Freshman Justice Hardy sparks Wyo in 56-7 win over Kennard Dale
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
FAWN GROVE — The last time Wyomissing took the field it dropped a heartbreaker to Neumann-Goretti in the PIAA Class 3A semifinal.
The hangover from that defeat lasted about a half against Kennard-Dale. Wyomissing came out strong in the second half and throttled the Rams 56-7 in a non-league, season-opening victory Friday night.
If you had looked at the score late in the first half it appeared the Spartans were in clear control. However, in the first half they punted twice and fumbled away the ball on their first possession.
The Rams marched down the field in a two-minute drill and scored right before the half to go into the locker room trailing 21-7.
“I wasn’t happy with our first half,” Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum said. “They were better than us in the first half even though we had the lead. We gave up that last touchdown in the two-minute drill when they hadn’t moved the ball the rest of the first half. That’s a problem.”
The good news for Wolfrum is he has an entire team of problem-solvers. It is an embarrassment of riches for the Wyomissing offense. The Spartans rolled up 525 yards — and that after a sluggish start.
Caleb Brewer, a Penn State commit, anchors the offensive line and the Rams received a taste of what teams in Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League will be forced to deal with.
Collin Niedrowski ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns, but the coaches watching film will draw their eyes to the blur in the backfield. Freshman Justice Hardy.
Hardy made his high school debut and didn’t disappoint. He opened the scoring late in the first quarter using his electric speed to get the edge for a 35-yard touchdown run.
“He’s a really good football player and you know he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes on either side of the ball,” Wolfrum said.
The play Hardy made on Wyomissing’s first offensive snap of the half is sure to be the one that opens the most eyes. He caught a nice ball from quarterback Logan Hyde, then quickly turned upfield and when it appeared a defender had an angle. He dropped an incredible stutter step in the open field that got him to the end zone.
The 75-yard reception was called back just shy of the goal line for unsportsmanlike conduct on a downfield blocker but Hardy hit paydirt for the second time just two plays later on a 20-yard run.
“It just came naturally to me in the moment,” Hardy said of the move.
Hardy finished with 82 yards rushing and 66 receiving yards to lead all players with 148 yards from scrimmage.
The Spartans’ dangerous backfield also featured Berks Catholic transfer Marvin Armistead, who gained 74 yards on four carries with a touchdown and Chase Eisenhower, who ran for 54 yards and scored.
“He’s (Hardy’s) in a good situation because he doesn’t have to be the guy who carries the ball the whole game,” Wolfrum. “We’ve got six or seven backs we use. We can pick spots for him and he’s not going to be dead tired from 40 carries.”
The defense, missing the services of injured All-State linebacker Ryker Jones, limited the Rams to 45 yards and two first downs in the second half. The first drive of the second half was closed out by a Niedrowski sack of Kennard-Dale quarterback Jessup Sharp.
Sharp had eight completions in the first half but only two in the second. Another of the problem-solvers was outside linebacker Andrew Forrey. Forrey, listed at 6-4, was a presence on many levels with quarterback pressures, batted balls and a key fumble recovery after the Rams gained their initial first down of the game.
“They ran a bunch of stuff we saw in their scrimmage,” Forrey said. “I just tried translating what we did in practice to the game.”
Wolfrum made it clear that the lapse at the end of the first half is something that shouldn’t happen.
“I told the guys at halftime that’s the kind of thing that can spark a team to a comeback,” Wolfrum said. “That touchdown late didn’t turn out to be important tonight, but that kind of thing can happen.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wyomissing | 7 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 56 |
| Kennard-Dale | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | Hardy, 35 run (Maher kick) | 1:55 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | C. Niedrowski, 1 run (Maher kick) | 7:09 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | C. Eisenhower, 10 run (Maher kick) | 2:19 |
| 2 | Kennard-Dale | Smith, 23 pass from Sharp (Logue kick) | 0:21.3 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Hardy, 20 run (Maher kick) | 7:57 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | C. Niedrowski, 10 run (Maher kick) | 5:32 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | T. Niedrowski, 8 run (Plaggenborg kick) | 2:38 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | M. Armistead, 58 run (Plaggenborg kick) | 11:29 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | Brooks-Gray, 23 run (Plaggenborg kick) | 2:02 |
Team statistics
| Wyomissing | Kennard-Dale | |
| First downs | 19 | 6 |
| Rushes-yards | 43-402 | 31-69 |
| Passing yards | 123 | 94 |
| Total yards | 525 | 163 |
| Passes | 4-6-0 | 10-17-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 4-3 |
| Punts-average | 2-32.5 | 7-33.43 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-30 | 3-21 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Wyomissing: C. Niedrowski 10-103, Hardy 5-82, M. Armistead 4-74, C. Eisenhower 7-54, Brooks-Gray 2-25, Arguelles 1-17, Diaz 3-14, Fleischood 1-14, T. Niedrowski 1-8, Forrey 1-7, Macrina 3-4, Sierra 1-2, Hyde 1-1, M. Armistead 1-(-1), Delp 1-(-1), Team 1-(-1).
Kennard-Dale: H. Klimm 7-34, T. Klimm 4-16, McShane 5-8, Z. McNamee 4-4, Warne 2-4, H. McNamee 2-4, Smith 2-1, Neff 1-1, Sharp 4-(-3).
PASSING
Wyomissing: Hyde 4-6-0–123.
Kennard-Dale: Sharp 10-16-0–94, Hoffer 0-1-0–0.
RECEIVING
Wyomissing: Hardy 1-66, Macrine 2-35, Forry 1-22.
Kennard-Dale: Smith 3-45, Green 2-15, McShane 1-15, Tarbert 1-10, H. Klimm 3-9.
