Wilmington ‘steals’ victory from Ohio foe
Wilmington (34) vs. Warren (Ohio) JFK (6)
Written: Oct 31, 2011
By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
WARREN, Ohio —- If you’re ever in a scrum with Wilmington High’s defense, better check your wallet.
For the second straight week, a Greyhounds defender stole the ball from an opposing runner who’d been stopped in his tracks here Saturday night. This time, it was linebacker Tyler Donati, whose theft from John F. Kennedy running back Alec Rossi was one of two goal-line take-aways that helped preserve Wilmington’s 34-6 nonleague win at Mollenkopf Stadium.
A week prior, Ryan Crawford had wrestled the ball away from a Sharon player and returned it for a touchdown. This time, with the Greyhounds (8-1) up 28-6, Rossi was stood up on a third-and-goal inside the 1 when Donati burst from the chaos with the pigskin and raced 30 yards before being tackled.
“It just happens,” Donati said about turning in a play similar to what Crawford had done a week before. “I had the guy, looked down and saw the ball, and tried to get it. I thought they were going to blow the whistle.”
In the moments it took for others to recognize he had the ball, it seemed Donati might take it the length of the field for a score. Instead, he was caught and dropped at the 30.
“Well, I was pretty tired,” he smiled. “I would have liked to have gone all the way, but 100 yards is pretty long.”
Just before halftime, linebacker Josiah Bloise pulled of a touchdown-saving takeaway of his own. With two seconds left in the second quarter and JFK (5-5) at the Wilmington 10, Bloise stepped in front of an Eagles receiver at the goal line and intercepted quarterback Dominic Naples, preserving a 21-0 lead at intermission.
“We needed a stop,” Bloise said,” so we just manned up and had to get the job done. I saw the opportunity to take it, so that’s what I did. If they go in then, that makes it a game.”
Wilmington’s Anthony Derrick and Nick Vasko also had interceptions, setting up a 15-yard TD pass from Josh Tekac to Gunnar Donati and a 9-yard scoring run by Tyler Donati, respectively.
“Defensively, they’ve done a great job all year long,” Wilmington head coach Terry Verrelli said. “We keep getting better, that’s what we want to do. Defending the pass, it was a much better job tonight than we’ve done in the past so we’re getting better at the things we need to get better at.”
Gunnar Donati, who had a team-high 89 yards on 17 carries, also scored on runs of 2 and 12 yards. Anthony Derrick (75 yards on 13 tries) tallied Wilmington’s remaining TD on a 15-yard run.
“We really thought they were a good football team, which they are,” Verrelli said of the Eagles. “And you get a little complacent after Sharon and you win the league and all that.
“We talked to them that ‘You’ve got to keep moving, you can’t get lackadaisical, and this is a good team, so let’s go over and find out if you’re a playoff team.’ That’s what they did. They came over and they played hard.”
(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)
BOX SCORE
WILMINGTON JFK
17 First downs 10
291 Yards Rushing 134
7 Yards Lost 25
284 Net Rushing 109
4 Passes Attempted 13
2 Passes Completed 7
0 Passes Intercepted 3
22 Yards Passing 98
306 Total Yards 207
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 3-2
2-28 Punts-Average 3-33.7
3-30 Penalties-Yards 5-27
WILMINGTON 7 14 7 6 — 34
JFK 0 0 6 0 — 6
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Anthony Derrick, 15-yard run (Slavi Pontius kick).
WILMINGTON — Gunnar Donati, 2-yard run (Brandon Ryder kick).
WILMINGTON — G. Donati, 15-yard pass from Josh Tekac (Pontius kick).
JFK — Alec Rossi, 1-yard run (Kick failed).
WILMINGTON — Tyler Donati, 9-yard run (Ryder kick).
WILMINGTON — G. Donati, 12-yard run (Kick failed).
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