Greyhounds lay hammer down on Greenville
Wilmington (40) vs. Greenville (0)
Written: Sep 11, 2010
By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com
Big plays and strong defense have been a staple for the Wilmington High football team over the years.
None of that changed last night.
The Greyhounds scored five touchdowns of 50 yards or longer and the defense pitched a shutout in a 40-0 District 10, Region 3-AA victory over Greenville on their home turf.
“We played well defensively and we made some big plays offensively,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. “There’s a lot of positives and all we want to do is get better each week and I think they showed they got better this week.”
Gunnar Donati returned an interception 53 yards to put the Greyhounds (1-0 region, 2-0 overall) up 6-0. Anthony Derrick brought back a punt 71 yards for a score and recorded a 51-yard scoring run as well.
“I was trying to find a hole,” Derrick said of his punt return. “Those kids are big and I was just trying to run away from them.”
Sutton Whiting joined the fun with scoring jaunts of 50 and 65 yards. He added a 4-yard touchdown run as well.
“The offensive line dominated for us,” Whiting said. “Early on, they were keying on me and it opened things up for Anthony Derrick and guys like that. In the second half, they continued to dominate.”
Wilmington executed 21 plays in the first half and led 26-0 at the half. The Greyhounds ran nine plays from scrimmage in the opening quarter, all on their lone drive. The drive stalled at the Trojans’ 29 when Whiting fumbled and the visitors recovered.
“We knew we weren’t out there a whole lot in the first half,” Whiting said of the offensive unit. “Our defense was making big plays. Our special teams made some big plays. It was hard to get in a rhythm at first, but we got going.”
There were 10 total possessions in the first half and six of them belonged to Greenville. However, the Trojans (0-1, 0-2) managed just 88 yards with two turnovers in the first 24 minutes.
“They pretty much did whatever what they wanted,” Greenville coach Brian Herrick said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things, but they’re obviously a much better football team than we are.”
Donati’s interception return and Derrick’s punt return came on consecutive Trojans drives. Greenville’s third possession during the stretch resulted in a punt, which the Greyhounds turned into a one-play, 51-yard touchdown by Derrick.
The Trojans had a chance to cut into the first-half deficit when they marched to the Wilmington 13. But Jake Devido intercepted a Tyler Gentile pass with 3:08 left. The play didn’t start well for Greenville, when the center snap traveled over Gentile’s head. He tracked the ball down, but threw the pass right to Devido.
“We had to prepare not just for their power game but their passing,” Verrelli said. “They hadn’t shown any option but they ran it against us last year and I just knew they were going to come out running and (Gentile) is a good quarterback.
“We had to prepare for three different things. Obviously we did a very good job with it.”
The Greyhounds put the game out of reach on their first possession of the third quarter. Whiting capped a five-play, 80-yard drive when he raced around the right sideline untouched for a 50-yard touchdown.
“I was just using my speed,” Whiting said. “I was thinking ‘finally,’ because I had a slow start and I was getting a little frustrated; that brought me back a little bit.”
Whiting paced Wilmington’s ground attack with 170 yards on just 12 attempts. Derrick added 85 yards on four carries, all of which came in the first half.
“Sutton Whiting is as good a high school football player as I’ve seen in 25 years of coaching,” Herrick said. “You start with him and fill in some linemen who do a great job. It’s a tough offense to stop and we didn’t do a good job.”
Whiting now has 320 yards rushing this year on 24 carries.
GREENVILLE WILMINGTON
10 First downs 9
195 Yards Rushing 313
7 Yards Lost 1
188 Net Rushing 312
8 Passes Attempted 5
2 Passes Completed 3
1 Passes Intercepted 0
25 Yards Passing 22
213 Total Yards 334
3-2 Fumbles-Lost 3-2
5-35 Punts-Average 2-42.5
5-45 Penalties-Yards 2-20
GREENVILLE 0 0 0 0 — 0
WILMINGTON 6 20 14 0 —40
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Gunnar Donati, 53-yard interception return (kick failed).
WILMINGTON — Anthony Derrick, 71-yard punt return (pass failed).
WILMINGTON — Derrick, 51-yard run (Harrison Sturm kick).
WILMINGTON — Sutton Whiting, 4-yard run (Brandon Ryder kick).
WILMINGTON — Whiting, 50-yard run (Slavi Pontius kick).
WILMINGTON — Whiting, 65-yard run (Ryder kick).
|