Grove City tops Wilmington in defensive battle
Wilmington (3) vs. Grove City (7)
Written: Oct 09, 2010
By PATRICK CONNELLY
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
GROVE CITY — Eagles typically take to the air.
But it’s been Grove City High’s ground game that has had head coach Jeff Bell’s undefeated team soaring all season.
Even after four turnovers in last night’s game against visiting Wilmington (4-2) at Forker Field, Grove City (6-0) kept pounding and pounding. Finally, in the fourth quarter as the Eagles trailed 3-0, Wes Phipps found running room.
The junior broke through the Greyhounds’ defense on a 47-yard run and for the District 10, nonregion showdown’s only touchdown as Grove City stopped Wilmington for a 7-3 win.
For Phipps, after fumbling three times on eight carries to that point, the game-winning score resulted in a giant sigh of relief.
“A lot of the fumbles, you just couldn’t see the (Wilmington) hits coming,” Phipps said. “They have some real quick guys, and they stuffed us a few times on the quick flips. A little seam broke with a few arm tackles, and I just went for it from there.”
Before Phipps broke loose, the ’Hounds held Grove City to 54 yards rushing through the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The setback marks the first time since the 2003 season that head coach Terry Verrelli’s team has fallen in back-to-back tilts. Wilmington lost last week at Hickory.
“All you can do is regroup and work hard to improve on the mistakes that you made the week before,” Verrelli said. “But Grove City’s a very good football team, too.
“I thought they played very well defensively. Offensively, we struggled to move the ball.”
The two teams held one another scoreless until the ’Hounds finished an eight-play, 65-yard drive with 4:16 left to play in the second quarter on junior Harrison Sturm’s 21-yard field goal.
Wilmington had earlier failed to convert an Eagles’ turnover into a score. The team punted after picking up 19 yards in the first quarter after an interception by Grove City quarterback Tyler Dagres on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
The drive for the field goal came after Phipps’ first fumble was recovered by senior tackle Jason McFarland. It allowed the ’Hounds to start their offensive series from the Grove City 35.
Wilmington forced the Eagles to punt on the ensuing Grove City possession. With 2:23 left in the half after the return, running back Sutton Whiting fumbled. The ball was recovered by Grove City junior Tony Turner to give the Eagles their best field position to that point on the Wilmington 29.
Dagres hit Harold Price on an 18-yard pass for a first down before a 9-yard run by Phipps two plays later gave the Eagles another first down to the Wilmington 1. With 59 seconds to play, though, the Eagles struggled to punch it in, forcing a failed 20-yard field goal by Brian Murone as time expired.
The defensive battle continued through the third frame as Grove City forced two Wilmington punts and the ’Hounds’ Jon Yohman recovered another Phipps’ fumble. The Eagles again forced Wilmington to punt shortly into the fourth quarter, and Bell said he wasn’t afraid to go back to Phipps.
“He had a tough night,” Bell said. “When he was coming off (after the fumble), I told him ‘You’re gonna score’ and we got the ball back and he made a (TD) big run for us.”
Later in the final frame after another Wilmington punt and a 72-yard run by Grove City’s Erik Record, the ’Hounds held the Eagles out of the end zone again on three straight plays from the 1 — the last being a fumble by Dagres near the goal line that went for a touchback.
Two late comeback attempts by Wilmington, though, were thwarted by the Eagles’ defense.
Verrelli said his ’Hounds would have been in far better shape had they converted on Grove City’s earlier miscues.
“Those are big plays in the game,” he said. “Those are turning points. We just had a very difficult time capitalizing on those fumbles. We had our opportunities, and we just couldn’t get the big play.”
“We made enough mistakes tonight, but we made up for it,” Bell said. “We didn’t play our best game, but it was a great effort. After all the points both of us have scored, I don’t think anybody thought it would be 7-3.”
Verrelli isn’t worried about his team.
“They’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s not something we’re used to — losing two games in a row — but we’ll regroup. We’ll be back.”
WILMINGTON GROVE CITY
10 First downs 11
191 Net Rushing 200
10 Passes Attempted 9
4 Passes Completed 3
0 Passes Intercepted 1
17 Yards Passing 56
208 Total Yards 256
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 5-3
4-40 Penalties-Yards 2-20
WILMINGTON 0 3 0 0 — 3
GROVE CITY 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Harrison Sturm, 21-yard field goal.
GROVE CITY — Wes Phipps, 47-yard run (Brian Murone kick).
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