Wilson ends streak with win over Palisades

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Wilson's Kowan Scott left Saturday afternoon's Colonial League contest with a game ball and the Palisades players and coaches walked off Smith Field with a good feeling about themselves.

Sometimes, everybody ends up happy … to varying degrees.

Scott set two school receiving records, A.J. Parker got his first two rushing touchdowns of the season and Wilson ended a two-game losing streak with a 37-21 victory.


Palisades, meanwhile, racked up 353 yards rushing and scored more points in the first three quarters Saturday than it had in its previous five games.

The Warriors (3-3) rebounded after losses to Pen Argyl and Bangor, and sets themselves up for a big showdown with host Southern Lehigh (4-2) on Friday night. Those two teams are in the mix for a District 11 Class 3A playoff berth.

"It's a tremendous honor," Scott said of setting the school career records for TD catches (25) and receiving yardage (2,232). "But I'm glad I got it out of the way. In school, it's all I've been hearing about. I'm happy to have them, but now we focus on our team goals."

Scott broke the two records on the same play, Wilson's second play from scrimmage. He had single coverage and beat the Palisades defender for a 63-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Cooper at the 4:53 mark of the first quarter.

After Palisades scored on its first possession, Wilson scored on its first two offensive plays to take the lead for good. Cooper ran virtually untouched for a 72-yard TD run at the 8:55 mark, then threw to Scott for the second score.

"Yeah, we were supposed to have help over there on Scott," first-year Palisades coach Jim Brady, a former Wilson assistant, said. "That was a breakdown in coverage.

"We just took advantage of what the defense was giving us," Wilson coach Bret Comp said of the first two offensive plays. "[Palisades] was up tight. They blitzed and we guessed right."

Wilson led 24-6 at halftime, but Palisades scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to close within 24-21.

The Warriors responded with two scores on their final three series, runs by Parker and Trey Robinson.

"Defensively, those first two plays killed us," Brady said. "We made some adjustments and did a better job, but in the fourth quarter, the kids were dog tired."

Still it was a step forward for the Pirates (0-6), who had scored just 17 points in their first five games.

They got quarterback Josh Parris back after missing a couple of games with an injury. He led the Pirates' run game with 131 yards and a TD on 21 carries. Justin Marsh had 135 yards and two scores and freshman fullback J.D. Donnelly had 87 yards on 11 attempts.

"Our offensive line did a better job today and our backs ran hard," Brady added. "Our freshman fullback nearly had 100 yards. He's like a little truck.

"We worked on running four plays and perfecting them this week in practice. For Justin, he is one who didn't have a lot of confidence coming into this year, but he's the heart and soul of our offense most times out there."

Palisades' defense did manage to force three turnovers, but after closing within 24-21 at the 3:05 mark of the third quarter, it couldn't get a stop.

Cooper, quiet in the passing game since his first pass of the game (the TD to Scott), had two big completions on Wilson's next drive, 28 yards to Angelo Perrucci and 16 to Zach Bogoly. Parker capped the drive with a 10-yard run for a 31-21 Warriors cushion with 21 seconds left in the third.

Palisades' next two possessions ended with fumbles, and Wilson tacked on an insurance score on Robinson's 6-yard run with 1:45 left in the game.

"We wanted to get ourselves back above water after the last two games," Comp said of the losses. "We got it back to about [neck high]. We've got to keep moving forward. We're 1-0 in the second half of the season. We did a lot of good [today.]"

So, too, did Palisades.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-wilson-football-1009-20101009,0,6258063.story