Madyx Gruber, Bulldogs pick off Plymouth-Whitemarsh

By Sam Cavalieri Last updated Sep 2, 2024

Wilson's Madyx Gruber heads down sideline with interception. (Joe Mays photo)

2024 Berks football coverage

presented by UECU

By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

The Wilson offense is still a work in progress. Quarterback Madyx Gruber knows it and coach Doug Dahms knows it.

It hasn’t slowed down the Bulldogs because their defense has been up to the task. The defense, led by EJ Brownback, Christo Hunsicker, and Gruber, who also starts at cornerback, set the tone in a 21-7 non-league victory over Plymouth-Whitemarsh Friday night at John Gurski Stadium.

The Bulldogs (2-0) limited the Colonials (1-1) to 93 yards on 30 carries just one week after holding Cheltenham to 15 yards on 18 attempts. The defense kept Wilson in the game while its offense sputtered. Brownback, a sophomore linebacker, finished with 10.5 tackles including 4.5 tackles for loss; Hunsicker was credited with eight tackles.

“I think defensively we got after it,” Dahms said. “We are still inexperienced and every game we get more experience.”

Wilson had only one first down on its first four possessions but Gruber made big plays on the final Wilson possession of the first half.

His 10-yard scramble on third down allowed Wilson to convert on fourth-and-short. Then on fourth-and-7 the Bulldogs reached deep into their playbook with a halfback pass from Correll Akings that allowed Gruber, a converted wide receiver, to flash his skills with a 7-yard reception for first down.

Two plays later he found Jaiden Carpenter for a 13-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left in the half.

Bulldogs’ Correll Akings tries to pull away from defender. (Joe Mays photo)

“Always a good feeling to catch the ball, especially at quarterback,” Gruber said. “It feels so much cooler, I don’t know why. It got me going.”

It wasn’t even his biggest catch of the game; that would be his 67-yard interception return for touchdown. The defensive line put pressure on Plymouth-Whitemarsh quarterback Caiden Leszczynski all night and late in the third quarter he forced a pass that Gruber returned for a 21-0 lead that essentially put the game away late in the third quarter.

“We had him (Leszczynski) running all night and he did a pretty good job but we really didn’t blitz much,” Dahms said. “That was mostly just our down linemen. That was a good sign.”

The Colonials ran for 410 yards last week against Upper Merion and have a veteran offensive line with legitimate size but their offense never could get in sync. Wilson appeared to be the more physical team despite being smaller.

Gruber said this team knows it isn’t the biggest and neither is Gruber, but they have fight. Brownback described it another way.

“Our goal is just to punish people,” Brownback said. “Our D-line, they were doing great. For as big as (their) O-line was, (the defensive line) was getting so much penetration, making the linebacker’s job really easy tonight, which was a huge blessing.”

Wilson started 0-2 last season so this 2-0 start is important to a team that Dahms stressed is inexperienced.

“We just got to keep winning, and if we keep winning we will get more experience,” Dahms said. “As we get more experience, we will be ready for anything they can throw at us.”

	1	2	3	4	Final
Plymouth-Whitemarsh	0	0	0	7	7
Wilson	0	7	14	0	21

Scoring summary

2	Wilson	Carpenter, 13 pass from Gruber (Hunsicker kick)	0:23
3	Wilson	Akings, 1 run (Hunsicker kick)	4:19
3	Wilson	Gruber, 67 interception return (Hunsicker kick)	0:22
4	Plymouth-Whitemarsh	C. Smith, 36 pass from Leszczynski (Peterson kick)	4:42

Team statistics

	PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH	WILSON
First downs	14	10
Rushes-yards	30-93	39-133
Passing yards	124	47
Total yards	217	180
Passes	14-28-1	7-13-0
Fumbles-lost	0-0	1-0
Punts-average	3-23.7	4-25.3
Penalties-yards	4-35	7-45