Spartans vs. Ironmen: Who blinks first?

Something’s gotta give when Wyomissing meets Danville Friday night in a battle of the state’s two highest-ranked Class 3A teams.

They’re each unbeaten and for the most part unchallenged.

The District 4 champion Ironmen (12-0) have trailed just once all season, at halftime against Loyalsock in Week 4. They overcame that 7-0 deficit for a 17-14 win; they haven’t been seriously challenged since.

The District 3 champion Spartans (12-0) hadn’t allowed a first-quarter point until last week when they fell behind against West Perry 7-0. They responded by scoring the next 63 points.

Wyomissing trailed only twice during the regular season, each time by a field goal: against Berks Catholic and Conrad Weiser. It responed like a champion, scoring touchdowns on their next five possessions against the Saints and on their next six against the Scouts.

“It’s a different week for us, just like it’s different for them,” said Danville coach Mike Brennan. “It’s gonna be a different feel for one of us if we get behind.”

As you would expect from teams ranked No. 1 in the state (Wyomissing) and No. 2 (Danville), each has a powerful offense and a defense to match.

The Spartans have mercy-ruled nine opponents and have allowed just three first-half TDs.

Until their backups gave up a late score last week Danville’s defense had scored more TDs than it had allowed.

At some point one of these teams is going to score — maybe a couple times. And the other will be in a position it hasn’t faced all season.

“We’ve gotta get them behind the sticks and we’ve gotta make them play catch-up,” Brennan said. “That’s something they haven’t had to do at all.”

The Spartans showed no panic last week when West Perry went down the field on its first possession in the District 3 championship game. They responded by reaching the end zone on their next four possessions.

“The games last year really prepared us for that,” said Wyomissing senior lineman Jven Williams. “We have some mentally strong guys on the field; (falling behind) didn’t really both us. We knew we could get on the scoreboard, and that’s what we did.”

Both Brennan and counterpart Bob Wolfrum are spending the week preparing their players to deal with adversity. Each is sure to face some in this PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal, which kicks off at 7 at Danville High School.

The Ironmen have the ability to score fast and often. They have put up 50 or more points in half their games and are averaging 49.8 — fourth-most in the state and the highest of any 3A team.

Quarterback Zach Gordon threw five TDs in last week’s district title game and matched the program record with 32. His top target is All-State wide receiver Carson Persing, who has recorded three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He went over 200 yards when Danville met Wyomissing in a 2020 state semifinal.

“He’s very impressive,” said Wolfrum.

The Ironmen have a 3,000-yard career rusher in Army recruit Ty Brown-Stauffer but Brennan made no bones about the fact that his team has to throw the ball down the field to beat Wyomissing.

“We think we have the ability to stress their defense,” he said. “If we don’t do that we’re not gonna win this game.”

Wyomissing’s strength is undoubtedly its line play, on both sides of the ball. With Williams, a Penn State recruit, and two others receiving Division I offers — Caleb Brewer and Pacen Ziegler — that’s plain to see.

The Spartans, with fast corners in Charlie McIntyre and Andrew Delp and active outside linebackers in Matt Kramer and Drew Forrey, have been especially tough to pass against. They’re allowing a Lancaster-Lebanon League-low 56 yards per game through the air and less than 5 yards per pass attempt (Danville averages 15.7).

The key all season, and this week especially, Wolfrum said, is pressuring the quarterback. The Wyomissing staff is clever at disguising blitzes and dialing them up at opportune times. That’ll be a key Friday.

“We can’t let that quarterback stand still,” Wolfrum said. “They throw the ball deep a lot, but you need a little time to do that. We haven’t seen many teams getting him off his spot and making him run around. We did that two years ago.”

The Spartans did pretty much anything they wanted the last time the teams met, winning 44-14 at the A-Field.

Things are different now, Brennan said. That was his first season with the Ironmen. His guys weren’t ready, physically or mentally, to compete at this level.

Now he believes they are. Eighteen starters returned from a team that went 11-2 last season. They committed themselves during the offseason and showed it during the regular season, with wins against strong teams such as Loyalsock and Southern Columbia, which is playing this week in a Class 2A state quarterfinal.

“Two years ago when we played Wyo we were not able to compete,” he said. “We just weren’t even in the same ballpark. Now we’re a totally different animal athletically: our strength, our speed, our athleticism is at a different level.”