Tommy Hunsicker, Cam Jones help Bulldogs carve up Falcons
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Cam Jones is a known commodity for Wilson.
He affects games running the ball, catching the ball, on defense and special teams.
Junior quarterback Tommy Hunsicker is not quite the Swiss Army knife that Jones is, but he continues to show that he is a weapon.
Hunsicker threw for three touchdowns, rushed for 81 yards and even caught his own pass for an 11-yard first down as the Bulldogs soundly defeated Cedar Crest 36-13 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 win Friday night at West Lawn.
Jones was his normal game-changing self. He led the Bulldogs (2-0, 4-1) in rushing with 113 yards on only eight carries and receiving with 54 yards on three receptions. He had three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).
Even though he didn’t have any punt returns his presence back there may have affected the Falcons (0-2, 2-3). Cedar Crest decided to forgo a punt on its opening two drives. They went for it on fourth-and-8 twice and failed, handing the Bulldogs a short field.
“I think two things played in there, one was a 15-20 mile an hour wind in their face and two they didn’t want to put the ball in Cam’s hands,” Wilson coach Doug Dahms said.
The Cedar Crest decision was surprising considering the plays took place without its senior quarterback Jay Huber. Huber was injured on the seventh play of the game and backup Jackson Custer was forced into action.
The short fields from the failed attempts resulted in two Jones touchdown runs, 5 and 27 yards respectively, and a two-point conversion for a 15-0 Wilson lead. Hunsicker demonstrated his ability on those drives to make plays on the ground with some chain-moving rushes.
“(Hunsicker) made some good decisions tonight,” Dahms said. “He ran the ball a couple of times when things were covered. He still made a couple of mistakes but that’s pretty normal for a young quarterback. He’s getting there.”
Hunsicker was most impressive in the second half. The Bulldogs felt like they were always in control, but only walked into halftime with a 15-7 lead.
Wilson started the half with the ball and Hunsicker ran for 11 yards on the first play. He then was very aware and caught a tipped pass from himself for another 11 yards. He followed it with his best throw of the night, a 35-yard touchdown to Edison Case on a post pattern. Case made a tremendous catch while fully extended and crashed into the turf in the end zone for a 22-7 lead.
“Me and (Edison Case) have been friends for a long time,” Hunsicker said. “I’ve always thrown to him and I’ve always imagined that exact play, kind of. I knew he could make a play and make great catches like that one.”
Hunsicker again improvised for a long on the next drive and then he threw a nice ball on a crossing route to Jones. Jones was wrapped up by a Falcons’ defender but never went to the ground and added to his highlight reel with an incredible 48-yard touchdown reception to extend the lead to 29-7.
“I feel like I have good balance and if you don’t tackle me to the floor and you try to spin me around that’s in my favor,” Jones said.
Hunsicker mentioned that he gained some confidence during the week of preparation. The team had identified some holes they thought they could attack and it added a level of comfort for the junior in his first year as a starting quarterback.
“It feels good that we were able to execute in the game,” Hunsicker said. “Going forward I know what I can do and we know what we can do as a team.”
Dahms was very pleased with the progress of his offensive line, but specifically mentioned deficiencies by the defense in the red zone. Cedar Crest gained some momentum late in the first half with a drive of six straight runs up the middle that ended with a Fernando Marquez 1-yard touchdown.
“We were penetrating, but we weren’t playing football,” Dahms said. “We were going upfield too hard and not under control. That’s something we’ve got to get better at. We’ve said all year long we have to get better on the D-line. (Be) more aware of what’s going on based on blocking and things like that. We weren’t tackling well, so practice next week will be interesting.”
The defense allowed 77 rushing yards in the first half but bounced back to hold the Falcons to 2 yards on 13 carries in the second half.
The Falcons decided to put Huber back in the game to start the second half but his passes had no zip on them and the offense no longer designed rollouts for the accurate pivot. He left the game again after his leg buckled on a third down pass.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Crest Crest | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Wilson | 8 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 36 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wilson | Jones, 5 run (Jones run) | 5:39 |
| 2 | Wilson | Jones, 27 run (Rada kick) | 10:28 |
| 2 | Cedar Crest | Marquez, 1 run (Glover kick) | 3:09 |
| 3 | Wilson | Case, 35 pass from Hunsicker (Rada kick) | 10:50 |
| 3 | Wilson | Jones, 48 pass from Hunsicker (Rada kick) | 6:57 |
| 3 | Cedar Crest | Abreu, 3 run (Kick failed) | 1:59 |
| 4 | Wilson | Kline, 5 pass from Hunsicker (Rada kick) | 6:35 |
Team statistics
| Cedar Crest | Wilson | |
| First downs | 14 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 30-79 | 30-267 |
| Passing yards | 98 | 128 |
| Total yards | 177 | 395 |
| Passes | 11-26-0 | 9-13-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-36.33 | 3-28.66 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-30 | 7-70 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Cedar Crest: Gonzales 10-52, Marquez 17-23, Abreu 2-5, Team 1-(-1).
Wilson: Jones 8-113, Hunsicker 10-88, Fiorini 8-44, Cooper 2-22, Woods 1-4, Thenga 1-3.
PASSING
Cedar Crest: Custer 7-18-0-70, Huber 4-8-0-28.
Wilson: Hunsicker 8-12-0-127, Woods 1-1-0-1.
RECEIVING
Cedar Crest: Heisey 4-27, Groff 3-38, Schomp 2-21, Chernich 1-10, Gonzalez 1-2.
Wilson: Jones 3-54, Case 1-35, Cooper 1-20, Hunsicker 1-11, Kline 1-5, Fiorini 1-2, Thenga 1-1.
