Spartans’ freshman Justice Hardy comes up big in ‘slobberknocker’ against Pioneers

By Matt Gaffney Last updated Nov 1, 2023

Wyomissing's Ryker Jones converges on Lampeter's Jon Mellinger. (Tim Macrina photo)

2023 Berks football coverage presented by

Utilities Employees Credit Union

By Matt Gaffney— MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Iron sharpens iron. Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum firmly believes that.

A matchup like the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 finale Friday night against Lampeter-Strasburg is one of the main reasons the Spartans coach was all for seeing Wyomissing and the rest of the Berks Football League members moving to the L-L.

“Win or lose, the intensity that we played with tonight — that was just a slobberknocker,” Wolfrum said. “They’re a good football team, a good football program. Their kids play hard. Our kids play hard. That’s the best we’ve played all year and the most intense we’ve been.”

Wolfrum was very pleased with the outcome as his Spartans (6-1, 9-1) prevailed 18-13 in a hard-hitting, defensive contest that was impacted by turnovers and field position.

With the win, and Steel High’s win previously unbeaten West Perry, the Spartans head into the district playoffs as the top seed in Class 3A for the fourth time in five years. Once again, they will have a chance to win a championship at Bob Wolfrum Field.

“It’s nice to win tonight,” Wolfrum said. “It’s nice to be first. It’s nice to get a bye week, though I have mixed emotions about that. But we won and the bye comes along with it, so I’ll take it.”

In a game that had the intensity and feel of a playoff game, it was freshman Justice Hardy who made the biggest impact on both sides of the ball. Field position was crucial and points and yards were often hard to come by.

Hardy ran for a game-high 75 yards and had two interceptions, including a fourth-quarter Pick Six that provided the Spartans with their final margin of victory.

Spartans’ Ethan Brower goes up for the ball against Pioneers. (Tim Macrina photo)

Hardy played a complete game and looks ready to take it to the next level as the intensity and stakes rise in the playoffs. Despite the spotlight shining brighter as the calendar turns to November he is unfazed by the prospect of playing on the bigger stage because he knows he is surrounded by a talented cast.

“We have so much talent on the team and we have a great running back rotation,” said Hardy. “The older players are the best teammates and best friends. They’re family and they help so much with everything.”

The Pioneers (5-2, 8-2) gave the Spartans the type of game they will be seeing more of in the coming weeks. It was a battle from the start as the two state-ranked teams looked to solidify their playoff positioning.

Both teams spent the first quarter getting a feel for the other’s swarming defense.

Wyomissing was able to strike first on a Derek Macrina 3-yard run in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead. Macrina’s touchdown was set up by a fumble the Spartans recovered at the Pioneers 27-yard line. It took just five plays from there to get Macrina into the end zone.

The score remained 6-0 until midway through the third quarter when Wyomissing’s Marvin Armistead recovered another fumble on a muffed punt return to put the Spartans in business at the Pioneers 21-yard line. Five plays later Chase Eisenhower punched it in from a yard out to give Wyomissing a 12-0 advantage.

Trailing by two touchdowns, Lampeter-Strasburg took to the air as it attempted to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. Facing a second-and-3 from their own 42, the Pioneers’ Trent Wagner threw a pass along the sideline that Hardy picked off. The track star ran it back 45 yards for the score and a commanding 18-0 lead.

The play was not a surprise to Hardy or the Spartans.

“We saw that play earlier in the game and when the wide receiver broke, I just jumped it,” Hardy said.

The Pioneers are a tough, spirited bunch who were looking to overcome the large deficit. Wagner led them on a 12-play, 77-yard drive, capped off by his 13-yard touchdown pass to running back Jon Mellinger to make it 18-6.

After a Hardy fumble on the ensuing possession, Lampeter-Strasburg put together a nine-play drive that ended with another Mellinger score, this time a 6-yard run to make it a five-point game with 1:13 remaining.

The Pioneers surprisingly didn’t attempt an onside kick after the touchdown, so the Spartans were able to run the clock out with a couple of kneel downs.

The fumble was Hardy’s only misstep of the night; despite it, Wolfrum’s confidence in the youngster is growing.

“He’s got loads of natural talent,” said Wolfrum. “For any freshman, it takes a while to learn our system. We do a lot of different stuff and what we do can be complicated. It’s hard for a freshman but I’m looking forward to having him around for the next three years.”

Sparans’ Caleb Brewers tries to pull down Jon Mellinger. (Tim Macrina photo)

Spartans’ Chase Eisenhower. (Tim Macrina photo)

	1	2	3	4	Final
Wyomissing	0	6	6	6	18
Lampeter-Strasburg	0	0	0	13	13

Scoring summary

2	Wyomissing	Macrina, 3 run (kick failed)	7:46
3	Wyomissing	Eisenhower, 1 run (pass failed)	4:11
4	Wyomissing	Hardy, 45 interception return (pass failed)	8:50
4	Lampeter-Strasburg	Mellinger, 13 pass from Wagner (pass failed)	5:08
4	Lampeter-Strasburg	Mellinger, 6 run (Fiorello kick)	1:13

Team statistics

	Wyomissing	Lampeter-Strasburg
First downs	12	13
Rushes-yards	46-209	22-73
Passing yards	10	156
Total yards	219	229
Passes	2-4-0	21-31-2
Fumbles-lost	1-1	2-2
Punts-average	4-37.8	2-40.5
Penalties-yards	8-75	9-55