Edison Case, Wilson make quick work of Cheltenham — for now
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
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Maybe the Wilson Bulldogs found out what they were missing the first two weeks of the football season: Edison Case.
The all-league wide receiver didn’t play in Wilson’s first two games — and first two losses — after dislocating his left elbow a few weeks before the season.
Saturday it seemed that the only thing missing was pass coverage on the 6-3 senior. The Cheltenham Panthers didn’t seem to want to get close to Case, who pulled in a pair of first-quarter touchdowns as the Bulldogs dominated the first 16 minutes before the field was cleared after officials viewed lightning on the horizon.
The game was suspended with Wilson leading 26-0 with 8:12 left in the first half. After more than a one-hour delay, it was announced the game will be continued on Monday at 4 back at Gurski Stadium.
Case had four catches for 156 yards in the first quarter alone, including touchdowns of 74 and 34 yards. On each of the scoring catches he broke off the line uncovered and caught the ball with no one within 10 yards of him.
Maybe the Panthers thought whatever Case had was contagious.
Wilson coach Doug Dahms is certainly hoping it could be. His team lost its first two games for the first time since 1993 and faced the prospect of entering league play without a win. Wilson hasn’t started a season 0-3 since John Gurski was the coach and Lyndon Johnson was the President.
The only thing stopping the Bulldogs Saturday was the weather. First, the game started 45 minutes late due to a sighting of lightning just before kickoff.
Once on the field the Bulldogs couldn’t be stopped: They reached the end zone on four straight possessions, taking a 26-0 lead late in the first quarter on Nick Fiorini’s 4-yard plunge. The score was set up by a 30-yard reception to Case, to the 4.
Case provided a touchdown just a minute earlier, on a 34-yard crossing pattern one play after Panthers quarterback Jonathan Ingram double-dribbled the ball off the turf for a fumble.
The Panthers had trouble holding onto the ball. They put it on the turf five times in the first 16 minutes, but recovered four of them.
The Bulldogs didn’t make it easy for them. After Case’s scoring scoring catch — which was coupled with a personal foul for roughing the passer — Wilson opted for an onsides kick. Placekicker Ben Rada bounced one perfectly 10 yards down the field, then dove head-first for the ball and came up with it.
One thing Wilson didn’t dominate was time of possession: Its first four scoring “drives” consisted of two, one, three and two plays.
Bad as it was, playing Cheltenham was better than playing no one at all, a prospect the Bulldogs faced at midweek after the Philadelphia School District suspended all athletic events. That meant Wilson’s scheduled game against Martin Luther King had to be canceled.
Wilson scrambled to find a replacement opponent and came up with Cheltenham, which saw its scheduled game against Lincoln also canceled.
The Bulldogs open play in Section 1 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League next week against Reading High.