Bulldogs earn redemption with win over Manheim Township
It took a while for the Wilson Bulldogs to get healthy after painful back-to-back losses to Gov. Mifflin and Exeter early in the season. Once they got their full team back on the field they found a winning combination — and some redemption.
They put it all together Friday night in holding off Manheim Township 21-14 in the GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week to complete a perfect run through Section 1 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League at Gurski Stadium.
After having a lot of things go against them the first half of the season, which saw them lose three of their first five games, the Bulldogs (5-0, 7-3) got to play the most critical game of their season in a driving rain storm perfectly suited to their ground-and-pound style.
“With this weather, we had no choice but to run the ball,” said senior tailback Jadyn Jones, who carried 30 times for 177 yards, 116 in the second half. “It felt good just to pound that rock the whole game.”
The win clinched a spot in next week’s District 3 Class 6A Tournament. They are projected to finish fifth, and open on the road against the No. 4 seed, possibly York High, which lost to top-seeded Central York 60-14 Friday. That will become official Monday.
Quarterback Brad Hoffman contributed 148 rushing yards on 25 carries as the Bulldogs effectively played keep-away from the Blue Streaks (3-2, 6-4), who could have shared the title with a win.
Township pulled even at 14-14 when Penn State recruit Anthony Ivey broke loose for a 27-yard catch-and run on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
After that it was all Bulldogs. They ran down the clock with two lengthy fourth-quarter drives and forced the Blue Streaks to go three-and-out on their only possession of the final 11 minutes.
All told, the Bulldogs rushed for 333 yards, out-gained Township 386-208 and doubled them in time of possession, 31:50 to 16:10. In the second half Wilson controlled the ball for nearly 19 of the 24 minutes.
“The feeling’s great,” Hoffman said of seeing his team end the regular season with five straight wins. “This was our first goal, winning the L-L chip. It feels even better with the way that we started, and everyone counting us out.”
There were trying times for the Bulldogs in late September. Jadyn Jones and the other seniors cleared the air and they opened Section 1 play in Week 6 confident they could turn things around.
“Once we got into league play we knew it was zero-zero, and we had to come out swinging,” Jones said, “and we’ve been rolling ever since.”
The Blue Streaks’ passing game, the best in the league, was certainly hampered by the weather conditions. Sophomore quarterback Hayden Johnson, who had completed nearly 70 percent of his passes through the first nine weeks, connected on just 5-of-10.
“The weather didn’t help them a whole lot,” Wilson coach Doug Dahms allowed.
Still, Township was even early in the fourth quarter.
A long kickoff return by junior Cam Jones swung the game in Wilson’s favor. He daringly went back to the 2 to chase down a bouncing kick that had eluded him. Once he picked it up he found a lane along the right sideline and dashed 53 yards, giving his team favorable starting field position at the 46.
“The coaches trust me that I can get it done if I decide to take it out in situations like that,” he said.
Three plays later the Bulldogs got another huge play when wide receiver Sean Dendall leaped high in the air to grab a pass that went for a 32-yard gain to the 13.
“That just changed the whole momentum of the game,” Cam Jones said. “That was an unbelievable catch.”
The Bulldogs went ahead for good five plays later on Hoffman’s 2-yard run, his second TD of the game.
Dominic Memmo’s third-down sack on Township’s ensuing possession forced a punt, and the Blue Streaks never got the ball back.
The Bulldogs got a 42-yard run from Jadyn Jones on the first play, to the 35, then ground down the final 5 1/2 minutes of the game. Hoffman took a knee once they got to the 5 inside the final minute.
“Oh my God, it’s amazing,” Cam Jones said of the turnaround after that 2-3 start. “It’s unbelievable. We had a slow start, we were doubted by a lot of people in our ability to fight the adversity. To turn this season around is just great.”
The difference, Dahms said, was getting his full team back on the field and playing to their strength once they did.
“We realize what we do, and what we do well, and just started capitalizing on that,” he said. “Instead of trying to throw 50 percent of the time, we said, ‘Hey, we’re a running team.’ That’s basically what we’ve been doing.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Manheim Township | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Wilson | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Manheim Township | Good, 12 run (O’Gorman kick) | 6:26 |
| 2 | Wilson | C. Jones, 21 pass (Rada kick)from Hoffman | 0:15 |
| 3 | Wilson | Hoffman, 10 run (Rada kick) | 2:01 |
| 4 | Manheim Township | Ivey, 27 pass from Johnson (O’Gorman kick) | 11:51 |
| 4 | Wilson | Hoffman, 2 run (Rada kick) | 8:05 |
Team statistics
| Manheim Township | Wilson | |
| First downs | 8 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards | 20-137 | 64-333 |
| Passing yards | 71 | 53 |
| Total yards | 208 | 386 |
| Passes | 5-10-0 | 2-5-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 3-2 |
| Punts-average | 3-30.3 | 0 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-33 | 6-47 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Manheim Township: Good 16-141, Jones 2-3, Johnson 2-(-7).
Wilson: J. Jones 30-177, Hoffman 25-148, C. Jones 2-23, Cooper 1-3, Lenart 2-0, Flite 1-(-2), Team 3-(-16).
PASSING
Manheim Township: Johnson 5-10-0–71.
Wilson: Hoffman 2-5-1–53.
RECEIVING
Manheim Township: Ivey 2-52, Heckman 1-12, Girgis 1-5, Maxie 1-2.
Wilson: Dendall 1-32, C. Jones 1-21.