Saturday, September 8, 2001
The Greyhounds earned199 yards on the ground.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- It was d & eacute;j & agrave; vu for the Wilmington and Grove City high school football teams Friday at Forker Field.
One year ago, Wilmington belted the Eagles 40-0 en route to a 12-2 mark that ended with a loss in the state semifinals. Friday night, the Greyhounds, using a well-balanced attack, repeated their effort with a 33-0 shutout.
For the game, the Greyhounds showed 199 yards on the ground while adding another 200 through the air.
On the ground, Wilmington was led by Matt Krawchyk with 79 yards and Brandon Whiting with 75.
The Greyhounds scored the first two times they touched the ball, first on a 57-yard jaunt by Krawchyk. Whiting then scooted in from 8 yards out.
"I feel that we have a good running attack, and I think any team that plays us is going to feel they have to stop that," Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. "They didn't stop us, but I certainly feel they did a good job of slowing us down.
"But regardless of how you run the ball, you have to be able to throw the ball, and I felt we also did that pretty well tonight."
The Greyhounds feature the two-quarterback system, and Verrelli was pleased with the efforts of Tim Hughes and Nick Sheehan.
Hughes finished at 4-for-6 for 126 yards and one score while Sheehan was perfect at 3-for-3 for 74 yards and one touchdown.
Target: Brian Baer was the primary target of Sheehan and Hughes as he hauled in five balls for 127 yards and both scores.
"I thought both quarterbacks did an excellent job of throwing the ball," said Verrelli. "To be a playoff and championship team, you have to be able to do that.
"They were crowding us trying to stop the run, so we went to the pass and the kids did a good job of handling it."
Prior to the game, Grove City coach Jeff Bell had told his kids that they could do one of three things. They could improve, they could stay the same or they could become worse.
"We got better. We definitely got better than we were last week against Meadville," said Bell.
"Toward the end of the first half and in the second half, I think I found a defense that wants to play ball. I don't think I have had a group of kids who went out there and played any harder than they did tonight.
"We hit some people out there tonight and that was good to see."
Strong defense: While the Grove City defensive unit came on strong as the game progressed, the Eagles simply couldn't get anything going offensively to keep their defensive counterparts off the field.
"We didn't do anything offensively, so our defense wore out a little bit," said Bell. "Now that I found a defense, I have to find an offense and that is my department because I am the one who calls the plays. We have good kids, but we just have to figure out a way to move the football."
Wilmington (2-0) returns home to host Slippery Rock next Friday night, while Grove City, winless in its two starts, hosts Sharon at Forker Field.