Wyomissing ‘D’ sure to be tested by Scranton Prep star back
Some may be surprised to see Wyomissing unbeaten and back in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals a year after graduating six All-State and 13 all-league picks from a team that reached the state championship game.
Bob Wolfrum isn’t one of them.
He saw the talent last year late in games when backs such as Tommy Grabowski and Andrew Eisenhower and lineman Jven Williams got chances during the Spartans’ string of blowouts.
He saw how the current seniors and juniors soaked up valuable game knowledge as understudies and how hard they worked in the offseason to prepare for their chance in the spotlight. When they took apart state-ranked Pottsville in Week 2 he knew they were ready for prime time.
“Right from the get-go these kids have done a great job,” Wolfrum said. “They’ve really worked hard on the mental part of the game, as well as the physical part. It’s just been a really satisfying year.”
To extend it they’ll have to get past unbeaten Scranton Prep and top-shelf running back London Montgomery in a PIAA quarterfinal Saturday at 2 at Mifflin Stadium.
The Cavaliers (11-0) didn’t allow a point in their two District 2 playoff games. They’re ranked No. 3 in the state, one spot behind the Spartans (13-0).
“They’re very talented,” Wolfrum said earlier this week on the Mike Drago Sports Podcast. “Any time you hear ‘Prep’ behind the school you know they have players — they’re not stuck within the confines of the school district boundary. Some of them look like they’re Division 1 (college prospects). They’re large, and they’ve got some speed. They’re gonna be a handful.”
The Spartans’ top-ranked defense will be challenged to stop Montgomery, a 5-11, 190-pound junior who has rushed for over 2,300 yards and is drawing Division I offers, most recently from Arizona State. He ran for 353 yards in a 41-8 win over Lake Lehman in Week 9 and has scored 36 TDs. He’s basically the Cavaliers’ offense.
“He’s a very patient runner,” Wolfrum said. “He’s running a zone play, starts in one direction and sees something on the back side and he’s there, and gone. He has great vision, he has patience and when he decides to go he really accelerates quickly.”
Montgomery recorded a 10.99 in the 100 meters as a sophomore (just a tad slower than Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton, who ran a 10.89 last spring).
“Each year he’s gotten better,” Prep coach Terry Gallagher told the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader. “The difference this year is he’s significantly more explosive and he’s obviously a lot bigger. I think track helped him a lot, but a lot of it goes to his work in weight room.
“In years past, because he was a little bit leaner, guys would be able to bring him down, one or two guys. This year it seems like guys are (bouncing) off him.”
The Spartans are ranked No. 1 in Berks in total defense, rushing defense and scoring defense.
Their biggest challenge to date came against Southern Columbia, the top-ranked Class 2A team in the state. They beat the Tigers, who were playing without their starting quarterback, 41-21. Southern All-State running back Gavin Garcia, likely the best back Wyomissing has faced this season, rushed for 115 yards on 16 carries — 61 of it on a touchdown run.
Scranton Prep returned 16 starters from a team that finished 4-1 in a truncated 2020 season.
Montgomery works behind a big offensive line that averages about 256 pounds per man.
The Cavaliers didn’t face a team with a winning record until Week 10, when they beat undefeated Valley View 17-10. The Cougars, who had scored 34 points in every game to that point, have bounced back with three straight playoff wins and are in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals Friday against Bishop Shanahan.
Prep has won four District 2 championships in head coach Terry Gallagher’s six seasons; they are 62-9 in that span. They saw their 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons ended by Middletown, the same team that stoppped Wyomissing in districts those three seasons.
The Spartans breezed through the early rounds of the state playoffs last season, beating District 2 champ Lakeland 47-0 and District 4 champ Danville 44-14 before reaching the championship game. Wolfrum is expecting a much tougher challenge from Prep.
“We expect to be really tested,” he said, “and that’s what you want at this point in the year.”