Wilmington handles Sharon

By RON PONIEWASZ JR.

rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com

The battle of the unbeatens turned into a mismatch last night.

Wilmington High held Sharon to just 105 yards of total offense en route to a 42-7 victory in a District 10, Region 3-AA contest.

The victory is the 15th in a row in the regular season for Wilmington (4-0 region, 6-0 overall), which is ranked No. 5 in the state.

“Our kids were ready for this game,” Greyhounds coach Terry Verrelli said. “The one thing is you run into a strong team like Sharon you find out who is going to gut it out and who wants the ball; That’s the one sign that I saw tonight.”

The Tigers (3-1, 5-1) managed just 35 yards total in the first half as they fell behind 28-7 at the break.

“I had trouble writing down all the mistakes we made in the first half,” Sharon coach Bob Fromm said. “Maybe we were a little bit nervous.

“Sooner or later you have to come out of that and play some football.”

The Greyhounds took control right off the opening kickoff. Bryce Wilson kicked the ball high and short near the Sharon bench. The Tigers elected to let the ball hit and Wilmington’s Shane Wagner pounced on it before it could go out of bounds.

“It’s something that we practice all year,” Verrelli said. “We’ve got some good speed on the team. We’ve been doing a pretty good job with it and I thought we should give it a shot.

“I wanted to do that to make sure there was no return. That was a big point of the game without a doubt.”

Three plays after the recovery, Derrick Burns rumbled into the end zone from three yards out for a 7-0 Greyhounds advantage.

“Our offensive line plays well every week,” Burns said. “They block their hearts out and that’s why we move the ball.”

It was an example of what was to come for the Tigers.

On Sharon’s second possession, it moved to Wilmington’s 25 before turning the ball over on downs. Tigers quarterback Todd Rearick was pushed back on a fourth-and-inches sneak. Clint DeRosa got a good surge to turn Sharon away.

“We just didn't do anything running the football,” Fromm said. “We have to get better at that.”

The Greyhounds intercepted Rearick three times, including once with the Tigers backed up at their own 9 late in the first quarter. Matt Wagner jumped a slant route and set Wilmington up at the Sharon 7. On the next play, Burns was in the end zone for a second time with 1:36 left in the opening frame.

“This is the best the pass defense has played all year,” Verrelli said. “Sharon has a real good passing attack. Rearick is a threat to run as well as throw the ball.”

The Greyhounds’ defense turned away Sharon again on its next drive when Philip Woods picked off Rearick at Wilmington’s 1.

“We had our chances, but just couldn’t convert,” Fromm said. “You can’t do that against a good team.”

The Greyhounds built the lead to 28-0 and had a chance to put the game into the mercy rule before half. But Jordan Moss picked off a Shane Wagner aerial and ran it back about 70 yards down to the Wilmington 2 with less than a minute left in the opening half.

The Tigers nearly gave their scoring opportunity away when they faced fourth-and-goal from the 2 with just three seconds left. Rearick corralled a shotgun snap that was over his head and connected with Dustin Norcross for a 2-yard touchdown pass and a 28-7 deficit at the half.

Burns ended Sharon’s hopes for a comeback when he dashed 50 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth for a commanding 35-7 lead.

Burns finished with a game-best 137 yards rushing on 17 attempts with three touchdowns.

“We didn’t really expect a game like this,” Burns said. “We thought it would be a real good game.

“They were undefeated and they have a good team. We play as a team and that’s what helped us throughout the game.”

Wilmington returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Reynolds for a region matchup.

SHARON WILMINGTON

5 First downs 17

93 Yards Rushing 325

27 Yards Lost 6

66 Net Rushing 319

14 Passes Attempted 8

5 Passes Completed 3

3 Passes Intercepted 2

39 Yards Passing 44

105 Total Yards 363

3-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0

7-32.2 Punts-Average 5-33.2

2-20 Penalties-Yards 8-80

SHARON 0 7 0 0 — 7

WILMINGTON 14 14 0 14 — 42

Scoring plays

WILMINGTON — Derrick Burns, 3-yard run (Bryce Wilson kick).

WILMINGTON — Burns, 7-yard run (Wilson kick).

WILMINGTON — Jake DeMedal, 21-yard run (Wilson kick).

WILMINGTON — Matt Wagner, 32-yard pass from Shane Wagner (Wilson kick).

SHARON — Dustin Norcross, 2-yard pass from Todd Rearick (Terry Flaugher kick).

WILMINGTON — Burns, 50-yard run (Wilson kick).

WILMINGTON — Luke Yohman, 4-yard run (Wilson kick).