Wissahickon rolls to first win of season

LOWERY GWYNEDD >> One of the main goals for the Wissahickon football program in 2022 was to set a foundation under first-year head coach Rory Graver.

For the first time Friday night, the progress showed on the scoreboard. The Trojans celebrated senior night with their first win of the season, 28-3, over Suburban One League American Conference rival William Tennent at Wissahickon High School.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys, especially our seniors,” Graver said. “We might not have gotten the results on the scoreboard this year before this, but we’ve gotten better each and every week. We show up to practice, we work extremely hard and it’s because of our senior leadership. I’m extremely proud of those guys.”

“It’s a big boost for us seniors, especially,” upperclassman Gavin Myers said, “but our focus this whole year has been setting the tone for the young guys for these next couple years. This team is going to be scary in a couple years, trust me. Coach Graver is running a great program here. This team is going to be scary.”

Wissahickon (1-7, 1-2 SOL American) fell behind 3-0 late in the second quarter before scoring 28 unanswered points. The Trojans drove for a touchdown late in the first half to take an 8-3 lead into the locker room before dominating the second half. They scored touchdowns on their first two drives after halftime and forced three consecutive turnovers to put the game away.

The Trojans scoring started with an eight-play, 62-yard drive that took 2:51 off the clock. Jaden McLean had four straight runs for 31 yards to set up Myers’ 18-yard rushing touchdown on a misdirection play.

“I love that play,” Myers said. “It’s designed for me to score just like that. I saw the one linebacker coming to me, but I knew I had him on the edge so I could just run straight. The rest, good blocking up-field by the receivers, easy touchdown.”

In the second half, Wiss took advantage of a 17-yard William Tennent (1-6, 0-3 SOL American) punt and took over on the offensive 40-yard line. Eight plays, including a 4th-and-7 conversion from quarterback Julian Perkins to McLean, set up a three-yard touchdown run from Jarret Federer.

After an interception gave the Trojans the ball on the offensive side of the 50 again, Perkins capped the drive with a 10-yard keeper. McLean finished the scoring with a 23-yard run in the final two minutes.

“I think this season we’ve learned how to compete,” Graver said. “Next step for us as a program is we need to learn how to win games. Hopefully this is the first step of that.”

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE

Wissahickon’s defense controlled most of the game, holding Tennent to 149 total yards. The Trojans elevated their play in the second half, posting a shutout and forcing three turnovers.

“I’m going to give it all to Tre (Stubbs), Max (Pester), the D-line,” McLean said. “They’re some dogs. Tre and Max, those are some dogs. I love those guys. They came out knowing they were going to hit something and they did it. They executed. D-line did their thing. We just came out and were the more aggressive team this week.”

Myers made the first play when he grabbed a tipped pass for an interception late in the third quarter.

“I just saw the ball get popped up and I tried making a play,” he said. “I tried getting the return and I thought I almost took it back, but the last guy got me. I feel like that turned the tables for us a little bit, but our team played great both sides of the ball, special teams too. I think we had that game no matter what.”

Max Pester forced a fumble on a sack on the first play of the next possession. Cole Rogers recovered it at the Tennent 29-yard line.

On the second play of the Panthers next drive, Ryan Wolf caught an interception at the Tennent 15.

“We had the feeling of winning,” Myers said. “We haven’t had it all season. I think it juiced everyone up, then the turnovers kept piling up. We kept getting the ball back.”

“Our defensive coordinator and our defensive staff had a great plan today,” Graver said. “Our guys believed in the plan. We came into halftime and had the goal of a zero in the second half and we achieved that goal.”

McLEAN’S BIG NIGHT

McLean did it all for the Trojans offense. On the ground, he ran 22 times for 136 yards and a touchdown. Through the air he caught four passes for 39 yards.

“I need to plant my foot, cut up field and stop juking so much,” McLean said with a laugh, “but I’ll take it as long as we get the dub and my guys are happy.”

“He’s a special talent for sure,” Graver said. “He ran the ball extremely hard tonight. That starts up front with the offensive line. They played a really nice game today, our tight ends and our blocking backs as well. Jaden’s a special player.”

BIG GUYS IN THE ENDZONE

Wissahickon got a couple of their offensive linemen involved in the running game.

Federer, a 6-foot-2 305-pound lineman, converted a two-point conversion and ran for a three-yard touchdown.

Adam Grossman, a 6-foot-2 275-pounder, also converted a two-point conversion.

“Jarret and Adam run the ball pretty well for big guys,” Graver said. “Hopefully they don’t get too comfortable back there.”

“We love that play,” Myers said. “It gets us juiced up at practice, pregame and obviously at the game, you see the sideline when it happens.”

Wissahickon 28, William Tennent 3

William Tennent              0 3 0 0 – 3

Wissahickon                      0 8 6 14 – 28

Scoring

Second Quarter

WT – Kyle Flack 32-yard field goal 3:43

WS – Gavin Myers 18-yard run (Jarret Federer run for 2) :52.5

Third Quarter

WS – Jarret Federer 3-yard run (2-pt failed) 5:28

Fourth Quarter

WS – Julian Perkins 10-yard run (Adam Grossman run for 2) 8:23

WS – Jaden McLean 23-yard run (kick failed) 1:50

Team Statistics

WT         WS

First downs        8              15

Rushes-yards     29-101   37-166

Passing yards     48           66

Total yards          149         232

Passing                 4-19-2   7-12-1

Punts                    2              2

Fumbles-Lost    2-1          3-1

Penalties-Yards                6-40       4-20

Individual Statistics

Rushing

WT: Timothy Lawson III 10-24; Gary Miluzzo 6-45; Stephen Demar Parks Cosenza 11-30; Lorzeno Steven Hurley 2-2.

WS: Jaden McLean 22-136, TD; Julian Perkins 8-8, TD; Gavin Myers 2-20, TD; Jarret Federer 3-6, TD; Max Pester 1-(-4); Tre Stubbs 1-0.

Passing

WT: Timothy Lawson III 4-19-48-0-2.

WS: Julian Perkins 7-12-66-0-1.

Receiving

WT: Joseph Hebling 1-30; Daniel Scheller 1-4; Joseph Nolls III 1-14; Gary Miluzzo 1-0.

WS: Jaden McLean 4-39; Gavin Myers 2-17; Dom Sheppard 1-10.

Interceptions

WT: Isaiah Rosario.

WS: Gavin Myers; Ryan Wolf.