'Hounds headed for Hershey
Wilmington (29) vs. Aliquippa (28)
Written: Dec 06, 2008
  By JOHN D’ABRUZZO
jdabruzzo@ncnewsonline.com
MONACA — The Wilmington High football team has had a taste for theatrics lately.
And following a stunning 29-28 overtime victory against Aliquippa last night at Center High School, many of the Greyhounds celebrated their PIAA Class AA semifinal win with a taste of chocolate ... Hershey chocolate.
For the third straight week, Wilmington won in dramatic fashion. But this time, a goal-line stand on a two-point conversion run helped the ’Hounds earn their second trip to the Class AA state championship in 20 years. Wilmington lost to Bethlehem Catholic in 1988.
The ’Hounds (14-1) will face West Catholic (14-1) in the title game at 1 p.m. Dec. 13 at Hersheypark Stadium. West Catholic, which is the top-ranked Class AA team in the state according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News, beat Lancaster Catholic (13-2) last night, 37-14.
“I didn’t think we were playing very well the last couple of weeks,” said Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli, whose team lost to Jeannette in the semifinals the past two years. “I sat them down and had a heart-to-heart talk about the right mental approach, believing and working hard, and you don’t know until you get here and actually see it and perform. And they did.
“They came through. We moved the ball when we had to and I guess you could say we played enough defense to win.”
OVERTIME
Senior captain Carson Sharbaugh put the big hit on Quips’ star running back Maurice Carter during the game-deciding two-point conversion attempt. Aliquippa scored on its second play when Terry Patrick ran in from seven yards out.
Carter, who led Aliquippa (12-3) with 107 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts, was stuffed at the goal line. Carter’s knee was down before he extended his arms across the line.
“I was just waiting for it and they ran to the right — my right — and I just stayed on the back side, he cut back and I hit him on the 3-yard line,” Sharbaugh said. “He just stopped. I saw him laying there on the 1 and it was over from there.”
Carter remained stretched out and holding the ball across the goal line long after the end of the game. When asked by a crowd of Aliquippa fans whether or not he was in, he replied, “(Heck) ya, I was in.”
With the game tied at 22 at the end of regulation, Wilmington won the toss and elected to take the ball to start overtime.
Senior tight end Dallas Hartman found the end zone on the ’Hounds’ second play when he caught a 6-yard pass from senior quarterback Shane Wagner. Bryce Wilson then followed with the PAT kick.
“I took a beating,” Hartman said. “Shane found me and I just caught the ball. When the game is on the line, you just want it more than anything.
“Our team played with so much heart tonight. Coach Verrelli deserves this. He’s the best coach in the state.”
BIG THIRD QUARTER
Trailing 8-0 at the half, Wilmington used a 16-play, 79-yard drive — that ate up more than eight minutes of the third quarter — to get back in the game.
Senior receiver Matt Wagner caught a 13-yard pass from his cousin, Shane Wagner, to tie the game at 8.
“I felt that if we were going to win, we couldn’t give them the ball. I guess I was right about that,” Verrelli said. “That third quarter was big because we drove it the whole way and used up most of the clock and still scored.”
Wilmington took a 15-8 lead when sophomore running back Sutton Whiting scored on a 7-yard run. Whiting finished with 50 yards on 14 carries.
Following Carter’s second 1-yard touchdown run to help the Quips retake the lead, Derrick Burns used an impressive 68-yard run to give Wilmington a 22-16 advantage with less than three minutes to go in the game.
“As soon as I knew the play and that I was getting the ball, I knew something was going to happen,” said Burns, who led all rushers with 152 yards on 16 carries. “I was surprised I scored. It definitely helped us win.”
FORCING OVERTIME
Aliquippa got the equalizer with 59.6 seconds left in the game when Carter scored on a 16-yard run. But Brad Zaboroski came up with a big stop to squash the Quips’ two-point attempt.
“All week we practiced them going one way and then reversing,” said Zaboroski, a junior defensive end. “Defensive coach Brian Cooper told us all week to keep pursuing because they’ll be there.
“We tried to not let up the big plays all year. We knew they had a good passing game and our secondary was doing well, so we wanted them to run the power game because we knew our defensive line and entire defense could stop it.”
Aliquippa outgained Wilmington in total offense, 358-333.
Quips junior quarterback Rasheem Jones completed 9 of 12 attempts for 137 yards. Patrick ran for 102 yards on 14 carries.
Shane Wagner completed 9 of 12 for 71 yards and two touchdowns for Wilmington. Junior back Jake DeMedal ran for 56 yards on nine carries.
“Aliquippa is tough and they have the athletes,” Verrelli said. “But this is an exciting win. We made mistakes, but we played one of the best games we’ve played. We came after them.”
WILMINGTON ALIQUIPPA
18 First downs 16
276 Yards Rushing 224
14 Yards Lost 3
262 Net Rushing 221
12 Passes Attempted 12
9 Passes Completed 9
0 Passes Intercepted 0
71 Yards Passing 137
333 Total Yards 358
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-2
1-13 Punts-Average 1-36
1-5 Penalties-Yards 3-20
WILMINGTON 0 0 8 14 7 — 29
ALIQUIPPA 0 8 0 14 6 — 28
Scoring plays
ALIQUIPPA — Maurice Carter, 1-yard run (Terry Patrick run).
WILMINGTON — Matt Wagner, 13-yard pass from Shane Wagner (Derrick Burns run).
WILMINGTON — Sutton Whiting, 7-yard run (Bryce Wilson kick).
ALIQUIPPA — Carter, 1 run (Carter run).
WILMINGTON — Burns, 68-yard run (Wilson kick).
ALIQUIPPA — Carter, 16-yard run (run failed).
WILMINGTON — Dallas Hartman, 6-yard pass from S. Wagner (Wilson kick).
ALIQUIPPA — Patrick, 7-yard run (run failed).
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