Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week: Justice Hardy

By Mike Drago Last updated Oct 15, 2024

Wyomissing's Justice Hardy. (benschafferphotography)

Justice Hardy broke off a 56-yard touchdown run around right end early in the fourth quarter Friday when Wyomissing caught Twin Valley on a blitz.

Hardy had half-a-dozen runs of 10 or more yards and looked like he could go the distance on each of them.

“When you give him the ball you always think you’ve got a shot (at scoring),” said Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum.

Hardy had a career night against the league’s top-ranked rushing defense, running for a career-high 196 yards on 16 carries with a pair of scores. He also had a pair of critical receptions on a night that saw him pile up a program-record 297 yards from scrimmage and earn Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offense Player of the Week.

Hardy had only 42 carries through the first seven weeks because the Spartans have been blowing out opponents and he spent much of the second half each week on the sidelines. Wolfrum told him early last week all of that was about to change and the sophomore halfback was ready for it.

He ran for 11 yards on his first touch and had a key carry on fourth-and-8 late in the first quarter that he took 18 yards to the 3; he scored two plays later.

“I thought we did a great job (blocking) at the point of attack and getting him to the second level,” Wolfrum said. “I’ve gotta give their kids credit: There were a lot of really nice tackles on plays where we were one guy away from going the distance, and they did make some good plays on him. He’s hard to bring down one-on-one.”

Some of Hardy’s biggest plays were in the passing game, when he lined up at wide receiver. He caught a 53-yard bomb over his left shoulder late in the third quarter to set up Tyler Niedrowski’s 1-yard run and turned a short third-and-9 pass into a 48-yard gain late in the game to set up what proved to be a clinching 31-yard field goal by Keegan Maher.

“We saw on film that their run defense was super-good compared to their pass defense,” Hardy said. “We tried attacking them when they weren’t expecting and it worked. We’re known as a run team but we can pass the ball, too.”

Hardy splits his time on offense between halfback and wide receiver. He plays cornerback on defense and returns punts and kickoffs.

“He’s an all-around player,” Wolfrum said. “This summer in 7-on-7’s, any time there was a contested ball he came down with it. He’s a heckuva athlete. He can run, jump, all of that stuff.”

Hardy is averaging 10.4 yards per carry with 10 rushing TDs and a team-high 14 TDs overall.

“He’s explosive and he seems to have instincts,” said Twin Valley coach Brett Myers, “and more importantly I like the way he plays hard.”

This is Hardy’s second Player of the Week selection this season. He was selected Defensive Player of the Week following a Week 5 win over Elco.

Players considered for Player of the Week honors are nominated by their coaches or by members of the MikeDragoSports.com coverage team.

This is Zandier’s second selection this season, and fourth overall.

This is the fourth consecutive season that Wyomissing Physical Therapy has sponsored the Offensive Player of the Week award. At the end of the season an Offensive Player of the Year will be selected.