Travis Pickens Report
Hounds run away from Hickory
By Travis Pickens
Hickory High School just couldn’t catch up.
After coming up empty inside Wilmington territory on three of its first four drives, Hickory fell behind. From there, the Greyhounds played a game of ‘Catch Us If You Can’ in the District 10 Class AA semifinals at Slippery Rock University’s N. Kerr Thompson Stadium on their way to a 34-20 win.
“I expected the first quarter to be low scoring,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said of the scoreless opening frame. “We came prepared to stop their offense, and we did so.”
Hickory stopped Wilmington’s offense too, at least for a quarter. Following the opening quarter, which saw the Greyhounds amass 16 offensive yards and no first downs, Wilmington woke up.
After holding Hickory on a fourth-and-2 play from the Wilmington 38-yard line, the Greyhounds (9-1) went to work. Wilmington moved the sticks for the first time at the 8:37 mark of the second quarter on its way to taking the lead. Chris Burns put the Greyhounds ahead, 6-0, on a 6-yard run that capped a 9-play, 63-yard drive and ate up 4:06.
From that point, Hickory (7-4) looked like it was in trouble.
Wilmington, the Region 3 champions, put together another 9-play drive on its next possession. The drive was capped by a 24-yard touchdown run by David Bruno. Scott Lewis ran for the two-point conversion, and the Greyhounds were off and running, ahead 14-0.
“Those are big plays,” Verrelli said of his team jumping on top early. “We just find ways to make big plays.”
It looked as though Wilmington would add to its lead before halftime as it forced the Hornets to punt. But, the Greyhounds were caught for roughing the kicker, which gave Hickory new life. Three plays later, the Hornets made the penalty hurt.
Quarterback Nick Erdesky missed on three straight passes to start the drive, but eventually found his touch. An 11-yard pass to Dave Smith moved the ball to the Wilmington 33-yard line with under 10 seconds to go in the half.
The next play, Erdesky threw a Hail Mary as time expired. Two Wilmington defenders tipped the ball, but neither could bring it down and Hornet receiver Garen Ream was waiting for the deflected ball at the 3-yard line. Ream went into the end zone untouched and the Hornets closed the gap to 14-7 at halftime.
“We were definitely up after that touchdown,” Hickory coach Jeff Bell said of his team’s demeanor in the locker room. “We felt good. We just wanted to play good defense.”
That’s exactly what Hickory didn’t do when the two teams met Sept. 16. The Greyhounds broke a 28-28 halftime tie and coasted to a convincing 69-28 win.
But, the Hornets didn’t hold momentum for long on Saturday night. After a botched onside kick didn’t work at the start of the second half, Wilmington took over at the Hickory 48-yard line and promptly marched to the end zone in seven plays. The drive was finished with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jake Reiber to Forrest Minteer on a crucial third-and-16.
“That’s one of those high risk, high reward things,” Bell said of the onside kick. “We had the momentum.”
Just like before halftime, a penalty gave the Hornets new life. Following an incomplete pass that brought up fourth down, Wilmington was penalized for roughing the passer, which produced a Hickory first down. Four plays later, Smith scored on a 15-yard run to make the score 21-14.
“That’s the way we played all year,” Verrelli said. “We make mistakes, but we recover. It was a typical game.”
And recover the Greyhounds did. On the ensuing kickoff, Lewis took the kick down the right sideline untouched for a 75-yard touchdown, which proved to be the deciding points.
Hickory couldn’t pull closer than 28-20 and was forced to punt with just over three minutes remaining after recovering a Wilmington fumble. The Hornets couldn’t stop Wilmington, and Lewis added insult to injury with a 32-yard touchdown run with 1:05 remaining.
“That’s what good football teams do,” Bell said of the Greyhounds never giving his team a chance to tie the game. “I give Wilmington all the credit in the world.”
Next up for the Greyhounds is another rematch. Thanks to its 16-2 win over Girard, Reynolds is granted another shot at Wilmington, this time for the district championship. Wilmington beat Reynolds, 16-7, on Oct. 14.
Wilmington 34, Hickory 20
Score-by-quarters
Hickory 0 7 7 6 - 20
Wilmington 0 14 14 6 - 34
HHS WHS
11 First Downs 15
33-74 Rushes-Yards 34-240
140 Passing Yards 77
6-18-1 Pass (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 4-5-0
214 Total Yards Gained 280
2/0 Fumbles/Lost 2/1
1-5 Penalties-Yards 9-77
Second Quarter
W—Chris Burns 6 run (conversion failed), 6:09
W—David Bruno 24 run (Scott Lewis run), :47
H—Garen Ream 24 pass from Nick Erdesky (Ross Voisey kick), :00
Third Quarter
W—Forrest Minteer 25 pass from Jake Reiber (Nick Riggal kick), 8:42.
H—Dave Smith 15 run (Voisey kick), :46.
W—Lewis 75 kick return (Riggal kick), :32.
Fourth Quarter
H—Keith Yager 5 run (Voisey kick), 9:45.
W—Lewis 32 run (kick failed), 1:05.
Individual Statistics
Passing: Hickory—Nick Erdesky 6-18-140-1. Wilmington—Jake Reiber 4-5-77-0.
Rushing: Hickory—Josh Peagler 8-30, Keith Yager 9-24, Nick Erdesky 5-12, Vince Campbell 4-6, Dave Smith 4-5. Wilmington—Jake Reiber 13-93, Chris Burns 9-53, Scott Lewis 13-40, David Bruno 2-28, Forrest Minteer 7-26.
Receiving: Hickory—Garen Ream 2-87, Dave Smith 3-51, Keith Yager 1-2. Wilmington—Forrest Minteer 1-25, Jordan Fennick 1-23, Chris Burns 1-23, David Bruno 1-6.