Tyler Niedrowski, following brother’s orders, has become ‘a menace’ on Wyo defense
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As the fourth of four boys to put on a Wyomissing football uniform the bar was set pretty high when Tyler Niedrowski arrived.
Hunter, his oldest brother, was an all-league defensive lineman. Evan was a Berks Linebacker of the Year. Collin was a standout linebacker and fullback the last three seasons and an integral part of Wyomissing’s District 3 championship teams.
| Section 4 | ||
| Twin Valley | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Lampeter | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Wyomissing | 4-0 | 6-1 |
| Elco | 1-2 | 2-4 |
| Octorara | 1-2 | 3-3 |
| N. Lebanon | 1-3 | 2-5 |
| Boone | 0-4 | 0-7 |
| Donegal | 0-4 | 1-6 |
Bob Wolfrum, who coached each of the other brothers, had high expectations when Tyler arrived and he hasn’t been the least bit disappointed.
“He’s a really good athlete, but he’s got that (football) mentality, too,” Wolfrum said Saturday after watching the junior score a pair of touchdowns and record a sack for a safety in a 42-6 Homecoming win Saturday over Daniel Boone in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 play.
“He’s gonna be as physical as he can be, and he’s quick enough to not get (faked out),” Wolfrum said. “(On that safety), he missed him the first time, but he was right back on top of him.”
Boone’s Hadyn Moyer is as elusive as any quarterback in the league but he couldn’t escape the 5-11, 180-pound Niedrowski, who nearly drove him out of the back of the end zone late in the first half.
Niedrowski and the Spartans (4-0, 6-1) hounded Moyer, so much so that Boone coach J.D. Okuniewski moved him to receiver in the second half because he couldn’t protect him in the pocket and wanted to keep him upright for the remainder of the schedule.
Boone was held to minus-18 yards rushing and minus-3 yards overall in the first half, and Niedrowski, an inside linebacker, was at the front of the assault. He had seven first-half tackles (on 21 Blazers snaps), five of them for loss. He was in on three of Wyomissing’s four sacks, some of which resembled a jail break.
Moyer and the Blazers (0-4, 0-7) never had a chance.
Hunter and Evan had more bulk than Tyler but he’s as fast and athletic as any of the brothers – maybe more so. He’s built more like, and plays more like, Collin, whom he played alongside the past two seasons.
“He’s a combination of them,” Wolfrum said. “He’s quick like Collin; he’s powerful like Evan.”
Tyler has been helped by each of his older siblings. Hunter, who’s also his throws coach at Wyomissing, will break down his game and offer a critique.
“He really likes to point out my mistakes, and I appreciate him for it,” Tyler said. “I need someone to be brutally honest with me.”
Evan has worked on the mental side of Tyler’s game.
“He saw me help (an opposing player) up once and said, ‘You shouldn’t do that; you’ve just gotta be a menace on the field,’ ” Tyler recalled. “I’m trying to adapt that.”
Tyler Niedrowski doesn’t see much time at fullback; the Spartans have this guy named Chase Eisenhower who’s pretty good, too. He knows he won’t get many touches so he gets geared up to make the most of them.
He had his first touchdown catch late in the first quarter when he took a short pass from Teddy White and went 10 yards for a touchdown.
“I had one man to beat and I beat him,” he said.
Niedrowski, who’s also a top wrestler, showed off his strength on a 12-yard TD run late in the first half. He took an inside handoff and was met at around the 8; he kept driving and carried about half the Blazers’ defense into the end zone with him.
“I just kept my legs churning,” he said.
Niedrowski could be a 1,000-yard back on some teams but he understands his role at Wyomissing.
“Even if I don’t get the ball I still love being part of the team and help out any way I can,” he said.
Touches are precious with the Spartans these days. No one gets a whole lot of them. Justice Hardy tends to end drives pretty quickly – he had scoring runs of 50 and 38 yards in the first half.
Plus, the Spartans have been up big at halftime for five straight weeks; they’ve mercy-ruled four of their last five opponents which means Wolfrum has his starters off the field early in the second half.
Saturday, after Niedrowski and Hardy each scored twice and Derek Macrina once, Wyomissing led 35-0 at intermission and the front-line guys didn’t see the field again. The Spartans’ 36th consecutive home win was well in hand.
“I hate games like that,” Wolfrum said.
The undermanned Blazers played without Harrison Delissaint, who shared the team lead in receptions, and at least four other starters, due to injuries.
In this case getting the starters out early could be beneficial for the Spartans, who face the biggest game of their season Friday at Twin Valley.
The Spartans are tied with the Raiders and Lampeter-Strasburg for the Section 4 lead; each team is ranked in the Top 10 in the state in Class 4A. Twin Valley, which is No. 1, plays at Lampeter-Strasburg in Week 9.
The Spartans have tried their best not to look ahead to their Week 8 showdown, though they have had enough glances at the Raiders to know they’re in for a supreme challenge.
“Coach Wolfrum says you’ve gotta focus on what’s in front of you, and we (were able to) push (thoughts of) Twin Valley off till next week.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Daniel Boone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Wyomissing | 20 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 42 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | Marcina, 15 run (Maher kick) | 8:43 |
| 1 | Wyomissing | Niedrowski, 10 pass from White (Maher kick) | 3:28 |
| 1 | Wyomissing | Hardy, 50 run (kick failed) | 0:56 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Safety, Moyer tackled in end zone | 6:21 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Niedrowski, 12 run (kick failed) | 3:49 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Hardy, 38 run (Maher kick) | 1:47 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Armistead, 15 run (Maher kick) | 2:48 |
| 4 | Daniel Boone | Moyer, 13 pass from Stoudt (pass failed) | 8:59 |
Team statistics
| Daniel Boone | Wyomissing | |
| First downs | 6 | 13 |
| Rushes-yards | 21-19 | 38-299 |
| Passing yards | 54 | 31 |
| Total yards | 73 | 330 |
| Passes | 9-14-1 | 4-7-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 2-2 |
| Punts-average | 4-28.0 | 0 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-30 | 6-77 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Daniel Boone: Stoudt 3-18, Cruz 2-15, Williams 9-10, Moyer 7-(-24).
Wyomissing: Hardy 4-91, Fleischood 7-64, Macrina 5-43, Armistead 2-35, C. Eisenhower 3-18, Niedrowski 2-17, Sierra 4-12, Lopez-Sanchez 2-11, Westwood 2-9, D. Delp 3-1, C. Delp 2-1, Reason 2-(-3).
PASSING
Daniel Boone: Moyer 5-8-1–15, Stoudt 4-6-0–39.
Wyomissing: White 3-6-0–24, Lecher 1-1-0–7.
RECEIVING
Daniel Boone: Moyer 2-43, Heffner 2-14, Williams 2-2, Cruz 1-1, Stoudt 1-(-1), McIntyre 1-(-5).
Wyomissing: Niedrowski 1-10, Bresnahan 1-8, Queenan-Coleman 1-7, Hardy 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS
Wyomissing: Piacine.
(benschafferphotography)
