Wellsboro falls to Towanda, 43-0

By: Chris McGann  /  October 5, 2006  /  Photo: Tim McBride

The Towanda Black Knights only needed the first play of Friday night's game against Wellsboro (1-4), September 29, to seal the shutout victory on the Hornet's home turf.

Towanda's Eric Potter took the ball 70 yards on the first play from scrimmage to score the first touchdown in a 43-0 rout of Wellsboro.

"We gave up a big play on the first play of the game and that gave them the momentum," said Wellsboro head coach Chris Morral.

The Hornets were coming off their first win of the season at Sayre after losing heart breakers to South Williamsport and Canton and suffering a drubbing at the hands of Athens.

"I thought our guys really turned the corner at Sayre," Morral said.

But, he pointed out, Towanda is a tough squad. The Black Knights, North Penn, and Athens are the favorites to win the NTL.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, they could not get the offense going. Even when senior quarterback Tim Shaw broke a big run when the Hornets were down 16-0, Wellsboro could not punch it in.

In addition, the Hornets attempted a lot of passes in an effort to get back into the game.

"Our game plan was not to pass as much as we did," Morral said.

In the second half, the dominant Knights only allowed 14 offensive plays. Three of those plays results in turnovers on fumbles. The Hornets lost four fumbles on the night.

Towanda started the scoring early with that big run. Dakota Roof added the extra point to make the score 7-0 early in the first quarter.

Adam Harris raised the Towanda lead to 13-0 with a 35 yard run in the second quarter. Late in the quarter, Roof hit a 27 yard field goal to extend the lead to 16-0 at the break.

Towanda went on to add four more touchdowns while holding the Hornets scoreless on the night.

The Hornets did get solid defensive performances from Chet Johnson, Mitch Christman, and Jake Monks, who had five solo tackles and 15 assisted tackles. Offensively, running back Jesse Tom had 66 yards on 10 carries to account for more than half of the Hornets' offensive production.

Next up for Wellsboro is a trip to Troy to take on the Trojans on Friday.

The JV Hornets had a better night as they defeated Towanda 8-6 on Monday.