Wilmington dominates Brentwood
Wilmington (42) vs. Brentwood (7)
Written: Aug 30, 2008
 By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
Things will look a bit different on offense for Wilmington High this year.
Sure, it’s the same wing-T that the Greyhounds have used for years. But with the graduation of Chris Burns, who averaged nearly 150 yards rushing per game a year ago, Wilmington may have a ground game committee, rather than a star, in 2008.
One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the ’Hounds Hammer defense. Wilmington limited Brentwood to just 55 yards total offense en route to routing the Spartans, 42-7, at home last night in the season opener for both teams.
All but 12 seconds of the second half were played under the mercy rule. That’s how long it took for sophomore Sutton Whiting to return the third-quarter kickoff 85 yards to give the ’Hounds a 35-0 lead.
“We focus hard every year on defense,” said senior two-way tackle Clint DeRosa. “Good offense can beat teams, but what wins games is good defense.”
Wilmington’s starters pitched a shutout against Brentwood, which found itself with minus-12 yards rushing before driving 43 yards for a score against the ’Hounds’ reserves in the game’s waning minutes.
“It’s pretty hard offensively if you can’t drive the people up front and I think that’s what happened tonight,” Wilmington head coach Terry Verrelli said. “We work hard on that. We know we have some good linemen.
“Clint (6 foot, 242 pounds) is a great defensive tackle, and Spike Hartman (6-5, 235), we just moved him in there and he’s just learning his way around, but you can see he’s going to be a force in there.
“We’re certainly happy with the defense. You’ve got to have great defense, or you can’t go down the road.”
Offensively, the Greyhounds rolled up 328 total yards, but unlike a year ago, when Chris Burns generally accounted for the lion’s share, the load was distributed across the board. Chad Palladino was the team’s leading ground-gainer with 56 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Fullback Derrick Burns had 31 yards and a touchdown on five carries, as well as two receptions for 58 yards and another score. The latter touchdown came on a swing pass he turned into a 45-yard romp to paydirt.
Quarterback Shane Wagner completed 9 of 13 passes for 131 yards and two TDs. His cousin, Matt Wagner, emerged as his favorite target, catching five passes for 52 yards and a TD.
“We got a great backfield,” DeRosa noted. “We got Derrick Burns and we got four different running backs, a quarterback with a great arm and big receivers, so we try to do as much as we can to work the field.”
Verrelli believes he has “four or five quality running backs” at his disposal, and said they’ve all looked good to date.
“I think they’re all a threat,” he said. “And Shane at quarterback, he can throw the football and he runs the team well. And of course Derrick, Derrick’s a force in there at fullback.
“It was a good start. We just want to keep moving along and getting better.”
BRENTWOOD WILMINGTON
5 First downs 15
50 Yards Rushing 197
32 Yards Lost 2
18 Net Rushing 195
18 Passes Attempted 13
6 Passes Completed 9
0 Passes Intercepted 2
55 Yards Passing 131
73 Total Yards 328
3-2 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
6-34.2 Punts-Average 1-35
4-28 Penalties-Yards 7-52
BRENTWOOD 0 0 0 7 — 7
WILMINGTON 7 21 14 0 — 42
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Derrick Burns 2-yard run (Bryce Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Burns, 45-yard pass from Shane Wagner (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Josh Phillian 26-yard run (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Chad Palladino 3-yard run (Wilson kick)
WILMINGTON — Sutton Whiting 85-yard kickoff return (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Matt Wagner 9-yard pass from S. Wagner (Wilson kick).
BRENTWOOD — D.J. Clark 4-yard run (Justin Bodell kick).
|