Hornets roll over Bucktail, 65-7

By: Ed Weaver  /  September 19, 2015

The Wellsboro Varsity Football team cruised to a 65-7 victory over Bucktail on Friday, September 18.

The Hornets wasted little time as sophomore quarterback Quinn Henry connected with fellow sophomore Chase Moser on a 51-yard bomb to setup the Hornets with a first-and-goal at the Bucktail 9-yard line, where Henry found junior Parker Jones on the next play for a 9-yard gain to put the Hornets up 8-0 after senior Anthony Cooper's two-point conversion.

Bucktail's first drive came to a halt as Cooper intercepted a pass setting the Hornets up at the 25-yard line. From there, Cooper broke a 23-yard run down to the 2-yard line and Henry capped the drive a couple of plays later and led 16-0 after he found Jones for the two-point conversion.

Wellsboro scored for a third time in the opening quarter as they put together a seven play drive that ended with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Moser. Sophomore Nic Ingerick's extra point was good and the Hornets led 23-0 with 2:59 left in the first quarter. Wellsboro added their final touchdown of the quarter as Henry scampered for 23 yards to the end zone after a 37-yard run from senior Nick Tremper got the ball into Bucktail territory. Ingerick's extra point split the uprights and Wellsboro led 30-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Wellsboro wouldn't score again until midway through the second quarter. The Hornets put together a nine play drive that ended with a three-yard run by Cooper with 5:22 remaining. A bad snap on the extra point eliminated the extra point, but Henry scrambled to find senior James Mundy for the two-point conversion, putting the Hornets up 38-0.

The score remained 38-0 Wellsboro through halftime and midway through the third quarter until sophomore Alex Kozuhowski pickup up a fumble and returned it 70 yards to increase Wellsboro's lead to 44-0. Another Bucktail lost fumble on their next drive led to another Hornet touchdown as Moser raced 22 yards to the end zone one play later to go up 51-0 after senior Tyler Kennedy's extra point was good with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter.

Moser found the end zone a third time with 11:45 left in the game as he intercepted a Bucktail pass and took it 55 yards to the house. Kennedy's extra point was good nad Wellsboro led, 58-0.

The Hornets' final touchdown of the night came with 4:25 left on the clock as junior Caleb Sinkler raced 26 yards to put the Hornets up 65-0 after Kennedy's extra point.

Bucktail would avoid the shut out as they got on the board with five seconds left on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Michael Casper to make the final score 65-7, Hornets.

Henry finished the game 9-for-10 passing with 179 yards and two touchdowns and added 65 yards and two touchdowns rushing on five carries. Tremper ended with 7 carries for 63 yards, Cooper finished with 27 yards and a touchdown on three carries, and freshman Robert Brown had two carries for 37 yards.

Moser led the Hornet receivers with four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown and Jones caught 4 balls for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Tremper had 11 total tackles and an interception return for 21 yards, Moser had four tackles and 55 yard interception return. Sophomores Collin Pietropola and Kyler Rice 8 tackles each and senior Phillip Straniere finished with six tackles.

Head coach Matt Hildebrand was pleased how the team played and how some of his younger players responded.

"Our younger guys are doing a great job. Chase played well tonight and we had him play a variety of positions and he's picking everything up very well. We've told our guys the more you know the more you can help the team.

"Robert as a freshman did a great job in there at the end at fullback and linebacker and its just nice to see the young guys step in and contribute."

The meat of Wellsboro's schedule is coming up in the next three weeks as Sayre, Athens, and Troy are all on the schedule, with two out of three of those games coming on the road.

"We have to continue to get better every week," Hildebrand said. "It's going to get a lot tougher here from this point on so we have to have good weeks of practice. It's essential that we practice well moving forward. We can't stay where we are and keep the status quo. Looking ahead, Sayre is a great team with good size up front and are very motivated."

The win improves the Hornets' record to 3-0. The team will be on the road next Friday, September 25 in Sayre before hosting Athens the following week.