against a big Hanover line. You can’t say enough about the spirit and grit of those guys on defense—many of them are undersized, but all play with big hearts.
The Hawkeyes defense was clearly intent on stopping Nick O’Brien. Every time he touched the ball, he seemed to take a vicious hit. Even though he didn’t have a great statistical night (12 rushes for 40 yards), O’Brien attracted a lot of attention, freeing up some of the other Warrior offensive weapons. O’Brien also always plays big on defense and the Hanover game was no exception.
Give credit to the kids who play on special teams--not starters, but they do their job whether on kickoff, kickoff return, or punts. Tomazewski, Kirk, Langdon, Adonizio, Taylor, Rogers, Erzar, Thompson, Smith and others.
Finally, the coaching staff deserves lots of credit for this victory. Hanover’s defensive line pretty much dominated the Warrior’s ground game. It’s hard to win a high school football game without a consistent running attack—and the Warriors managed to do so against Hanover Area. On the offensive side of the ball, the coaches did a nice job of play calling and spreading the ball around. Also, the coaches should be commended for their defensive game plan and execution. With only two or three starters over 200 lbs, the coaching staff designed and executed a defensive scheme that neutralized Hanover’s high powered offense.
It’s hard to talk about this game without mentioning the slew of penalties. The Warriors had 11 penalties for 110 yards, while the Hawkeyes had 7 for 70 yards. On the one hand, the Warriors clearly deserved many of the penalties. In particular, the skilled position players throughout the season seem to constantly get flagged for blocks in the back or holding during big plays. It’s happened all season—so this is not an officiating problem—it’s a Warrior problem. On the other hand, there were a few head scratchers called on both sides of the ball. Kody Nowicki was called for a personal foul for a block thrown downfield on the opening kickoff—really an absurd call as he was anticipating the kickoff return man to break the play. In the second half, the entire crowd saw the Hanover defensive line jump offside during a play—no flag was thrown. To be fair, there were also some questionable penalties that were called against Hanover so ultimately the calls went both ways. I heard several people mention that this was the poorest officiated game they had ever witnessed. With the Warriors propensity to commit penalties, it’s sometimes tough to separate the forest from the trees.
At any rate—this was a great victory for the Warriors. This gives them a chance to close out their season with a victory against Pine Grove next week. Pine Grove defeated Catasaqua 14-13 on Friday night. |
