Wilmington knocks off West Middlesex
Wilmington (28) vs. West Middlesex (10)
Written: Aug 31, 2013
By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
WEST MIDDLESEX — Two weeks of camp went by with questions centered around the youth of the Wilmington High football team.
Greyhounds coach Terry Verrelli and the team’s fans got the answer they had hoped for in the season opener last night.
Wilmington junior quarterback Cody Llewellyn threw three touchdown passes in a 28-10 District 10, nonregion road win over West Middlesex. Marc Peoples, also a junior was, on the receiving end of a pair of those scoring aerials.
Both teams reached the District 10 championship game and lost last season in their respective classifications — Class A for the Big Reds and Class AA for Wilmington.
The Greyhounds started two sophomores and two juniors along the offensive line.
“Tonight was a night where you find out what you’ve got,” Verrelli said. “They’re a young group and it’s very difficult to tell what they’re going to do in a real game situation. I was very pleased.
“I told them I was very proud of them. There were a lot of young guys out there. They were dragging because of this humidity. Offensively, we were able to move the ball. We have to be able to move the ball. We don’t have that size we’ve had. We need to mix it up.
Wilmington’s Reese Bender, a freshman, was moved from quarterback to running back. Bender led the team in rushing with 63 yards on 10 carries.
“We’re very pleased. We have freshmen that are starting and playing and going into the game to give people a break,” Verrelli said. “Your guess is as good as mine as far as how they were going to do (last night).
“I just thought Reese Bender did a great job as a freshman. That was pretty exceptional what he did out there in his first game.”
The Greyhounds, who never trailed, took a 7-0 lead in the first frame on a 1-yard plunge by Jacob Sotter and a successful conversion kick by James Gardner.
Llewellyn hooked up with Riley Kollar on a 64-yard touchdown pass with 5:45 to play in the opening half. But the Big Reds closed the gap to 14-10 at the break on a late touchdown.
Llewellyn connected with Peoples for two touchdown passes in the second half, one in each quarter, to put the game away.
“They ran a lot of man-to-man coverages and that’s what we worked on this week,” Llewellyn said. “The coaches put in a lot of plays to attack that. We dropped some passes and I made some bad passes at the beginning of the game, but we started to click.”
Said Peoples, “I’ve just been working hard all summer. Cody put the ball in real good spots most of the night. I was just keeping my eye on the ball and going to the spot. I used my range to get open, too.”
Llewellyn was 8 of 15 through the air for 147 yards. Peoples paced Wilmington with four receptions for 71 yards.
“Cody works as hard as anyone I’ve ever had,” Verrelli said. “He’s always throwing before practice and he sticks around a half-hour after practice.
“Offensively, I thought Cody and Peoples just did a great job.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
WILMINGTON W. MIDDLESEX
13 First downs 9
143 Yards Rushing 119
21 Yards Lost 32
122 Net Rushing 84
15 Passes Attempted 17
8 Passes Completed 9
0 Passes Intercepted 0
147 Yards Passing 119
269 Total Yards 203
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 4-1
3-29 Punts-Average 5-27
4-40 Penalties-Yards 6-69
WILMINGTON 7 7 7 7 — 28
W. MIDDLESEX 0 10 0 0 — 10
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Jacob Sotter, 1-yard run (James Gardner kick).
WEST MIDDLESEX — Chandler Tyllian, 30-yard field goal.
WILMINGTON — Riley Kollar, 64-yard pass from Cody Llewellyn (Kyler Lum kick).
WEST MIDDLESEX — Trey Staunch, 1-yard run (Tyllian kick).
WILMINGTON — Marc Peoples, 15-yard pass from Llewellyn (Gardner kick).
WILMINGTON — Peoples, 30-yard pass from Llewellyn (Lum kick).
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