| Game Summary:
After last week's crushing loss to Lake Lehman, one sportswriter in the area couldn't wait to write the obituary for the 2010 Wyoming Area Football team. After all, to paraphrase the writer--this was a team that "was laughing and giggling" at halftime of the Lehman game. Needless to say that the sportwriter wasn't even at the game, but felt compelled to write a fictional piece that fit the circumstances leading to the final outcome. Yes...its easy to write an unflattering story when a team is down. So, it was with great pleasure that the Warriors on Friday night added an "L" to the column of that sportwriter along with seven other Times Leader prognosticators.
It probably isn't an overstatement to say that this was a "do or die" game for the Warriors. The Hawkeyes were 2 and 1 entering the game, while the Warriors were 1 and 2. Hanover entered the contest with a big offensive line and a strong running game that featured Andrew Forgatch. The Warriors, on the other hand, were still trying to develop some consistency on offense--but the biggest problem for the Warriors has been the defense which yielded 40+ points to their opponents over the last two games.
It wasn't exactly an ideal start of the game for the Warriors as Hanover's Josh Cabrerra ran the opening kickoff back 89 yards to give the Hawkeyes a 6-0 lead. The Warriors then proceeded to lose a fumble on their first posession. But slowly the momentum started to shift in favor of the Warriors. The Warriors came out determined to run the ball. O'Brien and Kintz picked up good yardage up the middle, and Murphy was chewing up 10 and 15 yards on quarterback keepers. Kody Nowicki made a nice catch on a slant pattern and Eric Eramo continues to catch the ball in traffic. O'Brien scored the first Warrior TD in the second quarter on an 11 yard run. A Cody Schmitz interception helped stifle one Hawkeye drive, and the defense held on several other ocassions in the first half. A nifty 1 yard run by Chris Murphy gave the Warriors a 14-12 lead going into halftime.
Warrior fans knew it wasn't going to be easy in the second half. I think its fair to say that players going both ways have not had the stamina to be totally effective in the fourth quarter of games. Rest assure there was no "giggling" in the locker room during halftime. The Warriors came out and ran the ball--and ran the ball again and again. O'brien, Murphy, and Kintz....The Warriors tallied two TD's in the third and took a 28-18 lead going into the final quarter. Andrew Forgatch was everything he was touted to be --ripping long gainers through the Warrior defense.
But this night belonged to Murphy. This was clearly his best high school performance. Murphy iced the game with two TD runs of 27 and 52 yards. WA finished the game with 266 yards rushing and 79 yards passing. The Warriors did not attempt a pass in the second half. Murphy demonstrated amazing moves on his quarterback keepers. He's not the biggest or fastest player on the field, but he has an uncanny knack for shedding tacklers. He finished with 158 yards rushing on 18 attempts.
Lots of "attboys" to go around for this win. First---the offensive line was tough. Campenni, Bartoli, Perugini, Driving Hawk, Summers, and Russick did a great job of opening up holes. O'Brien and Kintz hit those holes hard and were rewarded with big gainers. Eric Eramo has made some sensational catches in traffic this year. Corey Popovich made some nice blocks at fullback and made some good fake dives. Cody Schmitz is looking good at cornerback, and Kody Nowicki looks very comfortable in pass defense at safety. Katie Scalzo's 7 extra points were big. They helped the Warriors maintain a two or three score lead through most of the second half.
Needs Work: The defense has been giving up big running plays for TDs. That has got to stop. Kickoff coverage needs work.
Nick Perugini |
