Wilmington routs Slippery Rock
Wilmington (40) vs. Slippery Rock (0)
Written: Oct 30, 2009
By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
Most teams try to put losses behind them.
Not Wilmington High. The Greyhounds keep the wound open and feed off the pain.
Wilmington clinched at least a share of the District 10, Region 3-AA title last night with a 40-0 mercy rule win over Slippery Rock. The Senior Night victory was the ’Hounds’ fourth straight since being upset by Hickory in Week 5.
Wilmington (6-1 in the region, 8-1 overall) has outscored its opponents 160-7 during that streak.
Last year, the ’Hounds lost their regular-season finale to Karns City. They rebounded to win six straight and a state championship.
Two years ago, they lost their season opener to Ford City, then reeled off 13 straight wins before falling to Jeannette in the PIAA Class AA semifinals.
“Everyone hates to lose, Wilmington especially,” junior Sutton Whiting said. “We have a tradition of winning here. If we lose, we take it hard, and we come back and practice and work our butts off.”
Whiting, who rushed for 113 yards on seven carries, finished with three touchdowns last night. Two came on runs of 8 and 57 yards, the third on a 47-yard punt return.
Senior Derrick Burns, meanwhile, rolled for 100 yards on eight totes, including a 3-yard scoring run.
“Everybody stepped it up tonight,” Burns said. “We really hadn’t been doing our job. I think everybody’s kind of been like individuals, not acting as a family.
“Tonight, we stepped it up, we had a talk before the game. We did well tonight, everybody pursuing the ball, tackling, blocking.”
Defensively, Wilmington held the Rockets (2-4, 2-7) to just 49 total yards. The ’Hounds Hammer also notched its first “Pick 6” of the season when junior corner Jake DeVido picked off a Slippery Rock pass and returned it 32 yards to paydirt.
“(Starter) Anthony Derrick’s been sick all week, so we started DeVido,” head coach Terry Verrelli said. “He’s come a long way since the beginning of the year.
“He has good speed and he did a great job tonight. This ought to be a special night for him.”
Though the ’Hounds excelled in all phases of the game — they scored on the ground, through the air (a 20-yard pass form Jake DeMedal to Chad Palladino), on defense and on special teams — Verrelli was most pleased with the resurgence of his defense.
“I think that they’re coming together at the end of the year,” he said. “The young kids that had to replace the guys from last year are starting to get the idea and play good football. (Sean) Christofferson has turned into one of the best defensive tackles we’ve had in a long time.
“They’re all coming together defensively. That’s where we struggled because we had so many new kids there. They’re coming along.”
Verrelli acknowledged that with a chance to avenge last year’s lone defeat coming up next week — the ’Hounds travel to Karns City — Wilmington might have gotten caught looking past the struggling Rockets.
Except for that “1” in the loss column.
“No, they weren’t (looking ahead),” he said. “That’s what happened with the Hickory game. They don’t look ahead any more.
“We’ve played three teams (Reynolds, Titusville and Slippery Rock, a combined 3-21 going into last night) that are struggling a little bit, but we practiced hard and prepared. Then the score will be lopsided if you’re out there serious about playing the game.”
Finished with conference play, Wilmington now will sit back while the section’s other one-loss teams — Sharon (5-1, 7-2) and Hickory (4-1, 5-2) finish the season. Hickory hosts Oil City (3-2, 6-2) tonight, then meets Sharon in the season finale.
Conventional wisdom would say that the ’Hounds should pull for Sharon, so that if the section race ends in a tie, they will be deadlocked with a team they beat.
Verrelli, though, isn’t buying it.
“We don’t want to be tied with anyone,” he laughed.
SLIPPERY ROCK WILMINGTON
4 First downs 12
92 Yards Rushing 275
50 Yards Lost 4
42 Net Rushing 271
7 Passes Attempted 4
1 Passes Completed 1
1Passes Intercepted 1
7 Yards Passing 20
49 Total Yards 291
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
8-36.3 Punts-Average 2-36.5
4-20 Penalties-Yards 2-15
SLIPPERY ROCK 0 0 0 0 — 0
WILMINGTON 14 19 7 0 — 40
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Chad Palladino, 20-yard pass from Jake DeMedal (Bryce Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Sutton Whiting, 47-yard punt return (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Derrick Burns, 3-yard run (kick failed).
WILMINGTON — Whiting, 8-yard run (kick failed).
WILMINGTON — Jake DeVido, 32-yard interception return (Wilson kick).
WILMINGTON — Whiting, 57-yard run (Wilson kick).
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