Wilmington looking to bring back state title

By JOHN D’ABRUZZO

jdabruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

Terry Verrelli is bleary-eyed from watching game films.

The legendary Wilmington High football coach has pretty much camped out in the Greyhounds’ locker room the past few days glued to his television.

“I want to be as ready as I can,” he said.

Verrelli spent Monday and Tuesday breaking down footage of Philadelphia West Catholic in preparation for the Class AA state championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium.

The game will be broadcast live on PCN, Channel 35. Replays will follow at 3:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Dec. 25.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News’ state poll has the ’Hounds (14-1) ranked No. 2 behind their opponent, the 14-1 Burrs.

Wilmington’s only other state title appearance came 20 years ago when the ’Hounds lost to Bethlehem Catholic.

Wilmington is riding a five-game win streak — all playoff victories — and enters the contest on the heels of a stunning 29-28 overtime upset of Aliquippa in the semifinals.

THE MATCHUP

While watching tape of West Catholic, Verrelli has picked up that the Burrs will bring a lot of speed to the field.

West Catholic is led by a trio of 1,000-yard rushers, including quarterback and Penn State recruit Curtis Drake, who has rushed and passed for more than 1,000 yards each.

“They try to do with their offense what I like to do every year and that’s spread the ball around,” Verrelli said. “All of their backs could hurt you. That makes it tougher to defend.

“You can’t prepare for one guy.”

Burrs’ coach Brian Fluke sees the same thing in Verrelli’s team.

“They have a very tough team and they’re well coached,” the West Catholic coach said. “They do a good job running the ball. (Derrick) Burns, (Sutton) Whiting and (Jake) DeMedal bring some bursts of speed.

“Burns is a tremendous runner. He can break tackles and go the distance.

“They don’t give you much leeway because you have to play them straight up and hold them.”

Burns, a junior fullback, has been a catalyst all season. Against Aliquippa, Burns rushed for 152 yards on 16 carries, including a key 68-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Burns ranks second in the county with 1,412 yards and 22 touchdowns on 168 carries.

Whiting has 805 yards and 12 touchdowns on 105 carries. The sophomore rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries against the Quips.

DeMedal, a junior, ran for 56 yards on nine carries in last week’s victory.

“We don’t have the speed they have, but we have speed,” Verrelli said. “Defensively, it’s not going to be easy stopping that many weapons.

“We have to move the football or we can’t win. That plan is simple because we’re sure not going to stop them. It worked against Aliquippa and that is what it takes to win the game. We had a 16-play drive and scored.”

Senior quarterback Shane Wagner completed 9 of 12 passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns against the Quips.

His first touchdown toss was to his cousin, Matt Wagner, that capped the ’Hounds’ 16-play third-quarter drive. His second was to Dallas Hartman in overtime.

Shane has completed 90 of 173 attempts for 1,385 yards with 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions and Matt leads the receiving corps with 33 catches for 449 yards and nine touchdowns. Hartman has 12 receptions on the year for 289 yards and seven touchdowns.

LATE-GAME EFFORTS

Wilmington strolled through its first nine games.

Then came Karns City. The Gremlins upset the ’Hounds in the regular season finale.

And then came the playoffs.

The ’Hounds’ last three victories were as dramatic as could be; wins in overtime against Slippery Rock (District 10 final) and Aliquippa (state semifinal) and stopping Martinsburg Central (state quarterfinal) on the last play of the game.

“If you don’t have games like that throughout the year, it can cause problems in the playoffs,” Verrelli said. “Karns City was the blessing we needed. You can’t practice situations like that; you have to experience close games with certain situations and scenarios.

“You gotta realize that you’re not untouchable. Yeah, you got a good team, but there are other teams good or even better. You have to have heart and some understanding of that. You have to fight.”

Wilmington is averaging 37.7 points per game while allowing 9.6.

“We know we have to go after these guys,” Verrelli said. “Like the case with Aliquippa, I sat the guys down and had it out with them and explained the mental attitude you need.

“I believe they have the confidence to go out and play a good football team.”

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

As soon as Verrelli received his FedEx package of West Catholic game footage from Fluck, he knew there was only so much preparation that could be done.

“People always ask me what I think after I watch game film and you can think about the match up, but I’ve been doing it long enough to learn that you don’t (truly know) about that team until you’re out there,” Verrelli said. “Sometimes a team is better than what I thought they looked on film and sometimes they didn’t look as good as they did.

“It’s very difficult to judge.”

Verrelli’s seen enough of West Catholic to know that big plays, especially early, could hurt.

Still, he’d rather see it for himself.