NTL FOOTBALL: TOWANDA JUMPS OUT EARLY IN SHUTOUT WIN OVER WYALUSING (2024-10-26)
Northern Tier Sports ReportTOWANDA — After last year’s thriller that saw Wyalusing pull out a last minute win over Towanda to take the Bronze Helmet the Black Knights left no chance for heroics on Friday, beating the Rams 55-0 to claim their rivalry trophy.
Towanda racked up 471 yards of total offense as quarterback Riley Vanderpool went over 1,000-yards passing for the first time in his career to go with his 1,000-yard rushing season.
“It feels really great to win that game and bring the Bronze Helmet back,” said Vanderpool. “I think the kids, the team, and me, we just went out and we played as hard as we could. We never gave up on a bad play or anything, we just kept going, kept the pace going, and they were tired by the end of the first quarter because we were going so quick.”
The Knights led 21-0 seven minutes into the game and 41-0 at the half as Vanderpool was 9-for-16 for 260-yards passing, with two scores and an interception. He also ran the ball 10 times for 90-yards with two touchdowns - both in the first quarter.
“This was probably the best performance,” Towanda coach Jamie Wecker said. “They were just really, really precise with their pass routes, Riley V was really good throwing the ball tonight. I saw our offensive line did a nice job blocking all the way around - all three facets of the game tonight. We’re really on, and it’s good to see us at this point in the season.”
Rylee Sluyter had five catches for 98-yards, while also getting a rushing touchdown. On defense he had two of his team’s four interceptions as the Knights forced five turnovers on the night.
“I really didn’t think I would get close to an interception, this is a very run heavy team,” Sluyter said. “Before the first one I turned around to Will (Shrawder), and I said, ‘I’m going to fake blitz here, and come back, and pick this ball off.’ And I did it on the next play, that was pretty cool.”
Shrawder and Kole Heyer had the two other picks, while Gage Evans had a fumble recovery.
Shrawder had two catches for 71-yards, Hayden Space had a 63-yard touchdown reception, and Tahshon Garner added a 28-yard touchdown catch.
“A lot of people are trying to take away (Vanderpool’s) running, but the thing is, we have weapons now,” Wecker said. “Those boys have confidence. Our receivers seem to be playing with confidence, and that might be the most important thing.”
On the ground Towanda rushed for 211-yards with Caden Delamater, Gage Evans, and offensive lineman Sawyer Robinson all getting rushing touchdowns.
“It was pretty big, I didn’t expect them to actually call it,” Robinson said. “The line really blocked for me, it was a big hole, and anybody could have scored the touchdown.”
On the other side Ayden Hunsinger had 22-carries for 115-yards but the rest of the team only had 31-yards on 21-touches.
The Rams also went 1-for-10 between their two quarterbacks.
“It means a lot to our team, because a lot of our guys here tonight, it’s senior night,” Towanda’s Varrius Farrell said about getting the shutout. “We have 14 seniors, all of them starting, so it means a lot knowing that we stomped our opponents like that, especially on a rivalry week like this.”
Towanda opened the scoring with a big play as Vanderpool hit Space for a 63-yard scoring strike less than three minutes into the contest. Jack Wheaton’s kick was good for a 7-0 lead.
Then, with 6:45 left in the first quarter, Vanderpool had a 16-yard run to pay dirt, with Wheaton making it 14-0 with the kick.
Less than two minutes later Vanderpool hit Garner for the 28-yard scoring strike. Wheaton’s kick made it 21-0 with 5:00 left in the first quarter.
The final score of the opening frame came two minutes later when Vanderpool ripped off a 20-yard run to pay dirt. The kick failed but it was 27-0 nine minutes into the game.
“A big shoutout to the linemen, they blocked their butts off tonight,” Vanderpool said. “They really pushed their pace, and they were blocking big holes so you couldn’t really do anything to stay out of them.”
Delamater had a 4-yard scoring run with 9:39 left in the half, while Sluyter had a 4-yard touchdown run with 1:41 left to play. Wheaton nailed both kicks for the 41-0 halftime lead.
With 2:46 left in the third Robinson got his 3-yard scoring run, then Evans had a 40-yard touchdown run with 1:11 left in the game.
“He always wanted to be a special teams like player - running the ball or getting a catch or something,” Vanderpool said about Robinson. “So we came in at halftime and we told him we’re going to give him the ball. We get it close enough to the touchdown, and that’s what happened. We all gave it to Sawyer for that reason.”
Wheaton nailed both extra points to go 7-for-8 on the night.
Wyalusing (4-6) sees their season come to an end but Towanda (8-2) will host their first playoff game in over a decade, and will be looking to get their first playoff win since 2014 (ironically, they beat Troy at Alparon Park that postseason).
It looks like they’ll get Bloomsburg (5-5) in the opening round next weekend, with the opportunity to host two playoff games if they get a win in the quarterfinals.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to compete next week, and hopefully get another W,” said Wecker.
TOWANDA 55, WYALUSING 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
T: Riley Vanderpool 63-yard pass to Hayden Space (Jack Wheaton kick), 9:03
T: Riley Vanderpool 16-yard run (Wheaton kick), 6:45
T: Riley Vanderpool 28-yard pass to Tahshon Garner (Wheaton kick), 5:00
T: Riley Vanderpool 20-yard run (kick failed), 3:00
Second Quarter
T: Caden Delamater 4-yard run (Wheaton kick), 9:39
T: Rylee Sluyter 4-yard run (Wheaton kick), 1:41
Third Quarter
T: Sawyer Robinson 3-yard run (Wheaton kick), 2:46
Fourth Quarter
T: Gage Evans 40-yard run (Wheaton kick), 1:11
Individual Stats
Wyalusing
Passing
Reuben Kinney 1-7-23-0-2, Jonny Earle 0-3-0-0-2
Rushing
Ayden Hunsinger 22-115, Ethan Vanderpool 7-31, Jonny Earle 7-5, Reuben Kinney 6-(-4), Brian Dietz 1-0
Receiving
Jonny Earle 1-23
Towanda
Passing
Riley Vanderpool 9-16-260-2-1, Clinton Tuttle 0-1-0-0-0
Rushing
Riley Vanderpool 10-90-2, Caden Delamater 7-30-1, Tahshon Garner 1-12, Rylee Sluyter 1-4-1, Sawyer Robinson 1-3-1, Gage Evans 3-54-1, Tanner Vanderpool 4-23, Clinton Tuttle 1-(-5)
Receiving
Hayden Space 1-63-1, Rylee Sluyter 5-98, Tahshon Garner 1-28-1, Will Shrawder 2-71
Team Stats Wyalusing Towanda
Rushes/Yards 43/147 28/211
Passing Yards 23 260
Total Yards 170 471
Interceptions: Towanda (Rylee Sluyter - 2, Will Shrawder, Kole Heyer); Wyalusing (Reuben Kinney)
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PHOTOS PROVIDED
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