Towanda shuts out Wellsboro, 17-0

By: Ed Weaver  /  October 31, 2015

The Towanda Black Knights held the Wellsboro Varsity Football team scoreless for a 17-0 upset victory on Friday, October 30 in Towanda.

The Hornets had their chances to jump out an early lead, but missed opportunities, and an aggressive Towanda defense, prevented them from scoring. Towanda fumbled the opening kickoff, which Wellsboro recovered near midfield. Sophomore quarterback Quinn Henry's first pass sailed incomplete over the head of sophomore Chase Moser and Towanda stopped the Hornets three plays later on fourth down.

The Hornets got the ball back one play later as Towanda fumbled their first play from scrimmage, but again, the Hornets were unable to take capitalize off the turnover and turned the ball over on downs at the Towanda 22-yard line.

Towanda took to the ground on their next drive with Keegan Kisner. The junior broke off big run after big run to get down to the Hornet red zone. The Hornet defense refused to break and stopped Towanda on the 2-yard line on fourth down.

Wellsboro's offense found a little momentum on their next drive as Henry hit junior tight end Parker Jones for gains of 12 and 15 yards to get some breathing room before breaking off a 24 yard run to get into Towanda territory, but the drive ended at midfield as junior quarterback Brandon Lamphier was sacked on third down, forcing a punt.

Both teams traded drives before the Towanda offense found their spark. Quarterback Brandon McLinko hit Steven Yates on a short slant pass, but Yates sliced through the Hornet defense and went the remaining 54 yards for the score to put the Black Knights up 7-0 with 6:51 remaining in the first half.

Wellsboro's next drive went backwards due to penalties and a sack forcing the Hornets to punt the ball back to Towanda. Yates setup the Black Knights with great starting field position with a 29 yard return down to the Wellsboro 18-yard line. The Hornet defense kept Towanda in check, but the Black Knights came away with points as Tyler Basse made a 36 yard field goal with 2:54 remaining to make it 10-0.

Wellsboro's offense struggled to start the second half, and never truly got into gear as they only gained 43 yards of total offense. The Hornets, aided by two Towanda personal fouls, moved into Towanda territory but were stopped on fourth down inside the Towanda 35. The Knights used that momentum and put the dagger in the hearts of Hornet fans as McLinko and Yates connected again, this time for 70 yards, for their second score with 7:30 left in the third quarter to make the score 17-0.

From that point on, Towanda's defense kept the ball out of the hands of Wellsboro’s playmakers and ended two Wellsboro drives on sacks, and a third on an interception before running out the clock for their second win of the season.

Henry finished the night 6-for-22 for 42 yards and an interception and Lamphier was 2-for-4 for 19 yards. Henry gained 59 yards rushing on 17 carries, Moser had 33 yards on 11 carries, and senior Nick Tremper had 15 yards on 9 carries. Jones led the Hornet receiving corps with 36 yards on 4 catches.

Freshman Robert Brown was the leading tackler with 11 stops on the night and Tremper added 10 to push him over 100 for the second consecutive season. Tremper and sophomore Kyler Rice recovered the Towanda fumbles and Lamphier recorded an interception.

McLinko finished the night 5-for-16 for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns for Towanda, Kisner had 111 yards on 23 carries, and Yates caught 4 passes for 167 yards and 2 scores.

The win drops the Hornets to 7-2 (2-2 NTL Division 1). The team will be back in action on Friday, November 6 as they travel to Island Park to take on rival North Penn for the Morton F. Jones Trophy.