Northern Tier Sports Report

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NTL FOOTBALL: VANDERPOOL'S BIG DAY LEADS TOWANDA PAST CANTON (2024-09-27)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — Towanda’s Riley Vanderpool ran wild against Canton on Thursday night, and was pretty good throwing the ball, too, as he led the Knights to a 40-14 win over the Warriors in NTL football action.

“I thought we played really, really well,” said Towanda coach Jamie Wecker. “We were the only one who could stop us tonight, we were doing whatever we wanted with the ball.”

Vanderpool finished with 215-yards rushing and four touchdowns on 17 carries, while was an efficient 6-for-10 for 93-yards and a score, plus an interception, through the air.

“I was just seeing the holes that my linemen were giving me the whole time,” remarked Vanderpool. “They were giving me big holes there. They were pushing the pace all week this week, and you practice like you play, like they say. They did an excellent job out there blocking for me, and just keeping it a good game.”

His teammates did a good job blocking down field for him, and Vanderpool did a good job being patient with his blocks, reading them, and finding the seams.

“Sometimes you can out run your blockers, and then you just get tackled,” explained Wecker. “He is smart, he has good vision, patience, and makes big things happen. He made a couple big plays where he should have been tackled.”

Running all over the field is nothing new for Vanderpool, but this season the Towanda passing game has really blossomed, an improvement from a year ago.

“Last year I couldn’t get the ball off that much because I was always in the backfield getting hit,” explained Vanderpool. “They’ve been working hard on it, and they’ve been putting in the work to keep me from getting hit.”

Hayden Space had two catches for 34-yards while Will Shrawder added two receptions for 20-yards and a touchdown. Tahshon Garner had a 23-yard catch, and Rylee Sluyter led off the game with a 16-yard reception.

Also on the ground Gage Evans finished off the game strong, with six carries for 38-yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Towanda was dominant up front, holding Canton to just four yards rushing while getting them four 12 negative yardage plays. Sawyer Robinson, Eden Flynn, and Varrius Farrell all had their names called all night long for tackles in the backfield.

“They just played really well,” Wecker said about his front seven. “They played physical, they understood what their job was, they didn’t get out of position very much. They just played a really physical, real good game.”

Canton was playing shorthanded with several key players out, but they battled through the first half. Despite getting out gained 244-95 they took advantage of 10 Towanda penalties to keep it a one score game at the half, 20-14.

However, they wore down in the second half as they had just 40-yards of total offense.

Ben Fitch ran for minus-21 yards on 19 carries while going 14-for-25 for 131-yards with a touchdown and two picks through the air.

Aydin Holcomb stood out for the Warriors with two touchdowns - one rushing, one receiving - as he had seven catches for 63-yards. Bailey Gardner added eight carries for 25-yards, as well, with Rylan Wesneski hauling four catches for 44-yards.

The yellow flags were flying most of the game as the two teams were penalized 22 times for 220-yards, and that’s accepted penalties.

Towanda, in particular, struggled, with 17-flags for 170-yards, getting nabbed 10-times for 110-yards in the first half.

“I told the kids at halftime, you scored all 34 points in that first half,” Wecker said. “That’s not a shot at Canton, that’s a shot at us.”

Canton took the opening kick-off but went 3-and-out. Towanda took over at their own 33-yard line and needed just two plays in 21 seconds to hit pay dirt. The scoring play was a 47-yard run by Vanderpool that started up the middle, but bounced outside down the field as he picked up a couple good blocks from his receivers to get into the end zone.

Jack Wheaton added the point after to make it 7-0 with 9:33 left in the first quarter.

The two teams traded punts after that with Canton getting their third possession at their own 23-yard line.

A couple times it looked like this drive would end with nothing for the Warriors, but twice Fitch made something happen on third-and-long to keep the possession going.

He first hit Holcomb for a 10-yard gain on third-and-9, then followed that up with a 38-yard reception as he found a streaking Wesneski while getting hit to get down inside the Towanda 27-yard line.

Three plays later Holcomb punched it in on a jet sweep from four yards out to end the 10-play scoring drive. Alexis McRoberts added the point after to knot the game up at 7-7 with 10:01 on the clock.

Towanda responded quickly with a 5-play, 58-yard scoring drive of their own. The big play was a 23-yard reception from Vanderpool to Garner on third-and-six to get to the Canton 21-yard line.

That was followed up by a 21-yard scoring run from Vanderpool. A bad snap kept the Knights from adding the extra point, but Towanda led 13-7 with 7:13 left in the half.

A Garner interception ended Canton’s next drive, giving Towanda the ball at their own 47-yard line.

They would need just three plays to hit pay dirt on this scoring drive as Vanderpool ran it from 37-yards out to get into the end zone. Wheaton’s kick was good for the 20-7 lead with 4:11 on the clock.

Canton’s ensuing drive ended with a Vanderpool pick, but two plays into that drive Vanderpool was picked off by Dawson Burgess at the Knight 37-yard line.

A pass interference call saw Canton get to the 22-yard line. From there Fitch hit Gardner for an 8-yard gain, then ran the ball nine yards to get first-and-goal at the 3-yard line.

Two plays later Fitch scrambled for extra time, finding Holcomb in the back of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 46.4 seconds left in the half.

McRoberts’ kick was good to make it 20-14 at the break.

Towanda got the ball to start the second half and immediately Vanderpool set the tone, running 62-yards down the left side to the Canton 10-yard line on the first play from scrimmage.

Two plays later he ran it in from 10-yards out for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game. The 2-point conversion was no good but Towanda extended their lead to 26-14 just over a minute into the second half.

The teams traded punts for the next three drives, but a bad snap by ended with a 1-yard punt, giving Towanda the ball at the 27-yard line. The Knight would need just six plays to hit pay dirt with Vanderpool finding Shrawder for a 5-yard touchdown strike.

Runs of 11 and 16 yards by Vanderpool set up the score as Wheaton’s kick made it 33-14 with 11:13 left in the fourth quarter.

Late in the game Towanda brought in Evans to run out the clock, and on their final scoring drive, a 6-play, 45-yard drive, Evans ran the ball five times for 36-yards to lead the way. He finished off the drive with a 3-yard run into the end zone. Wheaton’s kick was good to make it a 40-14 final.

Canton (3-3) will host Wyalusing next Friday, while Towanda (4-2) travels to Athens for a Saturday showdown.

The Knights will face a quarterback similar to Vanderpool in Athens’ Connor Davidson.

“Their quarterback is a heck of a ball player,” said Wecker. “They put up a lot of points, so it should be fun.”

TOWANDA 40, CANTON 14

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

T: Riley Vanderpool 47-yard run (Jack Wheaton kick), 9:33

Second Quarter

C: Aydin Holcomb 4-yard run (Alexis McRoberts kick), 10:01

T: Riley Vanderpool 21-yard run (Kick failed), 7:13

T: Riley Vanderpool 37-yard run (Jack Wheaton kick), 4:11

C: Ben Fitch 2-yard pass to Aydin Holcomb (Alexis McRoberts kick), :46.4