Wilmington routs Grove City
Wilmington (42) vs. Grove City (7)
Written: Sep 13, 2008
 Junior running back Derrick Burns scampers for a career-high 180 yards and three touchdowns in the Greyhounds’ win over Grove City last night.
By JOHN D’ABRUZZO
jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com
GROVE CITY — Derrick Burns believes he’s finding his zone.
The Wilmington High junior running back posted career numbers as the Greyhounds cruised to an easy 42-7 District 10, nonregion victory last night at Grove City.
Wilmington (3-0), which entered the week ranked seventh by the Harrisburg Patriot-News in the PIAA poll, jumped out to a 35-0 lead at the half and watched the clock tick away the rest of the game thanks to the mercy rule.
After running for 31 and 39 yards the first two weeks of the season, respectively, Burns gathered 180 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries against the Eagles (2-1). He scored on runs of 4, 1 and 51 yards.
Last year, Burns ran behind his older brother, Chris, who is now a running back at Pitt. The younger Burns is in the spotlight this season, but he hadn’t had his breakout game until last night.
“This was definitely a better game for me,” Burns said. “I did well last week, but my running game wasn’t as successful as it was this week. Today was definitely an improvement.”
But Burns was far from the ’Hounds’ only offensive weapon. He split carries with Chad Palladino, Luke Yohman and Sutton Whiting, the latter of whom scored on a 4-yard run late in the second quarter.
“We have that balanced attack,” tight end Dallas Hartman said. “Derrick’s a freak. I never played with a better running back in my life. He would be putting up even better numbers if we didn’t have three other good running backs around him.”
“With Derrick, we have so many backs and we can throw the football, that we haven’t got him the ball enough times,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. “Tonight, we did. The past games we didn’t have much rushing, but I try to use as many (running backs) as I can so there’s no key (for opponents to focus on). He had an exceptional game tonight.”
Wilmington also relied on the arm of Shane Wagner. The senior quarterback threw for 97 yards and two touchdowns, completing 7 of 11 attempts.
He connected with his cousin, Matt Wagner, on an 18-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. Later, he hit Hartman, who dashed down the Wilmington sideline for a 59-yard touchdown midway though the second quarter.
“It was a good find by Shane,” said Hartman, who had two receptions for 61 yards. “The line held up just long enough and Shane found me through a few people. It worked out well.”
The offense, however, was a mere sideshow to Wilmington’s defense.
The ’Hounds caused and then benefited from three fumbles in the first quarter. Matt Wagner, Carson Sharbaugh and Shane Wagner each came up with recoveries.
“That was pretty key,” Shane Wagner said. “Those turnovers were pretty good. We were in their territory most of the first half.
“We need to be playing pretty tough defense. We got some high-powered offenses ahead of us in the next few weeks.”
The fumbles were one thing, but the Eagles struggled to move the ball in the first half and didn’t cross their own 35 until the closing minute of the second quarter.
“If we could have put a couple first downs together and got a little bit of field position, who knows?” Grove City coach Jeff Bell said. “Then there’s the fumbles. Geez, oh man, when you’re on that end of the field, you can never turn it over but especially down there against a team like this.”
Wilmington racked up 249 of its 321 yards of total offense in the first half. The ’Hounds held the Eagles to 64 yards and four first downs in the first half.
“Our defense ... that’s the key,” Verrelli said. “They moved the ball a little bit there in the second half, but we’re obviously pleased with both sides of the ball.”
Casey Shay led the Eagles with 102 yards on 15 carries. Dwayne Martin, who rushed for 50 yards on 10 carries, scored Grove City’s lone touchdown on a 10-yard run to open the fourth quarter.
“We hung in there,” Bell said. “I’m not blaming (anyone), but I thought in order for us to beat them, we’d have to win the turnover game. We didn’t win it and we didn’t win the game.”
WILMINGTON GROVE CITY
15 First downs 11
242 Yards Rushing 208
18 Yards Lost 21
224 Net Rushing 187
11 Passes Attempted 7
7 Passes Completed 2
0 Passes Intercepted 1
97 Yards Passing 11
321 Total Yards 198
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 4-3
1-38 Punts-Average 4-27.75
4-31 Penalties-Yards 2-15
WILMINGTON 15 20 0 7 — 42
GROVE CITY 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Derrick Burns, 4-yard run (kick blocked).
WILMINGTON — Matt Wagner, 18-yard pass from Shane Wagner (pass failed).
WILMINGTON — Bryce Wilson, 24-yard FG.
WILMINGTON — Dallas Hartman, 59-yard pass from S. Wagner (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Sutton Whiting, 4-yard run (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Burns, 1-yard run (kick failed).
GROVE CITY — Dwayne Martin, 10-yard run (Bobby Kowalsky kick).
WILMINGTON — Burns, 51-yard run (Wilson kick).
|