Wilmington vs. Sharon: It’s
‘always the game of the year’
Written: Oct 21, 2010
 
By JOE SAGER
News Sports Correspondent
Wilmington vs. Sharon.
It’s the game that is circled on the calendars of players, coaches and fans in both communities each football season.
And, it’s become one of District 10’s best rivalries since the Greyhounds left the WPIAL and joined D-10 in 1994. The annual clash takes place at 7 p.m. Friday at Sharon’s Tiger Stadium.
“The Sharon game, no matter what, is always the game of the year for us and I think for them, too,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. “Over the years, we’ve just built a natural rivalry. It really doesn’t matter what the records are — it’s Sharon and Wilmington and that’s the way we look at it.”
What makes the meetings so great is the programs’ caliber of athletes and play. As of late, Wilmington has taken the edge as the ’Hounds have built a 15-7 series advantage. Verrelli’s troops have won the last eight encounters since a 13-12 loss in 2003. Wilmington beat Sharon twice last season — including a victory in the D-10 Class AA title game.
“If you want to be a champ, you have to beat the champ,” Sharon coach Bob Fromm said. “The past few years, Wilmington has had a few phenomenal teams. The consistency in that program is outstanding with what coach Verrelli has done. We’re hopefully approaching our years of consistency. We want to get back on top of this league and our league is tough, no doubt about it. This is a big game for us this year and a big game for our program overall.”
Both teams know this is more than a rivalry game this season. It will determine the Region 3 champion. Wilmington (3-1 region, 5-2 overall) is right behind Sharon (3-0, 6-1) in the standings. So, a ’Hounds win will wrap up at least a share of the region title. The Tigers have one more region game to play — Oct. 29 against Greenville. A Wilmington loss could hurt the team’s chances of earning a D-10 at-large playoff berth.
“That makes it a big game for us. I don’t like using that, I guess, as a motivator. To me, it’s Sharon and that ought to be enough,” Verrelli said. “I don’t want to add pressure on them. I want them to go play. It wouldn’t matter if we were both at the bottom of the conference.”
The young ’Hounds snapped a two-game losing skid with last week’s 54-6 dismantling of Titusville. While the score was a blowout, Verrelli was pleased with the way his troops executed and focused.
“That’s the way we try to practice. We don’t want to win sloppy,” he said. “We want to get better and work and improve techniques and so on. I think we got out of it what we could.”
Meanwhile, Sharon has been rolling. After a dropping a 24-7 verdict to Farrell to start the season, the Tigers have won their last six, including a 13-12 triumph over Hickory, which beat Wilmington, 35-19, on Oct. 1.
“Early on, we were happy with the results, but the type of play we had wasn’t what we wanted. We were inconsistent on offense and defense,” Fromm said. “Since about the fourth week, we have really started to play well and up to our standard, I guess, of play. We’ve tried to get them to buy in and be more consistent. I think the past three weeks we’ve done that.”
Marc Martell leads the Sharon attack as he has rushed for 902 yards on 115 carries. He’s reached the end zone 12 times. Quarterback Jason Ondic has passed for 421 yards and scampered for another 480.
“They have good speed. They have a good quarterback who can throw and run. They run the shotgun formation the whole time, so he is as big a threat to run out of that and their running back is good, too. They are big and have good size. We have got our work cut out to contain them,” Verrelli said. “We have to play defense, but we have to move the ball offensively, too. If you can’t do that, your defense is on the field way too long for playing such a good offensive team. We have to control their offense and we have to move the ball ourselves.”
Wilmington’s Sutton Whiting leads all county rushers with 990 yards on only 95 carries. He has another 111 yards receiving and 19 total touchdowns. Anthony Derrick has 441 yards rushing on 34 carries, while Jake Devido has 344 yards on 45 attempts.
“We have to stop the run or it’s going to be a long night,” Fromm said. “The past two times we played them, it was close until the end. In the regular season, it was a 7-7 game with under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth and we ended up losing 21-7. In the D-10 title game, I looked at the scoreboard with about 5 minutes to go and they had a 6-0 lead. We had a breakdown on special teams and, before you knew it, it was 19-0. So, we have to play good special teams, too, because they can beat you in that regard.
“This is a fun game to coach and play in. Hopefully, it comes down to the end and we have a chance to win it.”
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