Even with big gun sidelined, Wyomissing shoots down East Pennsboro
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story will be updated later tonight with a full boxscore, additional details and postgame reaction.)
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
With its top offensive threat sidelined by an injury, Wyomissing found other offensive options Saturday in its 31-0 win over East Pennsboro in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal at Bob Wolfrum Field.
Junior Danny Fleischood, playing in place of injured sophomore Justice Hardy, scored a pair of touchdowns and senior Derek Macrina ran for a career-high 109 yards on 11 carries.
The second-seeded Spartans (9-2) also got a standout defensive effort, holding the seventh-seeded Panthers (8-3) to just 26 yards in the second half and 110 overall. They were the first team to shut out East Pennsboro this season.
Wyomissing will play a semifinal at home next week against third-seeded West York, a 5-3 winner over sixth-seeded Eastern York in a defensive battle Friday night. The Spartans are unbeaten in the postseason on their home field and overall have a 12-game district playoff winning streak, dating back to 2018.
Hardy leads the Spartans in rushing, receiving, and with 15 touchdowns. He’s a dangerous weapon who can score in all three phases of the game. Still, the Spartans found a way to move the ball without him. They didn’t throw a single pass but rushed for 353 yards and ran 54 plays to 34 by the Panthers.
Fleischood, who had scored just one touchdown this season, broke off a 34-yard scoring run just before halftime to put the Spartans up by two scores.
East Pennsboro moved into scoring position on the opening drive of the game after flanker Aaron Angelo ran 28 yards to the Wyomissing 29 on the first snap. Wyomissing’s defense didn’t budge after that, covering up a deep pass toward the goal line on fourth down to force a turnover on downs.
Wyomissing turned to junior fullback Chase Eisenhower on its first drive, giving him the ball on six of its seven plays, the last a 20-yard touchdown. Eisenhower finished with 79 yards on nine carries.
The Spartans came up empty on their second possession after moving to the East Pennsboro 7 when normally steady Keegan Maher missed a 24-yard field goal.
The Spartans clung to their seven-point lead until late in the half they forced East Pennsboro to punt from deep in its own territory and Macrina returned it 9 yards to the 23. Fleischood followed Max Tipton’s lead block around right end for a 34-yard score and 14-0 lead 2:00 before halftime.
Wyomissing is 15-0 at home in District 3 playoff games and 16-0 overall in postseason games at Bob Wolfrum Field (previously known as the A-Field).
That streak includes a 2020 PIAA Tournament victory over Danville, as well as the last three District 3 Class 3A championship games.
Wyomissing is playing in 4A for the first time after five straight Class 3A titles. The Spartans were bumped up a level by the PIAA’s “Success Formula.”
The Panthers had won eight of their previous nine games after an 0-2 start and August losses to Becca and Trinity. They finished third in the Mid-Penn Colonial, behind Trinity (9-2) and Susquehanna Township (8-3).
East Pennsboro beat Susquehannock 42-14 in the opening round for its first district playoff win in 18 years.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| East Pennsboro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wyomissing | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | Eisenhower, 20 run (Maher kick) | 6:11 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Fleischood, 34 run (Maher kick) | 2:00 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Fleischood, 4 run (Maher kick) | 10:29 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Maher, 31 FG | 2:55 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | Delp, 18 run (Plaggenborg kick) | 0:21 |
Team statistics
| East Pennsboro | Wyomissing | |
| First downs | 7 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 25-83 | 54-353 |
| Passing yards | 27 | 0 |
| Total yards | 110 | 353 |
| Passes | 6-10-1 | 0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-24.0 | 1-36.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-10 | 3-25 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
East Pennsboro: Gossard 13-50, Angelo 9-33, Swider 1-16, Bruhn 1-1, Team 1-(-17).
Wyomissing: Macrina 11-109, Eisenhower 9-79, Niedrowski 14-71, Fleischood 6-61, D. Delp 2-22, Sierra 5-10, Lopez-Sanchez 1-2, Armistead 1-(-1), Lecher 1-(-4), White 3-(-5).
PASSING
East Pennsboro: Barlup 6-10-1–27.
RECEIVING
East Pennsboro: Angelo 2-16, Gossard 2-7, Keys 2-4.
INTERCEPTIONS
Wyomissing: Armistead.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Wyomissing: Maher 24.