’Hounds prove their mettle with overtime victory
Written: Nov 25, 2008
 By JOHN D'ABRUZZO
New Castle News
Winning football championships never seems to get old at Wilmington.
And why should it?
The Greyhounds are a modern dynasty among the high school ranks in western Pennsylvania. Three straight District 10 titles and nine crowns since 1994 says a lot about a small school from a small town.
The ’Hounds worked overtime for a dramatic 21-14 victory over Slippery Rock Saturday night to claim their third consecutive title.
Besides a loss to Karns City in the regular-season finale, Wilmington hasn’t had its back against the wall many times this year. The ’Hounds have given up an average of seven points per game and nine of their 12 wins have been with the assistance of the mercy rule.
Slippery Rock ignored those figures, forgot about the 42-6 loss to Wilmington earlier in the year, and took the ’Hounds to the edge.
Sure, those questionable flags, including a few mysterious personal foul calls, didn’t help Wilmington as it racked up 110 yards in penalties. Each time the ’Hounds got closer to the red zone or the defense pushed the Rockets back toward the end zone, those annoying yellow flags fell on the frozen turf.
Nevertheless, Wilmington players kept their heads in the game and worked every second of a 48-plus minute game.
They merely thrived on big-time performances and stingy defense.
Those elements have been Wilmington’s bread and butter all season, so it was no surprise when Derrick Burns used two big runs — a 56-yard scamper that led to a Sutton Whiting score and a 73-yard dash for a touchdown — to keep the ’Hounds in the game.
As for defense, it couldn’t get any better than Jake DeMedal getting the interception in the back of the end zone in overtime.
Wilmington simply proved itself in the clutch.
All season, those in the WPIAL-playing area were abuzz with Class AA tough guys like Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette, while those in District 10 land were talking about Wilmington and Wilmington alone.
Credit that to Terry Verrelli.
The veteran coach never frets over rebuilding. Right now — besides preparing for Central Martinsburg — he’s probably thinking about who’s going to fill which graduating senior’s spots.
And Verrelli makes sure his players remain focused.
Back in August, just days into summer camp, Verrelli reminded his players that nothing had been won. He made sure they remembered the haunting feeling of watching Terrelle Pryor and company celebrate en route to the state championship game two years in a row.
Pryor’s gone and so are the Jayhawks. Jeannette won’t be a factor in the state playoffs since it lost to Beaver Falls in the WPIAL semifinals. Those highly-touted Tigers are gone, too. The Quips knocked them off at Heinz Field on Saturday and seem like the heavy hitters in the Class AA bracket.
But the ’Hounds have Central Martinsburg, the District 6 champs, next on their list. The Scarlet Dragons are 11-2 and coming off a 41-6 win over Central Cambria.
That matchup is back at Slippery Rock University, which is a home away from home for Wilmington. And the ’Hounds proved they can play under the gun in tight games.
That’s all Wilmington needs. It has the offense and it certainly has the defense.
A win this week would get them one step closer to their ultimate goal and to showing the rest of the state that there’s a football dynasty in northern Lawrence County.
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