NTL FOOTBALL: SAYRE JUMPS OUT TO BIG LEAD EARLY; THUMPS WYALUSING, 41-20 (24 PHOTOS) (2019-09-20)
Valley Sports ReportWYALUSING "” Sayre raced out to a 27-0 lead early in the second quarter, and cruise to a 41-20 win over Wyalusing here Friday night in NTL football action at Peterson Field.
"We came out pretty hot offensively and defensively. We've been searching for that spark at the beginning of the game," said Sayre coach Kevin Gorman.
"I don't really know why," he added. "We always talk about what we want to do to start games, and this was a game where we came out and did everything we talked about."
Senior Isaiah Firestine scored on a 3-yard run just 2 minutes into the game to give the Redskins a 6-0 lead.
Wyalusing's ensuing possession ended in three plays, and Sayre's Donovan Wynn blocked the punt and recovered the ball at the Ram 3.
Firestine scored on another 3-yard TD run, and sophomore QB Brayden Horton added the conversion run to make it 14-0 with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Sayre's next possession also found paydirt, with senior Pat Casterline bulling in from 2 yards out. Sophomore Nic Bentley's PAT kick made it 21-0 with 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
On the second play of the second quarter, senior Corbin Brown intercepted a Mitchell Burke pass to give the Redskins the ball at their own 42.
On the next play, Horton found Miller over the middle. He cut toward the sideline and raced 58 yards for the score to make it 27-0 with 11:11 left in the first half.
"Ethan (Miller) made an unbelievable catch, broke about four tackles, and stiff-armed a kid to the ground," said Gorman.
After Sayre's quick start, things deteriorated.
"After a good start, we played in spurts," said Gorman. "It wasn't a complete 48 minutes for us.
"We made a lot of dumb mistakes," he noted. "Overall it was a good game, but other than the start of the first and the start of the third quarter, there was a lot of sloppy football going on."
The Redskins were penalized 11 times for 100 yards in the game, while the Rams were flagged 12 times for 105 yards.
"It was bad," said Gorman. "Our guys need to be smarter, and let things roll off their backs, especially when you're up by a couple of scores. You have to be above it.
"It was a lot of sloppy football on our part," he added. "None of the coaches enjoyed that, so we'll definitely be talking about that on Tuesday."
Wyalusing got on the board late in the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from Burke to Kashawn Cameron, but the Redskins took a 27-6 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Redskins scored on a 7-yard TD pass from Horton to Brown in the opening moments of the second half, and Bentley's PAT kick made it 34-6.
Cameron hauled in a 59-yard scoring strike from Burke about 5 1/2 minutes later, and Burke ran in the conversion to trim the deficit to 34-14.
However, Sayre put together another scoring drive, and Firestine did the honors with his third TD of the game, a 2-yard run with 6:37 left in the game to make it 41-14.
Burke connected with Shane Fuhrey on a 2-yard TD pass with 3:18 remaining to provide the final margin.
Burke finished the game completing 16 of 33 passes for 189 yards and three TDs, but most of the damage came after the game had been decided. Cameron caught six passes for 96 yards and two TDs, and Fuhrey had six catches for 41 yards and one TD.
"Our game plan was to always know where Shane Fuhrey and Kashawn Cameron were," said Gorman.
"After watching films, I thought the way we switch up coverages would give (Wyalusing QB Mitchell Burke) some different looks that he hadn't seen.
"It worked out really well," added Gorman. "The only big bust in coverage was the long TD we gave up in the third quarter. Other than that, we stuck to our game plan and played real well."
For Sayre, Brayden Horton completed 13 of 25 passes for 252 yards and two TDs, while being picked off twice. Brown led Sayre's receivers with six catches for 119 yards and one TD, while Miller had two catches for 65 yards and one TD, Watkins had three grabs for 37 yards, and freshman Lucas Horton had two receptions for 31 yards.
Firestine ran the ball for 92 yards and three TDs, and Casterline added 22 yards and one YD on seven carries.
"We had a good mix on offense," said Gorman.
"Early, we took advantage of their man coverage with Corbin (Brown), Zach (Watkins), Ethan (Miller), and Luke (Horton), and Isaiah (Firestine) was doing a real nice job of finding running lanes," noted Gorman. "He ran hard like he always does.
"At the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, we went to our Jumbo package, and our line did a nice job with it.
"When we were clicking, it was definitely exciting," added Gorman. "When we weren't, it was pretty poor."
Sayre, now 4-1, travels to CMVT next Saturday.
"”"”"”"”"”"”
IN PHOTO 1: Sayre's Corbin Brown hauls in a TD pass. ... PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVID ALLIGER "” TRAVELING PORTRAITS PHOTOGRAPHY.
