Wilmington upends Grove City in shootout
Wilmington (38) vs. Grove City (28)
Written: Sep 07, 2015
Things have changed for the Wilmington and Grove City high football teams.
Gone are the days of ground warfare. Both teams are now turning to more of an aerial assault.
Saturday, the Greyhounds proved to have a better air show than the Eagles.
The two teams combined for 50 passing attempts and 412 yards through the air in Wilmington’s 38-28 home victory in the District 10 nonregion clash. The game was completed during the afternoon after being suspended with the Greyhounds holding a 14-7 advantage late in the first quarter before foul weather halted things.
“The game changes,” Grove City coach Sam Mowrey said. “Usually, you’ll see a 9-7 or a 7-3 game (when Wilmington and Grove City play). Definitely, this was a different style ball game, but that’s how time goes and the groups you get. You try to put them in the best position to be successful.”
Greyhounds junior Spencer DeMedal and Eagles junior Kameron Patterson only had a combined 11 passes hit the ground in the contest.
The two teams combined for just 181 yards on the ground — 55 for Grove City and 126 for Wilmington.
“It’s a sign of the times,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said.
“It is (weird to see a Wilmington offense throwing the ball all over the field), but I am a wing-T guy, so it’s never too far away. I’m also smart enough to know you have to do what you do best to win football games. I put the time in and I studied it. Today, the kids did a pretty good job in it.”
After going three-and-out on its opening possession, Wilmington needed seven plays to cover 86 yards in 3:43 to take a 7-0 lead on Reese Bender’s 1-yard score.
The Eagles seized the momentum when junior Nick Davies returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a 7-7 deadlock, but it was short-lived as Kyle Slicker returned the kickoff 82 yards for a Wilmington score.
“There’s three parts to the game — offense, defense and special teams,” Verrelli said. “Smart people say you have to win two of three to win the game. We work hard on the special teams. Your first game, the hardest thing is kickoff coverage, because it’s something that you can’t simulate in practice and you don’t do those things in scrimmages. It’s a cross your fingers thing. Fortunately, we traded screw-ups.”
The Eagles knotted the score at 14 on a nifty 26-yard reception from Davies, but the Greyhounds countered with a 17-yard aerial from DeMedal to Bryson Verrelli.
After Grove City pulled to within 24-21 early in the third period, the Greyhounds slammed the door shut with a 1-yard score from Jack Patton and a 5-yard score from Slicker to take a 38-21 lead with 10:57 left in the game.
“It was brutal — these two days,” Terry Verrelli said. “Grove City is a good team and I think that’s what we needed — to play a tough team, but I’m pleased with our kids. I thought they played well. Sure, we made some mistakes and have to fix them but with the brutal temperature and this being our first game, I was pretty happy.”
DeMedal completed 16 passes to five different receivers on 22 attempts for 190 yards and a score.
“Let’s give it a B for right now,” the Wilmington coach said. “We still have some work to do. Spencer did a great job back there. I think there’s some promise with the new offense. It’s new to me, so I’m learning right along with them.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
GROVE CITY AT WILMINGTON
GROVE CITY WILMINGTON
10 First downs 15
55 Net Rushing 126
28 Passes Attempted 22
21 Passes Completed 16
1 Passes Intercepted 1
222 Yards Passing 190
277 Total Yards 318
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
4-28.2 Punts-Average 4-31.2
7-42 Penalties-Yards 6-35
GROVE CITY 7 7 7 7 — 28
WILM. 14 10 7 7 — 38
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Reese Bender, 1-yard run (Jacob Winters kick).
GROVE CITY — Nick Davies, 85-yard kickoff return (Tanner McKnight kick).
WILMINGTON — Kyle Slicker, 82-yard kickoff return (Winters kick).
GROVE CITY — Davies, 26-yard pass from Kameron Patterson (McKnight kick).
WILMINGTON — Bryson Verrelli, 17-yard pass from Spencer DeMedal (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Winters, 37-yard field goal.
GROVE CITY — Davies, 16-yard pass from Kameron Patterson (McKnight kick).
WILMINGTON — Jack Patton, 1-yard run (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Slicker, 5-yard run (Winters kick).
GROVE CITY — Patterson, 13-yard run (McKnight kick).
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