The Wilson defense will be put to a huge test Friday night when it visits York to open the District 3 Class 6A football playoffs.
Junior running back Jahiem White leads a high-powered Bearcats offense that has scored 50 or more points in five games this season, including a 70-point outburst against South Western on Oct. 15.
“That tailback is really good,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms. “He’s the real deal. That’s a big part of their offense. If we can keep him in check we’ll be OK.”
But few teams have been able to accomplish that. Fourth-seeded York opened the season with 55-6 loss to Gov. Mifflin and finished the regular season with a 60-14 loss to Central York. In between, the Bearcats (7-2) reeled off seven straight wins, averaging 55 points per game.
The Wilson-York game is one of six District 3 playoff games Friday at 7 p.m. involving Berks teams. Wyomissing will play at home Saturday against Northern Lebanon while Gov. Mifflin and Berks Catholic have first-round byes and will have home games on Friday, Nov. 12.
Also on Friday night, Fleetwood will host Boyertown in the Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship game while Schuylkill Valley travels to Nanticoke for the EC Class 3A title game.
Using a running game featuring tailback Jadyn Jones and quarterback Brad Hoffman, fifth-seeded Wilson (7-3) finished its season on a five-winning streak to capture the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 title.
Jones has rushed for 948 yards in eight games and Hoffman has run for 693 yards in nine games. Both are averaging more than 6 yards per carry.
“We’re not changing now,” Dahms said. “We’ll throw enough to keep them honest and pound the rock.”
Relying on the running game also could be a boost for the defense if the Bulldogs are able to control the clock. Against Manheim Township, Wilson used its running game to take the last six minutes off the clock to prevent the Blue Streaks from getting one last shot in the Bulldogs’ 21-14, title-clinching victory.
“That would be big if we can keep the ball away from them,” Dahms said. “They can find ways to score.”
The main way is for White to run the football behind what Dahms said is a big, physical offensive line. Dahms said White is a shifty runner who is hard to bring down.
White is closing in on 2,000 yards rushing for the season and has scored 26 touchdowns.
That will put pressure on a Wilson defense of seniors Jon Ramsey, Eli Rodriguez and company.
“We’ve been playing fast defensively,” Dahms said. “The kids are flying around. They’ve gained a lot of confidence. Nobody has a lot of tackles because we spread it out quite a bit.
“It’s been really a great team effort on defense all across the board. We’re going to have to tackle very well.”
In Class 5A first-round games, No. 7 Exeter (6-3) will be at home against No. 10 South Western (6-4), No. 12 Daniel Boone (5-3) will travel to No. 5 Waynesboro (8-2), and No. 13 Twin Valley (6-4) will play at No. 4 Spring Grove (8-1).
The Exeter offense, led by quarterback Colin Payne, receiver Joey Schlaffer and running back Eric Nangle, will try to take advantage of a South Western defense that surrendered 70 points to York and 60 to Central York.
Daniel Boone returns to the field after being idle the last two weeks because of COVID-19 protocols. The Blazers are led by A.J. Hofer with 773 yards rushing and Alex Vassallo with 44 catches for 518 yards.
Twin Valley will make its debut in the District 3 playoffs riding the senior tandem of Trey Freeman and Dom Caruso. Freeman has 1,070 receiving yards this season and Caruso has rushed for 851 yards.
In Class 4A, No. 7 Conrad Weiser (7-3) will host No. 10 Big Spring (7-3). The Scouts are led by quarterback Logan Klitsch, who has passed for 20 touchdowns and rushed for 19, and wide receiver Aanjay Feliciano, who has 1,076 receiving yards and has scored 13 touchdowns.
In Class 3A, No. 3 Hamburg (6-3) will host No. 6 Bermudian Springs (5-5). Diohnny Ruiz leads Hamburg with 1,098 yards rushing and 17 receptions for 277 yards. He has scored 18 touchdowns.
On Saturday at 1 p.m., No. 1 Wyomissing (10-0) will begin its quest for a third straight Class 3A title when it hosts No. 8 Northern Lebanon (4-6).
Tommy Grabowski (16 TDs, 766 yards), Andrew Eisenhower (13 TDs, 563 yards) and Amory Thompson (11 TDs, 557 yards) all are averaging over 7 yards per carry for the Spartans.
Source: Berkshire mont
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