Wilmington too much for Sharpsville
Wilmington (56) vs. Sharpsville (7)
Written: Nov 20, 2016
By Corey Corbin
CNHI News Service
SLIPPERY ROCK — The road to the District 10, Class 2A championship once again goes through New Wilmington.
The Greyhounds rode their dominating ground game and smothering defense to a 56-7 victory over Sharpsville in the District 10 title game at Slippery Rock University's Mihalik-Thompson Stadium on Saturday night.
"This just shows the kids are as good as everyone thinks they are, I guess," said Wilmington coach Terry Verrell, who earned his 299th career win. "They played a great game and there's no doubt about that. We're looking forward to moving on. The whole group was excited and ready to play. They wanted this D-10 championship. No one on the team has (a district title)."
By the virtue of their 11th District 10 title and the first with this group of players, the Greyhounds (11-1) advanced into the PIAA playoffs where they will meet Kane (13-0), a 34-12 winner over Chestnut Ridge on Friday night, on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Slippery Rock University.
"The goal is to win next week," Verrelli admitted. "That's about it. You have to play them one (game) at a time. Obviously, it'd be great to go back to the state championship game, but we have to be realistic and play them one at a time."
Wilmington finished the game with 331 yards rushing behind the blocking of Colton Marett, Jordan Gray, Colton Richards, Matty Jamison, Ryan Byler and Anthonhy Berardi. Spencer DeMedal led the way with a game-high 139 yards and two scores, while Kyle Slicker tacked on 82 yards and Cameron Marett contributed 79 yards and three touchdowns.
"To be honest with you, that's the way I run the offense the whole time," Verrelli said of the balanced offense between DeMedal, Slicker and Cameron Marett. "We've had some great players (at Wilmington over the years). I just don't think you can go very far with just one (great) player and if he gets hurt, you're really in trouble. I want all of them to participate and help the team win.
"Marett is a great athlete. I don't do him any favors by giving him the ball. He does me the favors. He's a great athlete. DeMedal is the key guy, but if Kyle and Cameron can do their jobs it takes the heat off him, too."
After DeMedal picked off Luke Henwood's first pass of the game, quarterback Reese Bender capped the Wilmington's four-play, 38-yard drive with a 1-yard rush. Cameron Marett finished off the Greyhounds' second and third drives with 1 and 13-yard carries for a 21-0 lead 1:17 into the second quarter.
After Slicker's 9-yard burst to hand Wilmington a 28-0 lead, Henwood escaped some pressure to find Bobby Besser, who broke a couple tackles before going the final 40-plus yards for the 50-yard touchdown. Just 47 seconds later, DeMedal went around left end untouched for a 35-7 cushion to close the half.
Wilmington extended its lead to 49-7 after three quarters on Marett's third score of the game from 14-yards out and DeMedal tacked on his second touchdown on a 1-yard burst. Bryson Verrelli closed the scoring on a 5-yard carry just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 56-7 edge.
"As the year went along, our defense got better and better," Verrelli said. "They weren't this good at the beginning of the season. Coach (Brandon) Phillian has done a great job of putting that defense together. I give my two cents every once in a while, but I usually get out of the way. They've definitely improved as the year went along."
Sharpsville managed just nine first downs and 184 yards of total offense against the 'Hounds Hammer' defense that picked off three passes.
"After the first game, we knew (the Greyhounds) were something special," Sharpsville coach Paul Piccirilli said. "They've got speed all over the place and we're not the fastest team out there. We knew that and we knew it was going to be very difficult. The results were what we thought they'd be.
"We knew if we couldn't move the ball against them in our tight offense that we'd be in trouble and that's what happened all night. My hat's off to them. They're as sound as you can get offensively, defensively and special teams. They can go quite a ways and they're going to be good for the next couple of years."
Sharpsville concluded the campaign at 8-4.
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
SHARPSVILLE WILMINGTON
9 First downs 20
106 Net Rushing 331
15 Passes Attempted 5
4 Passes Completed 4
4 Passes Intercepted 0
78 Yards Passing 112
184 Total Yards 443
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
2-20 Penalties-Yards 2-15
SHARPSVILLE 0 7 0 0 — 7
WILMINGTON 14 21 14 7 — 56
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Reese Bender, 1-yard run (Jacob Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Cameron Marett, 1-yard run (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Marett, 13-yard run (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Kyle Slicker, 9-yard run (Winters kick).
SHARPSVILLE — Bobby Besser, 50-yard pass from Luke Henwood (Cameron Anzevino kick).
WILMINGTON — Spencer DeMedal, 61-yard run (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Marett, 14-yard run (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — DeMedal, 1-yard run (Winters kick).
WILMINGTON — Bryson Verrelli, 5-yard run (Winters kick).
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