NO DOUBT ABOUT IT: WARRIORS BEAT HANOVER AREA 48-0
Summary: The 48-0 final score does not do justice to the completeness with which Wyoming Area dismantled Hanover Area on Friday night. It could have been worse, after the Warriors took a 34-0 halftime lead. “…this was probably the worst beating we took in 25, 35 years,” stated Hanover Area head coach Ron Hummer.
Nick O’Brien led the Warrior offense with 139 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Warrior fans are becoming accustomed to O’Brien’s offensive brilliance, but perhaps the more important story was the Warrior’s defensive dominance. We knew this team could score points, but we didn’t know if they could tackle. The answer to that queston can be found in the box score of last night’s game. Hanover rushed 34 times and gained only 73 yards. Parish Bennett, the leading rusher in WVC AA Division, had 14 carries for 57 yards. Warrior defenders were not only tackling the ball carrier and getting to the quarterback—they were inflicting punishment. It was total dominance as Hanover managed only 143 total yards of offense on the night.
Recognition has to begin with the guys in the trenches. Joe Erzar, E.J. Driving Hawk, Jake Smith, Nick Bartoli, Carl Zielinski and Tight End Trent Grove and are molding into a unit that plays with attitude. They are a little mean-- and that’s not a bad thing for a football line. Matt Kintz is having a great year at linebacker and freshmen Jeff Skursky and Marty Michaels made some bone crushing tackles last night. Zak LaNunziata is a fearless, athletic defender who is always around the ball. You also have to love the grittiness of Ryan Filipiak at nose tackle who routinely takes on guys who outweigh him by 80 pounds.
Just as importantly—the secondary is doing a great job of coverage. Hanover Area came out throwing last night which led to a Justin Langdon interception. Ahmad Bouie broke up several passes— Cody Schmitz and Jordan Zezza are intense, competitive players who do an outstanding job on both sides of the ball. And if a ball carrier or a receiver does find his way into the secondary, he has to answer to Nick O’Brien—who carries around a ton of bricks that he uses to assist with his tackles.
One of my favorite sports quotes is by Joe Paterno: “Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks.” This team is playing with swagger—not cockiness, but confidence. Confidence may be the most valuable asset a team can possess. Several of these players played on the GWA Pennsylvania State Championship Senior Teener baseball team: O’Brien, Grove, Erzar, Zezza, Bart Chupka, and Dylan Pegg. Facing adversity, that baseball team willed itself to win the Pennsylvania State Championship—and almost made it to the national championship round. This Warrior football team is showing signs of coming together in a similar manner.
It’s time to give a shout out to Coach Spencer and his staff for a great game plan. The coaches know that other teams try to focus on taking the outside of the field away from Nick O’Brien—so the opponents spread their defenses out. Response? Run O’Brien up the middle on quarterback keepers. Those 50 yard quarterback sneaks have a way of demoralizing a defense.
The Warriors now enter a softer part of their schedule with Nanticoke, Meyers, and Holy Redeemer coming up. However, the team needs to maintain their edge and look to improve in several areas. In particular, the Warriors piled up 80 yards in penalties again last night and had at least two touchdowns negated. In a close game, this may be the difference between winning and losing. The Warriors also need to show a little more consistency in their inside running game with Skursky, Popovich, and Kintz. Having those guys carry the ball more will only make O’Brien more of an offensive threat. Next week is Homecoming as the Warriors host Nanticoke. See you there. Nick Perugini
Quick Hits: Kudos to Jake Smith and the kickoff coverage team for consistently pinning the Hawkeyes deep in their own territory. A.J. Lenkaitis nailed 5 extra point attempts and Aaron Carter added another. Ahmad Bouie made a fabulous catch for for a 42 yard gain--ensuing touchdown was called back due to illegal block. Marty Michaels and Jeff Skursky made some crushing tackles that were heard by everyone on the side lines. Skursky in particular, leveled several Hawkeyes when he was on defense and when he was running the ball. Seniors AJ Jones, Michael Gentile, and Stephen Gamble got some good playing time in the second half and helped preserve the shutout. Jordan Zezza continues to do an outstanding job in his role as "Slash" -- QB/ wide receiver/safety. Justin Langdon might be the smallest guy on the field, but plays with the biggest heart. All the cornerbacks have stepped up their tackling in helping to seal off the opponent's outside running game. Zak LaNunziata was everywhere on the field. He was particularly effective on kickoff coverage. The Warriors are plus six for turnovers after 3 games. They have recovered six fumbles and have 3 interceptions, while only losing one fumble and giving up two interceptions.
And at the same time, those two quarters were Hanover Area’s worst nightmare.
The Warriors raced out to a 34-point halftime lead and continued rolling all the way to a 48-0 thrashing of Hanover Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2A-A game.
“I said to the kids, this was probably the worst beating we took in 25 years, 35 years,” Hanover Area coach Ron Hummer said.
It was definitely the worst loss for Hanover Area (2-2) in Hummer’s six years as coach. Only a 35-0 shutout by Carbondale in 2009 came close.
Quarterback Nick O’Brien started the rout on the fifth play of the game, squirting through the middle for a 44-yard touchdown run. Wyoming Area (2-1) then scored two touchdowns in less than a minute to take a 20-0 lead at 10:59 of the second quarter.
The first of those two TDs came on a 42-yard run by O’Brien. Then after a Hanover Area fumble one play after the kickoff, the Warriors struck again as O’Brien collided with a running back, yet managed to bounce in for a 1-yard touchdown.
It was that kind of game for Wyoming Area … and Hanover Area.
The Hawkeyes did just about everything possible to make Wyoming Area’s job easier. They fumbled six times in the first half, losing two. Quarterback Joe Ksiazkiewicz was sacked for times and pressured on nearly every play. One kickoff was fumbled and another bobbled.
Those factors were made even worse by Hanover Area’s average starting field position of its 18-yard line.
Cody Schmitz added a 9-yard TD run and Jeff Skursky plowed in from 6 yards out to give Wyoming Area a 34-0 halftime lead.
“The game was going to be the two lines,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “Hanover has outstanding size and great measurables, but our kids up front did a hell of a job. Offensively, (Joe) Erzar, (E.J.) Driving Hawk, (Jacob) Smith, (Nick) Bartoli, (Carl) Zielinski and our tight end Trent Grove did a great job playing toe-to-toe.
“Those three yards is the difference in the football game and they did a great job handling it.”
The defensive line did as well playing against a Hanover Area offensive line, considered among the best in the WVC. Hanover Area running back Parrish Bennett entered the game with 486 rushing yards. He finished with 57 on 14 carries. The Hawkeyes had just 4 yards rushing total on 20 carries in the first half.
Preview:
In 2010, the Warriors defeated Hanover twice—once during the regular season, and a second time in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Both were close, hard fought contests that could have tilted either way. Last year, the Hawkeye offense was built around Andrew Forgatch, the sensational halfback who averaged over 200 yards rushing per game. The 2011 Hanover team returns 8 starters on offense and 7 on defense; however, Andrew Forgatch has graduated.
Hanover enters Friday’s contest with a 2-1 record. The Hawkeyes won their first two games against Susquehanna and Western Wayne by a total of 5 points. The 36-34 victory over Western Wayne should be of particular interest to Warrior fans who watched their team let one slip away in week 1 vs. Western Wayne. Many Warrior fans may not be aware that Rob Siclari(#11), Western Wayne’s one man wrecking crew-- was injured toward the end of the Wyoming Area game and has not played since the opener. So when comparing performances, Siclari’s absence in Hanover’s narrow victory has to be factored in.
Last week’s upset loss to Mid Valley must be particularly disconcerting for the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes surrendered 390 yards of offense to the Spartans in a 34-27 losing effort. Mid Valley held on to the ball for the last 6 and one half minutes of the game. This year’s Hanover team is averaging 260 yards total offense per game, while their opponents have averaged 330 yards per game. So the Hanover defense will be looking to step up their game this week.
Hanover’s top offensive player is Parrish Bennett, a 5-7, 150 lb running back /wide receiver who wears number 24. Bennett enters the game with a 157 yard per game rushing average-- his best performance being a 223 yard effort against Western Wayne. He is also the Hawkeye’s leading receiver averaging 54 yards per game. Bennett has accounted for over 75 percent of the Hawkeye offense this year. Translation—stop Parrish Bennett and the Warriors will have a good chance of winning the game... of course, easier said than done.
Hanover has impressive size on their offensive and defensive lines (seems like we say that every week). . Tackle Martin Steve, #75, is 6’6” 300 lbs. The remainder of the line looks to be over 230 lbs. Hanover will run the ball straight ahead out of the “I” formation and try to dominate the smaller Warriors on the line of scrimmage. Veteran QB, Joe Ksiazkiewicz is having a good year throwing the ball. He is 19 for 42, for 302 yards, with 2 TDs and only one interception. Again, the majority of those passing yards were received by –you guessed it—Parrish Bennett, #24. Bennett lines up as a slot receiver in passing situations. If the Hawkeyes successfully throw the ball, it could be a long night for the Warriors. However, the Warrior pass defense has been stellar thus far this year, only giving up 7 yards passing to Lake Lehman.
The Warrior offense was clicking on all cylinders against Lake Lehman. While Nick O’Brien had a fabulous night, Ahmad Bouie also chipped in with some rushing yards, and Cody Schmitz had 60+ yards receiving. The inside rushing game never got on track vs. Lake Lehman as it did against Western Wayne. The coaches would probably like to get Popovich, Skursky, and Kintz more involved this week.
The game will likely boil down to the Warriors’ ability to make big plays, versus the Hawkeyes ability to drive the ball up and down the field. The Warriors limited their penalties to 65 yards versus Lake Lehman. They need to keep penalties to a minimum. One thing is certain--it will be a hard fought game--probably high scoring. The winner will be in position to make a playoff run, while the loser may be in for a long season. See you in Hanover on Friday. Nick Perugini
