Spartans have ‘work cut out’ for them as they step out of their league against Fords
2024 Berks football coverage
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Bob Wolfrum admits he’s not sure what his Wyomissing football team is in for Friday afternoon when it visits The Haverford School.
The Fords alay in the Inter-Academic League, which isn’t part of the PIAA. It’s league consists of elite private schools such as Malvern Prep, Episcopal Academy, Germantown Academy, and Chestnut Hill Academy.
The school is located in Haverford, not far from Merion Golf Club and the Merion Cricket Club.
The Fords regularly draw some of the top talent in the Philadelphia area.
Haverford School has a pair of Division I linemen: 6-5, 295 pound Josh Williams, a Stanford commit, and 6-4, 300-pound Thomas Barr, a West Virginia commit. They are among 14 starters returning from a team that finished 5-5.
The Spartans have some burly linemen, too, but in Wolfrum’s estimation his team is the underdog.
“We’ve got our work more than cut out for us,” he said. “Physically they’ve got some real guys.”
The Spartans have some real guys, too. They showed that last week as they opened with a 35-21 win over seven-time defending PIAA champ Southern Columbia.
Sophomore Justice Hardy confirmed that he’s the real deal, running for four touchdowns and 119 yards.
The Spartans got excellent defensive play up front from seniors Max Tipton, who goes 6-2, 285; Keaton Piacine, who’s 6-3, 230; and Ayden Jimenez, who’s 6-2, 235. They got big plays from linebackers Chase Eisenhower, who came up with a key sack on Southern’s final possession, and Tyler Niedrowski.
Other than a few breakdowns in the secondary late in the game Wyomissing had a strong defensive performance. Southern was minus-41 yards in rushing and had just 122 total yards.
“I thought we did a great job on defense,” Wolfrum said. “We were really physical. They pretty much did nothing on the ground all day. We gave up some passes late in the game but (our) overall defense, I was really pleased with that.”
Wyomissing will have an advantage in that Haverford School played a scrimmage last week; Friday’s 2 p.m. kickoff at Haverford will be its first official game.
Many coaches believe the biggest improvement they see during the season is from Week 1 to Week 2. The opening-game nerves are gone and there’s a chance to work out the kinks from the season-opener.
The Spartans could also have an edge because of their Wing-T offense. Teams in the Berks League and now in the Lancaster-Lebanon League are familiar with the misdirection plays and angle blocking because they see it so often; many run it themselves.
Defenses that haven’t practiced or played against the Wing-T have been known to get confused and give up big plays. Defenders bite for fakes, fall for traps, and get burned on inside reverses or by unbalanced lines.
“We’re hoping that can be a big advantage for us,” Wolfrum said. “I don’t think they play any Wing-T (teams).”
The Fords defense spent much of its scrimmage time backpedaling against a pass-happy Hun School (of New Jersey) offense last week, not defending the run.
In addition to its strong linemen, Haverford’s strength on defense comes at linebacker, where it returns three starters, including all-league pick Kellen Gardner.
Like Wyomissing, Haverford will be relying on a first-year starter at quarterback, either Finn Tierney or Matt Gafney, each a senior.
Wolfrum hopes to do more in the passing game this week. Against Southern, first-time starter Teddy White, a sophomore, passed just three times. He was sacked three times. Wolfrum said there were issues with pass protection.
“Teddy didn’t have much of a chance on a couple plays,” he said.
Hardy spent much of the day lined up as a wide receiver but caught just one pass, for 2 yards. The Spartans returned no experienced receivers this season, so Hardy – one of the most explosive players in Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League – is being utilized out on the flanks. He caught a pair of touchdown passes in the preseason scrimmage against Cocalico.
“We’ve got backs who can all catch the ball,” Wolfrum said. “We had planned to get it to our backs a little more (against Southern) but we were having trouble getting rid of the ball. (We’ll do that more) whenever we get our protection set up (or) maybe (when) I call some better plays.”
