For the second consecutive week, the Wellsboro Varsity Football team pitched a shut out to improve to 2-0 on the 2014 season.
This week, the Muncy Indians fell prey to the Hornets’ stingy defense.
“It all starts with our defensive line,” said head coach Matt Hildebrand. “So far they’ve brought a lot of pressure which makes it hard for teams to throw or run on us.”
One of the reason Muncy couldn’t produce any points was the play of Junior Linebacker Nick Tremper, Junior Defensive Back Anthony Cooper, and Senior Defensive Back Nick Marple. Tremper recorded 15 tackles on the night and even went airborne on one play trying to get to Muncy’s quarterback. Marple recorded seven tackles, all solos, and caught an interception in the end zone on Muncy’s final drive to preserve the shut out. Cooper was also all over the field as he made nine stops on the night.
The Hornets struck first in the game after taking the opening kickoff. They put together a seven play drive as Senior Quarterback Michael Pietropola called his own number from the three-yard line to put the Hornets up 7-0 following the extra point by Senior Jack Chambers.
After the Wellsboro defense stopped Muncy on fourth down, the Hornets offense went back to work. This time Pietropola found Cooper in traffic for a 20 yard strike to put Wellsboro up 14-0.
Muncy couldn’t get anything going on offense and were forced to punt the ball away to Wellsboro again. This time, Wellsboro put together a 10 play drive that resulted in a 33 yard Chambers field goal with 11:01 remaining in the first half.
Wellsboro would strike once more in the half as Pietropola connected with Senior Running Back Nick Levindoski on the 65 yard bomb to put Wellsboro up 24-0.
The second half saw Wellsboro take primarily to the ground game and the second string offense getting some playing time. The first string scored once more on the night as Pietropola connected with Marple for a 27 yard strike to take a 31-0 lead with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter.
From there on out, Muncy tried to put a comeback together, and gained some momentum towards the end of the game, but Marple stepped in front of a pass in the end zone to eliminate the threat.
Pietropola went 10-19 through the air for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Levi Mack rushed for 50 yards on nine carries, and Marple caught five passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.
For Marple, he’s caught 13 passes for 289 on the year, more than he has caught his entire career, which has drawn praise from the head ball coach.
“The last few years Nick hasn’t had to play the receiver role very much, but you can obviously see what he can do,” said Hildebrand. “He’s a very talented kid who works very hard.”
Pietropola has now thrown for 481 yards and five touchdowns in the first two games of the season, giving him 4,469 yards and 50 touchdowns for his career.
Next week, the Hornets travel to Bucktail for a 7:00 p.m. game.
