BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — Despite the score Towanda coach Jamie Wecker felt his team showed improvement in their 32-0 loss to Hughesville during non-league football action on Friday. Defensively they were tough, holding firm most of the night despite being backed into the shadow of their own goal line for long stretches. Offensively and on special teams, though, things were still a work in progress.
“I thought we played a much more spirited game,” Wecker remarked. “We played with passion this week. The kids were more physical, they played like we expected them to play last week. Hughesville’s a good football team, they’re big, physical, they wore us down and it’s tough when you’re asking two different quarterbacks who have hardly any experience, and two freshman running backs. I’m very proud of them. I know the score doesn’t reflect it, but we played a much better game - I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Kolten McPeak was making tackles every where, Matt Harbst and Dominik Miller both had fumble recoveries, and Cameron Allis had a sack. They also caught Hughesville for no yards or negative yards 11 times on the night.
Ultimately, though, they couldn’t get any traction on offense. Towanda finished with just two first downs and a minus-7 total yards.
Their punter was tackled in the backfield twice before he could get a kick off, and they had another two punts blocked. The Knights also turned it over on the opening kick-off, and during a punt return in the second half.
A lot of it, though, comes down to the fact that they have freshmen and sophomores going up against juniors and seniors. While they were able to use their small size and speed on defense to gang tackle and evade blocks, it hampered them on the other side of the ball.
“We just have to keep working on the fundamentals,” said Wecker. “Defensively taking the right angles, being in the right place. We have to take advantage of our speed, and offensively we have to figure out what we’re going to do upfront. Teams are going to come at us until we can stop them. We’ve just got to work it, figure out what we’re going to do, and keep getting better and better at it.”
Joey Montonya led Towanda on the ground with nine carries for 10-yards, while Gabe Wolf went 3-for-6 for 22-yards through the air - both of them freshmen.
Jazick Brown had three catches for 22-yards.
Chase Shrawder led Hughesville with 97-yards on the ground off 20 carries while Jedidiah Abernatha ran in two scores.
Nicholas Stubbs was 5-for-13 for 82 yards under center, throwing a touchdown pass to Connor Anstadt just before the half. Anstadt finished with three catches for 64-yards.
Kicker Michael Fuller was just 2-for-4 on extra points but hit field goals of 30 and 24 yards for the Spartans.
After the Knights fumbled away the opening kick-off they held the Spartans on fourth-and-short as McPeak got the big stop.
Towanda then appeared to take the lead on a 93-yard run by Brown, but it was called by on a hold. They ended up punting, with Hughesville getting a partial block and good field position at the Knight 18-yard line.
Towanda’s defense took it right back two plays later as Harbst recovered a fumble.
The Knights, though, went backwards and a bad snap ended with the punter kneeling to pick it up, giving Hughesville the ball at Towanda 13-yard line.
Two plays later Abernatha ran it around the left side 9-yards to pay dirt for the 6-0 lead.
The two teams traded possessions until another bad snap on a punt led to the Towanda punter getting sacked at his 14-yard line.
The Black Knight defense held, though, forcing a field goal, which Fuller hit, for a 9-0 lead.
Towanda’s next 3-and-out ended in a blocked punt with the Spartans taking over at the Towanda 11-yard line.
Still, Towanda’s defense stood tall, only give up four yards as Hughesville settled for a second field goal for a 12-0 lead with 5:56 left in the half.
After another Towanda punt the Spartans took over at their own 46-yard line.
A big 4th-and-2 conversion at midfield kept the drive alive, then on third-and-15 with 9.5 seconds left Stubbs hit Anstadt in the back of the end zone with a juggling catch for an 18-0 lead at the break.
Hughesville only real drive came in the opening kick-off of the third as they went 64-yards on nine plays to get into the end zone on an Abernatha 2-yard plunge.
A 34-yard hook up of Stubbs to Anstadt on third-and-6 kept the drive alive. Fuller’s point after made it 25-0.
Hughesville’s final score came on a pick-6 when Carson Stackhouse stepped in front of a Wolf pass and returned it 33-yards to the house. Fuller hit this extra point for the 32-0 final.
Towanda (0-2) is back on the road again as they travel to NP-Mansfield next Friday.
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HUGHESVILLE 32, TOWANDA 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
H: Jedediah Abernatha 9-yard run (PAT failed), 3:44
Second Quarter
H: Michael Fuller 30-yard field goal, 9:03
H: Michael Fuller 24-yard field goal, 5:56
H: Nicholas Stubbs 23-yard pass to Connor Anstadt (PAT failed), :09.5
Third Quarter
H: Jedediah Abernatha 2-yard run (Fuller kick), 8:03
Fourth Quarter
H: Carson Stackhouse 33-yard interception return (Fuller kick), 8:18
Individual Stats
Hughesville
Passing
Nicholas Stubbs 5-13-82-1-0
Rushing
Chase Shrawder 20-97, Connor Anstadt 6-19, Jedidiah Abernatha 6-13-2, Nicholas Stubbs 6-3, Alphonzo Smith 3-0, Michael Fuller 1-8
Receiving
Connor Anstadt 3-64-1, Chase Fowler 1-4, Chase Shrawder 1-4
Towanda
Passing
Gabe Wolf 3-6-22-0-1, Clinton Tuttle 1-2-(-2)-0-0
Rushing
Joey Montonya 9-10, Curtis Maynard 3-(-1), Jazick Brown 2-(-7), Clinton Tuttle 1-(-2), Gabe Wolf 9-(-6), Brayden Spencer 2-(-21)
Receiving
Jazick Brown 3-22, Curtis Maynard 1-(-2)
Team Stats Hughesville Towanda
Rushes/Yards 42/131 26/(-27)
Passing Yards 82 20
First Downs 12 2
Penalties/Yards 6/45 6/45
Fumbles/Lost 2/2 6/2
Interceptions: Hughesville-Carson Stackhouse
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
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