PIAA PLAYOFFS Wilmington tops Hickory to reach finals

The Greyhounds' win puts them in the title game with Reynolds.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SLIPPERY ROCK -- Wilmington High football coach Terry Verrelli said all season long that the key to the success of his club was that it always finds a way to win.
Saturday night at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium, the Greyhounds found yet more ways to win as they dumped the Hickory Hornets 34-20 to advance to the District 10 Class AA title game.
With the win, Wilmington sets up an all-Mercer County district final as it will face Reynolds, a 16-2 winner over Girard, in the title game.
"They found more ways to win a football game," said Verrelli. "They played their typical game, making mistakes but also making big plays when they needed to."
Disappointed with the loss, Hickory coach Jim Bell was proud of the way his troops battled in the loss.
"They made plays when they had to and that is what good football teams do," said Bell. "They are an excellent football team and I give Wilmington all the credit in the world. They made the plays when they had and they were big ones. A couple of them were close to being backbreakers, but our kids never gave up, they played hard and I am as proud as I could be with their effort tonight."
First meeting
When the Hickory Hornets and Wilmington Greyhounds met during the regular season, it was a game to remember. Or in the case of coach Jim Bell and Hornets, it might have been one to forget.
In that contest, the two teams combined for 49 points in just the first quarter, Hickory holding onto a 28-21 lead after 12 minutes of action. From that point on, it was all Greyhounds as they scored 48 unanswered points for the 69-28 win.
"I have never been invloved in a game that took 45 minutes to complete," said Verrelli. "I thought for sure they were going to score a hundred points. It ended up to be a strange game, that's for sure."
Hickory coach Jim Bell agreed that the first meeting of 2005 was unique in his coaching career.
"Never in my life. Never," said Bell about his involvement in a stranger game. "We scored the first four times we had the ball and they scored every single time they had the ball. There is no way I can explain what happened and I don't think Terry can either. It was just a wacky game."
Different preparation
Although the two teams faced each other prior to Saturday's District 10 semifinal matchup, both coaches saw the preparation for the second contest a little differently as a result of that game.
"I think it helps," said Bell. "Normally when you watch a team on film, you think you have a good idea as to how big they are, how quick and strong they are, but now that we have played them, we know all of those things. They are amazingly quick, both offensively and defensively. We know some of their strengths and weaknesses and they know ours too, so I think if their is an advantage, it helps both teams."
"I think it does make a difference," said Verrelli about preparing his team for the second time around. "We have faced this situation before where we played a team in the regular season and then faced them again in the playoffs. When you lose the game, you kind of have a little advantage because you go back and know what you have to work on. When you win, it is a little bit different because you know what things worked the first time."
Greyhounds lead early
The Greyhounds scored the first two touchdowns of the game to take a 14-0 lead.
After a scoreless first period, the Hounds got on the board when Chris Burns capped a 9-play, 63-yard march with a 6-yard run for the score midway through the second quarter.
Following a Hickory punt, Wilmington again went to work on offense as they traveled 78 yards on eight plays, David Bruno going in from 24 yards out for the score on a third-and-6 play with 48 seconds left.
The Hornets answered, making the most of a roughing the kicker call to move the ball to the Greyhound 33. With no time showing on the clock, Hornet wideout Garen Ream caught a pass on the 2-yard line and stretched himself and the ball into the end zone for the score.
Ross Voisey's PAT attempt was good, and with the last second heroics, the Wilmington lead had been cut in half at 14-7.
Game breaker
Following a Hickory touchdown that cut the Wilmington lead to 21-14, the Greyhounds delivered the big blow as Scott Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a score. Lewis, who finished with 169 all-purpose yards in the game, capped the scoring in the game when he scooted his own right end for a 31-yard touchdown.