Wyo’s ‘last shot’ never got fired in frustrating title-game loss

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

HERSHEY — Ben Zechman and his teammates had confidence in the play. They’ve run it so many times they could probably do it blindfolded. They’ve called it automatic.

Nevin Carter runs a curl. Drew Eisenhower runs a slant. Amory Thompson slips into the flat. Three options. One of them is bound to be open. 

Wyomissing broke the huddle expecting to gain the 3.5 yards needed to tie the game. The Spartans didn’t come close. This time the play never had a chance.

“We’ve run it since we were younger,” Zechman said. “It’s one everyone knows. We always joke about it. That little slant, slant, flat. It’s always open. So we were going back to it.”

Wyomissing fell to Central Valley 7-0 in the PIAA Class 3A football championship game at Hersheypark Stadium Saturday. That fourth-and-goal moment was essentially the Spartans’ last shot.

So much thinking, strategizing and debating went into those decisive few seconds when Wyomissing trailed by a touchdown with 6:30 left.

Coach Bob Wolfrum initially settled for a 24-yard field goal attempt. After a penalty moved the ball from the 7 inside the 4, Wolfrum reconsidered. He went for it. In his mind it was now or never. Besides, Wyo had a really good play call in mind.

“We thought we better take the chance there,” Wolfrum said. “We don’t even know if we’ll get the ball back if we kick the field goal. When we were up close, we thought we could rub a guy open there. It’s frustrating when you don’t even get it off.”

Wolfrum said it was open. It was hard to tell. But who would know better than him? 

Zechman didn’t even get into his drop. His eyes never studied the field. Jackson Tonya almost instantly grabbed a handful of that No. 2 jersey. Central Valley’s defensive lineman forced Zechman to lose his balance. He dropped the ball and had no choice but to fall on it. The play was over.

Eisenhower looked into the backfield and tried to find his quarterback.

“I didn’t really see what happened,” Eisenhower said. “I just turned around and there was not much there.”

Thompson, perhaps the most likely target for the game-tying touchdown, spun in anticipation of a pass that never came.

“I looked back and the play was all broken up,” Thompson said. “There’s nothing you can really do about it now.”

The play that was supposed to gain 3.5 yards lost 6.

Zechman was quick to point out that one moment didn’t decide the outcome of this titanic defensive struggle. It was everything combined. The reliable plays that helped Wyomissing win its first 15 games didn’t work Saturday.

A dynamic offense that posted a Berks record 671 points scored zero. A running attack that averaged 323 yards per game managed just 102. The Spartans ran into a defense they couldn’t penetrate.

“They were big up front and were able to counter with a lot of speed in the back with their secondary,” Zechman said. “They’re just so athletic. They’re able to cover different offenses as you saw today.”

Wolfrum made the right decision to go for it. Wyomissing didn’t get another possession until 20 seconds were left and their hopes were all but gone.

Zechman took a vicious hit on the final play, a mad scramble of laterals hoping to conjure up a miracle. The 6-3, 180-pound junior lay on the turf for a bit before finding the strength to stand and join the handshake line.

Another Wyomissing bid for a state championship and another undefeated season ended at the hands of a new-found rival nearly 300 miles away. It was 35-21 last season. It was closer in the rematch.

Players cried and hugged. Not just because they fell short. Because it was over.

“As of now it’s a little hard,” Thompson said. “But once you really think about it, you can’t beat two straight state championship appearances. We made it twice. Not a lot of people can say that. All the work we put in, it wasn’t for no reason.”

Wyomissing is going to keep using that play. One curl, one slant, one in the flat. Next time it might work. Most times it has worked. This time it didn’t work.

Nothing is automatic.