Mauled. Mangled. Demolished. None of those adjectives could describe what happened to the unfortunate bunch of Trojans from Wissahickon High School tonight at the hands of the Downingtown East Cougars at Kottmeyer Stadium in the opening round of the District 1 6A playoffs.
In tonight’s 56-0 win over Wissahickon, the Cougars showed that there was no layover from wins over league rivals Coatesville (21-0) and Downingtown West (35-7) in the last two weeks. As one-sided as tonight’s game was, it could have been much worse. Downingtown East could have scored 70 points or more.
Despite picking up a few first downs, aided by a successful fake punt and two personal fouls by Downingtown East, Wissahickon’s first drive bogged down. However, the Trojans were able to pin Downingtown East deep in their territory with a 57-yard punt.
Although pinned in a deep hole, the Cougars moved the ball down the field easily, capped off by an Owen Lammy touchdown run of 11 yards, on his only carry of the night. The Cougars added two more first-quarter touchdowns, capitalizing on consecutive interceptions by Wissahickon quarterback Nolan Pounds. Ayden Harris scored from 22 yards to make it 14-0, and on a 38-yard pass from JJ Helverson from 38 yards out for a 21-0 lead after one.
The Cougars’ offensive and defensive onslaught continued in the second quarter to the tune of 28 more points, to make the score 49-0 at halftime. John Morrin scored from four yards out to make it 28-0, Ayden Harris scored from six yards out after another interception to make it 35-0, and Jimmy Stott returned Nolan Pounds’ fourth interception of the night 36 yards for a 42-0 lead. Ayden Harris put the Cougars up 49-0 at halftime. Harris had 217 yards rushing on 23 carries (253 total) and four touchdowns in only one half of play.
The entire second half was played under the mercy rule, but that did not stop the Cougars, as the backups scored when John Morrin put an exclamation point on the game with a nine-yard run. Morrin rushed for 104 yards on 18 carries.
After their first drive bogged down at midfield, Wissahickon never threatened until late in the game against the Cougar backups. Even then, Nolan Pounds threw another interception, his fifth and final one of the game.
Nolan Pounds and the Trojan offense took a literal pounding all game by the Cougar defense, as they were suffocated to a total of 145 yards and five turnovers. Pounds was 7-20 passing for 100 yards and five interceptions. Despite Wissahickon’s best efforts to get Quasir Sampson 1000 yards rushing. He fell 50 yards short, as Sampson was held to 39 yards on 17 carries.
Joe Morrin had an interception, and Owen Lammy and Jimmy Stott had interceptions. Paxson Warnock had two interceptions for Downingtown East as well.
Wissahickon’s season ends at 6-5.
