Northern Lehigh makes most of fourth down

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Northern Lehigh's Trevor Yashur dropped back in punt formation late in the second quarter of Friday night's game.

Northern Lehigh had Wilson right where it wanted it.

That's right, the Bulldogs were in prime position.

Yashur took the snap, assessed the situation and took off with the ball.

The senior tailback got by the Warriors' contain man and sprinted 21 yards to the Wilson 36.

Four plays later, on fourth down, Yashur took a lateral from quarterback Dylan Hofmann and sprinted 31 yards for the second of his three rushing touchdowns.

The Bulldogs did most of their damage on fourth down in a 55-12 Colonial League rout
of the visiting Warriors.

In addition to Yashur's fake punt, the Bulldogs (2-0) did a fake on their first possession of the game. The ball was snapped to the up back, Kirk Bender. Bender then handed off to Dalton Johnson, who ran 16 yards for a first down.

Two plays later, touchdown.

On Northern Lehigh's next series, Johnson took another double handoff from Yashur on fourth down and scampered 8 yards for a score.

Wilson (0-2) punted on its next possession. Hofmann took that punt 61 yards for a touchdown.

Yashur's fake punt led to a score, and then returned Wilson's next punt 53 yards to set up another Northern Lehigh score.

"We take our special teams seriously," Bulldogs coach Joe Tout said. "That was a big part of the win [Friday].

"Early on, the fake punt, we were making mistakes offensively. That first fake we ran, was something we've had in [our playbook]. We've run it for years. Trevor, his run was huge because he's an athletic kid back there. We told Trevor that if they bite in, take it."

Northern Lehigh made the right moves on fourth down all night.

Wilson, meanwhile, was a few plays away from staying competitive into the second half.

But hustle couldn't make up missed assignments and missed tackles.

"They catch you hanging your head, feeling sorry for yourself," Warriors coach Bret Comp said. "That was a great time to do [the fake punts]."

Northern Lehigh scored on its first three series to build a quick 21-0 lead.

Wilson responded with a 13-play, 65-yard scoring drive to get within 21-6.

But after an exchange of punts, Yashur turned what would have been a second consecutive short series into a big change in momentum.

Up 28-6, the Bulldogs tacked on another late in the second quarter after Yashur's long punt return. He scored from 9 yards out on the next play for a back-breaking score.

Northern Lehigh ran three offensive plays in the third quarter and scored three touchdowns. The first, a Bender 18-yard run, was set up by a botched snap on a fourth-down punt by Wilson.

The second was a 43-yard interception return for a score by David Getz.

The third was a 71-yard kickoff return for a TD by Darien Middaugh.

"We're going to grow from this," Comp added. "We had some kids in good position. … But they have some tough kids. If you don't hit them and wrap them, they're going to bounce off."

Kyle Schomp and Kyle Greenawald led a strong Bulldogs defense for the second week in a row.

Schomp, who switched from inside linebacker to defensive tackle in the first half to build up the pass rush, had three consecutive tackles for loss to blow up the Warriors' first series of the second half.

"That was a big thing we talked about," Tout said. "We jumped up 14-0 on Southern Lehigh, then 21-0 in the second half, but we didn't put them away. Tonight, that's what we talked about at halftime and the kids responded."

Yashur rushed for 126 yards to lead Northern Lehigh, which limited Wilson to minus-19 yards rushing.

"They lost some to graduation," Comp said of the Bulldogs. "But, man, they reloaded. That's a good football team."

thousenick@mcall.com

Twitter @TomHousenick

ORDER OF SCORING

First quarter

NL-Trevor Yashur 30 run (Kirk Bender kick), 9:43

NL-Dalton Johnson 8 run (Bender kick), 4:59

NL-Dylan Hofmann 61 punt return (Bender kick), 2:59

Second quarter

W-Trey Robinson 19 pass from Ryan Dailey (kick failed), 8:46

NL-Yashur 31 run (Bender kick), 1:53

NL-Yashur 9 run (Bender kick), 0:57

Third quarter

NL-Bender 18 run (Bender kick), 7:51

NL-David Getz 43 INT return (kick failed), 5:47

W-Angelo Perrucci 5 run (run failed), 2:17

NL-Darien Middaugh 71 kick return (Bender kick), 2:01

TEAM STATISTICS

Wil, NL

First downs, 10, 9

Att.-Yard, 20-(-19), 32-203

Passing yards, 185, 9

Comp.-Att.-INTs, 12-30-1, 2-5-0

Penalties-Yards, 3-20, 2-28

Fumbles-lost, 0-0, 2-1

Punts-Avg., 4-30.3, 1-27.0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Wilson, 00, 6, 6, 00 — 12

Northern Lehigh, 21, 14, 20, 00 — 55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Wilson: Trey Robinson 6-21; Ryan Dailey 9-(-29); Nick Smith 1-(-8); Angelo Perrucci 2-4; Travis Loebsack 1-3; Dakota Murray 1-(-10). NL: Trevor Yashur 14-126, 3 TDs; Kirk Bender 3-24, TD; Dalton Johnson 3-30, TD; Dylan Hofmann 4-9; Tyler Dibilio 3-8; Danny Marsh 2-3; Jace Umlauf 1-3; Chance DeLong 2-0.

PASSING — Wilson: Dailey 7-18-0, 114 yards, TD; Smith 5-12-1, 71 yards. NL: Hofmann 2-5-0, 9 yards.

RECEIVING — Wilson: Robinson 5-75, TD; Sam Healey 3-35; John Tavarez 2-15; Tyler Mette 2-60. NL: David Getz 2-9.

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