Burns comes in strong in second half in ’Hounds’ win
Wilmington (36) vs. Greenville (15)
Written: Sep 12, 2009
 By ED FARRELL
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
GREENVILLE — Wilmington was well on its way to Blowout City last night, but gritty Greenville would not give in.
The Trojans, trailing 28-2 at intermission, tallied two third-period touchdowns to draw within 28-15, while Wilmington wallowed on its first pair of second-half possessions.
Then Derrick Burns burst on the Stewart Field scene, and once again it was Wilmington: Game, set, match, en route to a 36-15 win during the District 10 Region 3-AA opener.
Greenville had no sooner regained momentum before Burns broke at least a trio of Trojans’ tackles and also hurdled another defender en route to a clinching 73-yard scoring sprint. That gave the Greyhounds an insurmountable 36-15 lead, which the “Hounds Hammer” defense made stand up following a scoreless fourth frame.
Burns barreled for a game-high 195 yards on only nine carries and tallied TDs of 50 and 14 yards prior to his third-quarter jaunt. He also hauled in a 2-point conversion pass from Jake DeMedal following his second score.
“I wouldn’t want to have to tackle him, I’ll tell you that. Not when he’s gotten up a head of steam — no way!” admiring veteran Greyhounds’ coach Terry Verrelli said of Burns. “Derrick is definitely bigger. He’s got a set of shoulders on him, a set of thighs.”
Burns has bulked up to 205 pounds without having lost any foot speed, judging from how quickly he got to the left corner on two of his TDs.
He said his 40-yard dash time is 4.48.
“I was working on my speed this summer, ’cause I knew I was getting bigger. I just tried to keep my speed up,” Burns related.
“We didn’t tackle Burns well all night,” third-year Trojans’ taskmaster Brian Herrick acknowledged. “We just had some crucial breakdowns. After we got it to 28-15, you know, how many guys missed Derrick?
“Part of it is, he’s just good — he’s a good back — and a lot of it was missed tackling. But a lot of the missed tackles were because we were not in position because he’s so fast,” Herrick noted.
Despite running 15 first-half plays on offense, Wilmington walloped Greenville with seven plays of 12 or more yards. Only one of the Greyhounds’ scores were the result of a sustained drive — a seven-play, 71-yard, 3-minute, 2-second span culminating in Burns’ second score via a counter to the left. That gave the Greyhounds a 15-2 edge with 9:25 remaining to intermission.
On its ensuing series Greenville gave the Greyhounds a gift.
On a second-and-12 play from his own 34-yard line, Greenville quarterback David Holiga had the center snap out of shotgun formation sail over his head for a 17-yard loss. Two plays later punter Mike Simons saw another snap sail toward the Trojans’ end zone, and he was beaten to the ball by Wilmington’s Justin Henderson.
Greenville’s third three-and-out series of the half resulted in Burns’ 60-yarder on a toss left, and although Bryce Wilson missed a 28-yard PAT attempt (Wilmington was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct following Burns’ score, resulting in a 15-yard penalty), the Hounds had a seemingly safe 28-2 margin at intermission.
But the Trojans tallied twice in the third on R.J. Malson 2- and 8-yard TD runs, capping relatively short series of 35 and 27 yards. Dylan Zuschlag’s second half-opening 49-yard kickoff return set up the first score, and Cody Yavorsky’s 33-yard punt return set the stage for the second.
However, 28-15 with 3:08 left in the third quarter was as close as Greenville would get for the duration despite a 74-28 edge in offensive plays and a 19-9 margin in first downs. Wilmington would outgain Greenville by just a 296-246 differential, but the Greyhounds got 10.5 yards per play.
“I told the kids that’s the difference between Wilmington and us right now,” Herrick related. “They finished all their drives; we were inside the 20, I believe, four times and didn’t score. You lose by three touchdowns, that’s the difference in the game when you don’t finish.
“But it’s more them than us. They’re an outstanding football team.”
Also, the Hounds had a trio of quarterback sacks. Sean Christofferson collaborated on one with Jason McFarland, logged another solo sack, and Chad Palladino put Holiga on his back at the buzzer after Greenville had gotten to the Greyhounds’ 13.
“Greenville’s a good football team. They moved the ball on us. But that’s the type of game that we needed — a good football game,” Verrelli related. “It was a great effort ... but what we’ve got to do next week is get better.
“Again, every game is the most important one, the one you’re playing that night.”
Interestingly, he said his Hounds were “uptight” in last week’s opener, owing to the mantel of being the defending PIAA Class AA champions.
“I think there’s always that pressure, you know what I mean? They all want to live up to the expectations,” Verrelli said. “That first game we played down at Brentwood, they were so tense I had to pull them aside before the game and say, ‘Hey, timeout here. You guys are so uptight. You prepared throughout the week. Relax and play the football game and have some fun.’ ”
WILMINGTON GREENVILLE
9 First downs 19
266 Yards Rushing 158
5 Passes Attempted 18
2 Passes Completed 12
0 Passes Intercepted 0
30 Yards Passing 88
296 Total Yards 246
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
4-33 Penalties-Yards 2-21
WILMINGTON 7 21 8 0 — 36
GREENVILLE 2 0 13 0 — 15
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Derrick Burns, 50-yard run (Bryce Wilson kick).
GREENVILLE — Safety, Tyler Gentile tackled DeMedal.
WILMINGTON — Burns, 14-yard run (Burns pass from Jake DeMedal).
WILMINGTON — Justin Henderson, fumble recovered in end zone (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Burns, 60-yard run (kick failed).
GREENVILLE — R.J. Malson, 2-yard run (pass failed).
GREENVILLE — Malson, 8-yard run (Simons kick).
WILMINGTON — Burns, 73-yard run (Tom Bober pass from DeMedal).
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