Hornets End Three-Year Drought Against Rival North Penn-Mansfield, Bring Back Morton Jones Trophy

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News

Ed Weaver | October 25, 2025

Sophomore Griffin Morral accounted for 5 touchdowns and senior Marek Mascho posted three scores to lead the Wellsboro Varsity Football team to a 48-10 victory over rival North Penn-Mansfield to regain the Morton F. Jones Trophy on Friday.

The loss ends a three-year losing streak in the rivalry series.

“They came out firing like we knew they would. We had to overcome a little adversity with the opening kickoff, but we we responded and tied it up and really got the offense clicking,” said head coach Matt Hildebrand. “Jitters are always big in this game and these seniors really wanted this one. It’s the first time they’ve beat North Penn in their career. We’ve talked all year about being different and doing things that haven’t happened been done here in awhile and these guys have done this all year. They’ve produced the most wins in a regular season that we’ve had in awhile. I’m just really proud of them. They’re setting the stage for the younger kids and teaching them how to win.”

The Hornets took a couple of series to get into the flow of the game. North Penn-Mansfield’s Colton Pellett returned the opening kickoff to jump out to a quick 7-0 lead, and on the Hornets’ first drive, they fumbled and gave the Panthers the ball back deep in Hornet territory. However, junior Gideon Lawton intercepted a Peyton Greene pass, giving Wellsboro back the ball.

From that point on, it was all Wellsboro. The Hornets put up 517 yards of total offense while holding the Panthers to just 58.

The Hornets tied the game at 7-all with 40 seconds left in the opening quarter on a 38-yard pass from Morral to Lawton. Just past the midway point of the second, Morral threw his second touchdown of the evening, a 14-yarder to senior Dylan Copp to put Wellsboro up, 14-7. Morral’s third TD pass came with 2:26 left to play as he found Mascho on a 40-yard strike. Later, with just two seconds left in the half, Morral connected with sophomore Kody Enck from 10-yards out. At the half Wellsboro led 28-10.

In the second half the Hornets scored all three touchdowns on the ground. Morral broke off a 58-yard run to start the 3rd quarter. Then Mascho scored on a one-yard run with 41 seconds left. Their final score, a two-yard run by Mascho, capped the scoring at 58-10.

Brody Grinnell kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the first half for the Panthers.

Morral finished 7-for-8 passing for 172 yards. He also rushed for 196 yards on 16 carries. Mascho finished with 147 yards on 20 carries and Copp added 2 carries for 11 yards. Mascho also caught 3 passes for 72 yards. Enck finished with 2 catches for 48 yards.

Defensively, senior Hayden Stevens led Wellsboro with 7 tackles and 2 sacks. Mascho added 6 stops and junior Levi Champaign had 5 tackles and two sacks.

Enck made 3 interceptions on the evening, tying him for 1st all-tie for interceptions in a single game. He has made 6 interceptions this season (2nd all-time).

Peyton Greene was 4-for-16 for 24 yards for North Penn-Mansfield. Luke Kreger completed 3-of-5 passes for 8 yards and rushed 15 times for 37 yards.

“He (Kreger) is a good player and when they went to the Wildcat in the 2nd half they were able to run the ball well us against us,” Hildebrand added. “He’s hard to contain and he has a bright future if he wants to play in college, but I’m proud of our guys and how they were able to contain him. In the passing game we made some big stops and got turnovers when we needed them.”

Wellsboro finishes the regular season 6-4 (6-3 NTL Large School Division), their best regular season record since the 2019 season (9-2).

“These guys are so enjoyable to coach and we haven’t had a day that we’ve dreaded going to practice,” concluded Hildebrand. “We want to stick together and play as much football as we can, so we’re looking forward to next week. Anytime your get extra football that’s a positive, so we’ll keep playing no matter who they put in front of us and we’ll see what the outcome is.”

The Hornets now turn their attention to the post-season. The team has secured the #6 seed in the District IV Class 2A playoffs, and will do battle against Troy next Friday evening.

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