Moser's 3 touchdowns lead Hornets over Bloomsburg

By: Ed Weaver  /  October 17, 2015

Sophomore running back Chase Moser rushed for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Wellsboro Varsity Football team over Bloomsburg 35-7 during Homecoming on Friday, October 16.

Wellsboro head coach Matt Hildebrand was very please with his young running back's performance on the night.

"He's a young kid who has grown up in every game we've played this year. The more touches he gets the better he looks out there," Hildebrand said. "He made some phenomenal cuts out of the gate to get himself in the end zone. I'm very pleased with him and expect big things out of him moving forward."

Moser's first touchdown of the night came at 8:09 in the first quarter on a 44-yard run after the Wellsboro defense stuffed Bloomsburg's Coty Kashner on fourth down. The Hornets only needed five plays on the drive to make it 6-0 early. The Hornet defense came up big on Bloomsburg's second drive, as junior Parker Jones sacked Nick Anderson for a seven yard loss on third down forcing a punt.

From there, sophomore quarterback Quinn Henry connected with junior Brandon Lamphier on a 51 yard bomb to make it 14-0 Wellsboro after senior Nick Tremper's two-point conversion with 5:09 remaining in the opening quarter.

"It's good to get a play-maker like Brandon back on the field later in the season," commented Hildebrand. "He missed the first half of the season with a pre-season injury so we've been trying to get him more reps each week."

Bloomsburg put together a nice drive near the end of the first quarter but again, the Hornet defense stopped the Panthers on fourth down at the Hornets' 32-yard line. The Hornets stuck to the ground game as Tremper and Moser carried the ball with Moser capping the drive with a 58 yard scamper to make it 21-0 after sophomore Nic Ingerick's extra point split the uprights with 24 seconds left.

After drives by both teams stalled, Bloomsburg finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter. Sophomore Alex Kozuhowski lost control of the football and the Panthers recovered inside the Wellsboro 20-yard line. It took the Panthers only four plays as Kashner scored his team's only points of the night with 4:41 remaining in the first half from one yard out.

Leading 21-7 coming in to the second half, the Hornets picked up where they left off as they scored on their opening drive. A big, 49-yard pass from Henry to Lamphier set the Hornets up with a first down at the Bloomsburg 30-yard line, then Moser finished the drive three plays later from 30 yards out for his third touchdown to make it 28-7 Wellsboro after Ingerick's extra point with 8:42 left in the third quarter.

Both teams traded drives for the remainder of the third and fourth quarters. As the rain started to fall, the Hornets took over, again going to the ground, and relied upon the running of Tremper. Following an interception by sophomore Johnny Rowland, Tremper ran the ball 11 times through the heart of the Panther defense. His final run of 10 yards found the end zone with 1:57 left in the game to put the game out of reach and give the Hornets a 35-7 win.

"Tremp is a workhorse for us," Hildebrand said of his senior running back. "He's not the biggest kid on the field, but we can give him the ball, we know its going to be secure, and he's going to put his head down and run hard."

Henry finished the night 3-for-11 through the air for 109 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Tremper was the second leading rusher with 20 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown, and Lamphier caught 2 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Tremper led the defense with a game-high 18 tackles. Sophomore Collin Pietropola finished the game with 10 tackles and freshman Robert Brown added 9.

Defensively the Hornets allowed only 105 yards on the night, with 63 of those yards coming on the ground.

"The defense has played big all year for us," continued Hildebrand. "Mike Pietropola has put together great game plans for us all year that the kids have bought into. We've had a lot of young guys get better throughout the year as so far we've been lights out all year."

Next Friday, October 23 the Hornets host Wyalusing on Senior Night and will face one of the area's best running backs in Luke Jennings. Hildebrand is confident the defense will be up to the task.

"Luke is a great back, he hurt us last year and the year before, but our guys have faced some tough backs so far this year, especially the last couple of weeks and have stepped up to the challenge. If we continue to do that we'll have a pretty good shot. Our guys must be physical and not wait around for someone else to make a play," concluded Hildebrand.

The win improves the Hornets' record to 6-1 (1-1 NTL Division 1) on the year.