Spartans defense leaves Cocalico with limited options in L-L Section 4 rout
It was Homecoming and Hall of Fame day and Penn State coach James Franklin and his prize pupil — freshman running back Nick Singleton from Gov. Mifflin — were on the Wyomissing sideline Saturday afternoon.
None of it interested Bob Wolfrum as much as what was going on between his nose guard, Caleb Brewer, and Cocalico’s center.
The Eagles have run the option for years, an offense that can be a devil of a thing to tame. Wolfrum, the long-time Spartans football coach, spent the past six days worried how his defense would handle it.
When Jven Williams, the big Penn State offensive tackle commit, pierced through the line on the opening play of the game and took Cocalico’s ballcarrier down with a thud, Wolfrum was pleased.
“One thing we’ve been talking about all week was getting the dive man,” Williams said, “no matter if we see the QB keep it, tackle that dive man. Once I saw that dive man, I took care of him.”
When Cocalico tried a dive up the middle on the next snap the ball popped into the air and Wolfrum knew the Spartans were in good shape.
“My son (Andy, who coaches at Army) said to me, ‘If your nose man beats their center, you win the game,” Wolfrum related after yet another Wyomissing mercy rule victory, this one by 38-7.
“I don’t know that (Caleb) actually made contact (on the fumble), but when they see (a guy as big as) him getting into the A-gap, there’s some natural reaction to . .. save yourself,” he said. “I’ve gotta think that Caleb had something to do with those fumbles.”
The Eagles (2-2, 3-4) fumbled the ball away on each of their first three possessions, and the romp was on.
“It really set the tone and let them know how we were going to perform today,” said Williams.
The Spartans (4-0, 7-0) toyed with their Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 opponent the way a cat does with a mouse once he’s got his paws on it. They did pretty much whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.
Wyomissing fullback Matt Kramer took advantage of the early short fields to run for three first-quarter touchdowns.
Ben Zechman, who rarely gets a chance to loosen up his right arm, aired it out in the second quarter, throwing a pair of touchdowns, including a beauty on a 29-yard post to Ethan Brower that made it 35-0 a few minutes before halftime.
The Spartans drove the field with the opening possession of the second half. When faced with a fourth-and-goal from the 1 — a chip shot for this high-powered offense — Wolfrum sent out his kicker.
Ian Levering has barely gotten a chance to do more than try PATs this season because the Spartans offense is rarely stopped (they haven punted seven times in seven games). Wolfrum wanted him to have a chance to try a field goal in an in-game situation, something his team might need a month or two down the line, during the playoffs.
Levering proceeded to kick the shortest field goal in program history.
“They are quite a juggernaut,” said Cocalico coach Bryan Strohl, dutifully impressed at the top-ranked Class 3A team in the state.
He figured his offense would have trouble moving against a team featuring the likes of the 6-5, 295-pound Williams, the 6-5, 285-pound Brewer and 6-4, 275-pound Pacen Ziegler.
He was right. Cocalico managed two first downs and 14 total yards in the first half.
“I wouldn’t think that’s what a typical 3A team looks like,” Strohl said. “They are physically dominating. Size or not, they obviously are strong and they’ve got a bunch of backs who block, and run well. It’s across the board. They’re an incredible team.”
Through six weeks Cocalico ranked second among the 37 teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in rushing yards. Only Wyomissing had more.
Saturday the Eagles ran 15 times in the first half and netted 30 yards. Throw in three sacks and they were at plus-12 .
Four of those 15 runs ended up as losses; three ended up as turnovers. No wonder Wolfrum gave his defense — which has allowed fewer yards or points than any team in the league — high marks.
“They really only broke a handful of plays,” Wolfrum said. “I know they didn’t have much today. To shut down an option team, the pedigree that they are, and for how long they’ve been doing it, that’s pretty good.
“I watched them against Manheim (Central, a 35-19 loss) and L-S (a 23-14 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg) and they moved the ball very against both of them.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cocalico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Wyomissing | 21 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 38 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 1 run (Levering kick) | 10:09 |
| 1 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 14 run (Levering kick) | 4:490 |
| 1 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 13 run (Levering kick) | 3:07 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Brower, 29 pass from Zechman (Levering kick) | 11:54 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | W. Delp, 11 pass from Zechman (Levering kick) | 3:46 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Levering, 18 FG | 4:57 |
| 4 | Cocalico | Steffey, 3 run (Popolis kick) | 11:54 |
Team statistics
| Cocalico | Wyomissing | |
| First downs | 8 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 35-121 | 43-160 |
| Passing yards | 2 | 136 |
| Total yards | 123 | 296 |
| Passes | 1-2-0 | 8-10-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 4-4 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 1-32.0 | 1-37.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 1-5 | 5-40 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Cocalico: Steffey 14-66, Horning 8-41, Longenecker 6-17, Kohl 2-12, Angstadt 1-5, Glass 1-(-2), Myer 3-(-18).
Wyomissing: Kramer 11-76, McIntyre 6-23, Jones 4-19, A. Delp 1-18, Niedrowski 7-17, C. Eisenhower 1-8, Macrina 4-6, D. Eisenhower 5-3, Zechman 1-(-1), W. Delp 2-(-4), Diaz 1-(-5).
PASSING
Cocalico: Nash 1-2-0–2.
Wyomissing: Zechman 8-10-0–136.
RECEIVING
Cocalico: Glass 1-2.
Wyomissing: Kramer 2-19, Brower 1-29, Brewer 1-26, McIntyre 1-26, Jones 1-15, W. Delp 1-11, D. Eisenhower 1-10.
