Justice Hardy, Spartans, get the better of state champion Tigers

By Mike Drago Last updated Aug 27, 2024

Wyomissing's Justice Hardy runs against Southern Columbia earlier this season. (PhilMarPhoto)

2024 Berks football coverage

presented by UECU

By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor

Wyomissing’s Bob Wolfrum may not have had as many wins or state championships as the coach on the opposite sideline Saturday but he had the best player on the field and that made all the difference.

Wolfrum and his Southern Columbia counterpart, Jim Roth, were the faces of this marquee season-opening match-up of state-ranked teams but sophomore Justice Hardy was the guy who tilted the field in the Spartans’ direction.

He ran for four touchdowns to help Wyomissing build a big enough cushion to hold off Southern Columbia 35-21 at Wolfrum Field.

Hardy lined up at wide receiver much of the day. He got only a few touches out of the backfield but made them count, rushing for 119 rushing yards and scoring on runs of 11, 11, 3 and 46 yards.

“I’m a much better coach when he’s carrying the ball,” said Wolfrum, who’s won a state title, 12 district championships, and more game than any active coach in the state other than Roth.

Hardy’s final score came on a dazzling play when it appeared he was going to be stopped for a big loss on a sweep to the right side. Somehow he managed to dodge a pair of defenders in the backfield, cut inside, then back to the sideline and was gone, his TD putting the Spartans ahead by 28 points with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter.

“That was ridiculous,” Wolfrum said of Hardy’s escape-ability. “We didn’t block a soul. Three guys totally missed (their blocks) . . . then I see him take off.”

“We had him dead to rights,” Roth said. “We had him pinned in there.”

Hardy, a modest 15-year-old, never thought for a moment he was in danger. He was calmly looking past the two defenders in his face, trying to pick up blocks down field; he’s so comfortable and confident in his talent he knew he was going to get wiggle free.

“He plays at a different speed than anybody else,” Wolfrum said.

Wyomissing’s Tyler Niedrowski and Andrew Brenahan converge on punter Preston Shadle. (PhilMarPhoto)

Hardy’s final burst turned out to be more than window dressing. His last TD made it 35-7 and seemingly put the game away but the Tigers didn’t think so. Backup quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch began to find his rhythm after a slow start and his receivers started to race past Wyomissing’s defensive backs.

Hockenbroch threw scoring passes of 23 and 34 yards, the second pulling Southern within 35-21 with 2:38 remaining. When the Spartans fumbled the ball away at their own 25 a few seconds later the game was suddenly on the line again – hard to believe after seeing the Spartans race to a 28-0 lead in the first half.

“It was definitely a little nerve-wracking to see them score so many points so quickly,” said Wyomissing linebacker Chase Eisenhower.

Wolfrum said the late-August heat took a toll on his defensive backs. A bunch of second-team guys were on the field when Hockenbroch started heating up.

“Our guys were just dying as the game went on,” Wolfrum said. “We ran out of gas, ran out of guys. You have to go with who you have to go with, no excuses.”

The Spartans had enough left to put together a tremendous defensive stand with 2:29 remaining. First Keaton Piacine pulled down Joey Williams for an 8-yard loss on a first-down pass. On third-and-long Ayden Jimenez and Tyler Niedrowski stormed the pocket, forcing an incompletion. On fourth down Eisenhower came free on a blitz and sacked Hockenbroch to end the threat.

“We went after ’em,” Wolfrum said. “We brought pressure every play and got ’em.”

“We knew they were only two scores away,” Eisenhower said, “so we knew we had to play our best defense, and I think we did.”

The win was Wyomissing’s 34th straight at home, dating to 2018, and denied Roth – the winningest coach in Pennsylvania history — his 500th victory.

He’ll probably get it someday. His team’s shoddy execution with the ball in the early minutes prevented him from getting it Saturday.

Starting quarterback Anthony Marino fumbled the first two snaps he took from center, losing the first and setting the Spartans up at the Southern 22. Marino, who Roth said has had similar ball control issues in the past, was quickly pulled in favor of Hockenbroch.

Southern had even more trouble controlling the ball on punt snaps. The first punt snap was low and Wyomissing recovered at the Southern 25, setting up a TD. The third punt snap went over Preston Shadle’s head for a 35-yard loss, giving the Spartans possession at the Southern 1.

Schadle, a soccer player suited up for his first football game, bobbled another snap but recovered; he also nearly had one kick blocked.

Roth said his long-snapper had issues with a new shoulder brace he was trying for the first time; that caused the errant snaps that put his team behind the eight ball.

“The turnovers . . . they certainly contributed to us being in a hole,” he said.

Roth, who has produced 14 PIAA championship teams, was equally disappointed in his team’s inability to run the ball. Take away the 48 yards lost in punting situations and the four sacks and the Tigers rushed for just 32 yards on 15 carries. They had only one run over 5 yards.

“They hurt us with their movement and their scheme,” he said of Wyomissing’s defense, “and we worked hard (preparing for it). It’s not like we never see slanting and moving, but we did not do a good job reacting. I don’t know how many times we were sacked but probably more than we have been in a long time.”

Overall, Southern was a minus-41 yards in rushing and had just 122 total yards.

“They never did run the ball against up,” Wolfrum said.

Francisco Fabian (55) and Chase Eisenhower converge on Southern’s Jace Malkoski. (PhilMarPhoto)

	1	2	3	4	Final
Southern Columbia	0	0	14	7	21
Wyomissing	14	14	7	0	35

Scoring summary

1	Wyomissing	Hardy, 11 run (Maher kick)	8:48
1	Wyomissing	Hardy, 11 run (Maher kick)	4:22
2	Wyomissing	Niedrowski, 1 run (Maher kick)	9:23
2	Wyomissing	Hardy, 3 run (Plaggenborg kick)	0:27
3	Southern Columbia	Kissinger, 23 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick)	6:43
3	Wyomissing	Hardy, 46 run (Maher kick)	3:26
3	Southern Columbia	Andrews, 14 run (Shadle kick)	2:13
4	Southern Columbia	Wegrzynowicz, 34 pass from Hockenbroch (Shadle kick)	2:38

Team statistics

	Southern Columbia	Wyomissing
First downs	9	10
Rushes-yards	23-(-41)	48-217
Passing yards	163	21
Total yards	122	238
Passes	10-18-0	2-3-0
Fumbles-lost	5-2	3-2
Punts-average	4-24.5	4-29.2
Penalties-yards	6-30	7-56