Carbon Copy: Wildcats Duplicate Week 1 Performance with Crushing 54-14 Win Over Wolves
Tagged under: District 6, Gameday Hub, News
Luke Rainey | September 19, 2020
Derived from the Moscow Rules, the adage claims, “Once is chance, twice is coincidence, third time is a pattern.”
The Homer-Center Wildcats have arrived at the ‘coincidence’ stage after dominating the West Shamokin Wolves in almost identical fashion as their season-opening victory against the Lions in Week 1.
As true against the Lions, the Wildcats’ ascended to near-total command on offense and defense within the opening half, accumulating a lead sufficient enough to initiate the 35-point mercy rule prior to halftime.
Quarterback Ben Schmidt was responsible for five of the six first-half Wildcat touchdowns, all of which consisting of plays that netted at least 35 yards. They would finish the night with a 54-14 victory, one that included two second-half touchdown runs by backup quarterbacks Anthony Rowland and Cole McAnulty.
“Both sides of the ball, I was very, very pleased with,” Wildcats’ Coach Greg Page commented.
The Wolves deferred to the Wildcats after winning the coin toss. It would only take six plays two minutes for Homer-Center to score their first points on a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Kochman.
“The big key for us right off the bat was going down and getting a score,” Page said.
On West Shamokin’s opening series, they reached inside the 15-yard line after quarterback Bo Swartz snaked through the Wildcats’ defense for a 47-yard gain. Swartz was then sacked on two consecutive plays by nose guard Caden Brown, forcing a turnover on downs within Homer-Center’s territory.
After a three-and-out for the Wildcats, West Shamokin started their possession from midfield and made it to the 26-yard line within two plays. However, they would not make additional progress before suffering another failed conversion attempt on fourth down.
In the opening play of Homer-Center’s next drive, Schmidt threw a short completion to Michael Krejocic from the 31-yard line, who proceeded to dodge tackles and run the distance for a touchdown worth 69 yards.
The extra point attempt may have been equally impressive. A disconnection on the snap transfer set the ball loose, but Schmidt picked it up and continued the play. He evaded rushers and dodged tackles, creating an opportunity for him to throw a pass to Justin Walbeck for an impromptu–yet successful–2-point conversion.
The Wolves were forced to punt after an additional 11-yard sack by Brown, and Homer-Center would score on another single-play possession at the close of the first quarter. This time, it was Schmidt who ran it in for a 59-yard touchdown to expand the Wildcats’ lead to 21-0.
West Shamokin started their next drive from inside their territory, but multiple penalties committed by the Wildcats assisted them in moving downfield. They were successful in converting a pair of fourth-downs, with the latter conversion yielding a 27-yard pass to Owen Stover for the Wolves’ first touchdown. An unsuccessful extra point kept the score at 21-6.
An 18-yard carry by Travis Mock moved Homer-Center inside West Shamokin’s territory. From the 39-yard line, Schmidt scrambled through the middle of the pocket and shed a tackle by spinning free of a defender’s grasp to score another touchdown for the Wildcats.
Moving almost exclusively to the rushing attack after another Wolves’ punt, Homer-Center relied on Walbeck to carry the series once inside the 30-yard line. He finished it with a 9-yard touchdown, accumulating 24 rushing yards on four carries.
West Shamokin punted back to the Wildcats, giving them less than three minutes to score before halftime. From the 47-yard line, Schmidt through to Kochman, who faced single-coverage from Josh Cicero. He made the catch ahead of Cicero, storming ahead to improve Homer-Center’s lead to 42-6 at halftime. Schmidt commandeered one extra drive at the start of the third quarter, though much of the drive was spent on the ground. They drove to the Wolves’ 23-yard line, but tight end Brock Houser was stuffed for an 8-yard loss on a fourth-and-2 conversion attempt.
The Wolves moved past midfield midway through the quarter, but were ultimately pushed back to their own territory after a 14-yard sack by defensive end Aiden Bekina. This would subsequently end their series after failing to convert fourth-and-10. However, they would regain possession at the beginning of the fourth quarter after the Wolves recovered a fumble from within their territory.
Swartz would remain on the field for only two more plays before Lou Swartz replaced him. Lou’s first pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Jared Orsargos, positioning the Wildcats inside the 20-yard line. In one play, backup quarterback McAnulty scrambled for an 18-yard rushing touchdown, creating a 42-point lead over the Wolves.
West Shamokin had seven minutes to respond. They only passed once on the entire possession, but slowly gained yardage with carries from Niko Buffone and Swartz. After six minutes, the Wolves scored on a 9-play drive with a 2-yard carry by Buffone.
Anthony Rowland, who played throughout the second half against the Lions, returned to finish the night under center. In one play, Rowland scrambled for a 60-yard touchdown, putting the icing on the cake for a remarkable showing from the Wildcats.
Wildcats’ Coach Greg Page discussed how his team was successful in relegating West Shamokin’s offense to 14 points.
“It was a total team effort on defense. (Swartz) scared me all night. They got a couple of penalties and had some things go wrong, and we were able to take advantage of that.”
Meanwhile, Wolves’ Head Coach Jon McCullough expressed his frustration over their lackluster performance.
“We were an absolute dumpster fire tonight,” McCullough said. “They whipped us up front, both sides of the ball.
“Schmidt is a heck of a ball player, but we didn’t want to tackle. We didn’t want to block up front,” he continued. “I know we’re better than what we’re doing right now, and we’ve got to find a way to just correct it.”
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