NTL FOOTBALL: GROUND GAME, TURNOVERS PROPEL WYALUSING TO 45-0 WIN OVER SAYRE (24 PHOTOS) (2023-09-01)
By TIM BIRNEYNorthern Tier Sports ReportSAYRE — Wyalusing pounded out 355 yards on the ground, and forced four turnovers in a dominating 45-0 win over Sayre here Friday night in NTL football action at the Lockhart Street Bowl.
“Since we started, I told the kids the quickest way to turn this thing around is defense,” said first-year Wyalusing coach Rich Rogers. “And, the quickest way to turn things around on defense is turnovers, and winning that battle.
“They’ve really been working in practice on creating turnovers, and making sure we get every one, and we did a good job of it tonight, forcing four turnovers,” added Rogers.
Ayden Hunsinger led the Wyalusing rushing attack with 169 yards and three TDs on 11 carries, while Casey God ran for 76 yards on 10 carries, and Dylan Johns added 67 yards and two TDs on eight carries.
“We were pretty much able to enforce our will on them,” said Rogers.
“When you get the fullback going on the belly, you have to have a stud there and we do,” he added. “If you get that going, everything else will work.”
Rogers was pleased to see his team get in the win column after a 28-14 loss to Nativity BVM in Week 1.
“It’s a huge bounce back win for us,” he said. “Our guys knew there were missed opportunities last week.
“I told them before the game that’s there’s been a lot of talk that we’re not the same old Rams, and its’s time to show it, and quit talking. They showed it tonight,” added Rogers.
Sayre won the coin toss, elected to received, and gambled deep in their own territory on the fourth play from scrimmage.
On fourth-and-three at the Sayre 35, Redskin senior QB Tanner Green kept the ball around left end for 3 yards, and a first down.
Two plays later, senior Jake Bennett bulled ahead for 10 yards and another first down.
Four plays later, at the Wyalusing 48, the Redskins gambled again on fourth down, but it backfired as Jonathan Earle ran under a Green pass at the Ram 26, and returned it 49 yards to the Sayre 25. A flag for a horse-collar tackle moved the ball to the Redskin 12.
Two plays later, Hunsinger went around left end for a 10-yard TD run to make it 6-0 with 5:45 remaining in the first quarter.
The Redskins fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and God came away with the loose ball to give the Rams possession at the Sayre 39.
Five plays later — all on the ground, Johns scored on a 9-yard run to make it 12-0 with 3:09 remaining in the opening stanza.
Bennett began Sayre’s next possession with a bruising 22-yard run to the Ram 48, but four plays later the Redskins turned the ball over on downs at the 43.
After an 11-yard pass from Parker Petlock to Hunsinger, and a 12-yard run by Johns moved the ball to the Sayre 39, Hunsinger broke loose on a 39-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter. Olivia Haley’s PAT kick made it 19-0 with 11:50 remaining in the first half.
Wyalusing’s next possession was a 13-play, 70-yard drive that chewed up more than 6 minutes from the game clock.
Hunsinger had a pair of 16-yard runs, and God added 25 yards on five carries in the drive, which culminated with a 3-yard TD pass from Petlock to Joey Gonsauls on fourth-and-goal with 2:24 remaining in the first half. Haley’s PAT kick made it 26-0.
Wyalusing opened the second half with a 10-play, 60-yard scoring drive to push the lead to 32-0.
God had two carries for 24 yards in the drive, and Hunsinger had three carries for 21 yards, including an 8-yard TD run with 7:50 left in the third quarter.
Following a Sayre punt, the Rams marched 85 yards on nine plays to push the lead to 38-0.
Petlock opened the drive with a 12-yard pass to Johns, and also had a 15-yard run, sandwiched around a 22-yard run by God.
After runs of 10 yards by Isaac Shaffer, and 15 yards by Johns moved the ball to the Sayre 3, Petlock scored on a 3-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Rams tacked on another TD about five minutes later on an 11-yard TD run by Johns that was set up by a 39-yard run by Hunsinger to make it 45-0.
Sayre was unable to field the ensuing kickoff, and the Rams recovered on the Sayre 6, but fumbled it into the end zone on third down, and the Redskins recover.
Petlock completed 4 of 7 passes for 35 yards, and one TD in the win, and Hunsinger led Wyalusing receivers with two receptions for 20 yards.
Sayre rushed for 102 yards on 33 carries, with Bennett leading the way with 87 yards on 14 carries.
A trio of Sayre QB combined to complete 2 of 8 passes for 26 yards, and were intercepted twice — both by Earle.
Wyalusing, now 1-1, returns to action Friday at Athens, which rallied to top Cowanesque Valley, 28-22, Friday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Wyalusing’s Ayden Hunsinger scores his first of three TDs in the game. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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