Bulldogs, Cam Jones, record special win over Red Knights in series renewal
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Cam Jones was his usual spectacular self for Wilson Friday, scoring four first-half touchdowns to help the Bulldogs dominate on both defense and special teams en route to a 48-6 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 victory over Reading High at Albright’s Shirk Stadium.
Wilson (1-0. 3-1) excelled on special teams all night.
Jones returned punts of 57 and 61 yards for touchdowns, Makih Cooper blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and Rafael Fernandez recovered a Ben Rada onside kick. Jackson Wagner nearly ran for a first down on a well-executed, fake punt on fourth-and-long.
Wilson coach Doug Dahms was extremely pleased with his team’s execution.
“Offense, defense, special teams, it doesn’t matter how you score, as long as you score,” Dahms said. “Tonight our special teams were huge for us. We executed extremely well in that phase of the game.”
Jones was equally pleased with the success on special teams.
“It starts with Coach Dahms,” Jones said of the Bulldogs’ special teams coordinator. “He sees where we can best attack on punt returns and he calls it that way. He tells me to field everything I possibly can and then get to the wall. That’s what I did tonight on those two returns. The walls were set up perfectly and the blocking was excellent.”
Jones, who returned a punt for a TD in the season opener, did just what he was told to do on both touchdown returns.
Reading High (0-1, 2-2) was clearly trying to kick away from him but it didn’t matter. The punt on Jones’ second touchdown return nearly went out of bounds. He fielded it anyway and showed tremendous athleticism in not stepping out of bounds, then made two nifty moves to avoid Reading tacklers, and used his speed to get to the well-set-up wall for the 61-yard score.
Dahms was impressed with Jones as well as his blocking unit on the punt return team,
“It was evident that they were trying to kick away from Cam,” he said. “On both of his returns tonight we did an excellent job of blocking on the wall and Cam did what he does so well by fielding everything he can and using his speed and the wall to do the rest.”
Wilson was equally impressive on defense. After a 15-play, 75-yard opening drive by the Red Knights the Bulldogs defense stiffened. Wilson’s defensive front completely dominated. Wilson held the Red Knights to zero net yards for the remainder of the first half.
“We had to adjust to their speed,” Dahms said. “(Amier) Burdine and (Ruben) Rodriguez are fast. They are great athletes. We were tentative on the first drive. We told the guys to get after Burdine. They were too concerned with him getting around them on the first drive. Fortunately, we adjusted to their speed and our guys up front did an outstanding job of pressuring Burdine.”
The Bulldogs offensive line did a number on the Red Knights, as well. On Wilson’s first scoring drive it went 46 yards (33 by Jones and 13 by quarterback Tommy Hunsicker) on four running plays to take a 7-0 lead.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight,” said Jones. “The holes were big and the blocks were outstanding.”
Dahms has also been pleased with his team’s business-like approach.
“So far, we are getting better each week,” he said. “We are a young team, starting a lot of underclassmen. We are going to make mistakes. We continue to try to correct our mistakes each week.
“I’ve been pleased with the way we have been able to do that so far. We need to continue to keep improving and correcting our mistakes each week.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson | 0 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 48 |
| Reading High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Wilson | Jones, 15 run (Rada kick) | 10:06 |
| 2 | Wilson | Jones, 7 run (kick failed) | 5:52 |
| 2 | Wilson | Cooper, recovered blocked punt in end zone (Valukevich, pass from Hunsicker) | 4:10 |
| 2 | Wilson | Jones, 57 punt return (kick failed) | 2:57 |
| 2 | Wilson | Jones, 61 punt return (Case, pass from Hunsicker) | :26 |
| 3 | Wilson | Harding, 1 run (Rada kick) | 8:03 |
| 4 | Wilson | Harding, 19 pass from Woods (Kick failed) | 11:42 |
| 4 | Reading | Burdine, 5 run (kick failed) | :48 |
Team statistics
| Wilson | Reading High | |
| First downs | 7 | 9 |
| Rushes-yards | 22-120 | 22-34 |
| Passing yards | 76 | 145 |
| Total yards | 196 | 179 |
| Passes | 4-7-1 | 12-31-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 4-2 |
| Punts-average | 2-32 | 3-29 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-85 | 7-60 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Wilson: Harding 6-40, Jones 5-38, Hunsicker 4-15, Wagner 1-8, Gruber 1-7, Cooper 1- 7, Woods 2-3, Welmaker 2-2.
Reading High: Roman 10-26, Burdine 6-0, C. Small 6-8.
PASSING
Wilson: Hunsicker 2-5-1-51; Woods 2-2-0-25
Reading High: Burdine 12-31-1-145.
RECEIVING
Wilson: Case 1-34, Harding 1-19, Kline 1-17, Cooper 1-6.
Reading High: Rodriguez 8-124, Drayton 2-11, Phillistin 1-6, C. Small 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS
Wilson: Capitano.
Reading High: Burdine.
