Defenders blank Black Panthers in Tomato Bowl
Published in the Standard-Journal on Saturday, September 8, 2007
By TROY SELLERS. Reprinted with Permission
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Warrior Run defense limits Milton offense to 56 yards
MILTON — As the Tomato Bowl Trophy was walked toward the Warrior Run team, one of the biggest smiles on the Defenders' faces belonged to Ryan Bressi. The senior, and Milton transfer, could hardly contain his emotions following his new team's 43-0 victory.
"It felt great," Bressi said. "I was so happy, I couldn't even express how I felt there. The whole team just played great."
The Defenders got contributions from a lot of different people: 99 yards rushing from Quaid Richart; 179 yards passing from Bryson Brooke; and a suffocating effort from the defense.
Bressi contributed 42 yards rushing, while another Milton transfer, Scott Barrett, helped Warrior Run dominate on both the offensive and defensive lines.
"We couldn't do anything up front," said Milton first-year head coach Mike Bergey. "You can't do anything positively in the run game, it makes it difficult to throw the football."
The Defenders jumped out to an 8-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the game. Richart ran the ball on four of the seven plays, including a 14-yard run for the TD. Brooke then threw to Steve Martin for the two-point conversion.
That lead held until early in the second stanza. This time Richart hauled in a short pass and ran 32 yards to the Milton 27. Brooke then hooked up with Martin for a 24-yard gain and later sneaked it into the end zone from the one.
The Defenders took firm control just before the first half ended by scoring following their most sustained offensive drive of the young season — one that covered 80 yards on 10 plays.
Warrior Run caught a break on third-and-15 from the Milton 29 when Brooke's pass deflected off Jed Hertzler and ended up in Martin's arms for a 22-yard gain and a first down. Two plays later, Martin pulled in a 17-yard pass for the score and a 22-0 lead.
"Just a freak play (on the deflection)," Shaffer said, "but we got some momentum going into halftime."
The lead ballooned to 29-0 midway through the third. This drive was aided by punter David Brungard's 23-yard run on a bobbled snap on an attempted punt. Richart capped the drive by bursting up the middle from 19 yards out for the TD. Brungard then hit the third of his five PATs on the night.
"The line did a nice job," Shaffer said. "We were worried about their size up front. They had us outsized, which they do every year. But our offensive line did a nice job of opening some holes up. We wanted to control some clock there especially when Chad (Dixon) went down (with an injury).
"We knew they were gonna throw the ball," Bergey added. "We had a pretty good idea of what they were going to do, they just executed really well."
The offensive outburst was more than enough, considering the defensive effort this night. At the half, Warrior Run had outgained the Black Panthers 237-41. The Defenders allowed just six first downs and 55 total yards by crowding the line with anywhere from eight to 11 defenders.
"We have to, we don't have that size up front," Shaffer said. "So we're gonna have eight in the box against most formations and have eight guys to stop the run and take our chances with our guys in man-to-man (coverage)."
The loss was the second straight lopsided setback for the Black Panthers to open the season.
Warrior Run, on the other hand, looks ahead with an unblemished mark.
"First time 2-0 in a couple years, but the schedule doesn't get any easier," Shaffer said, looking ahead to next Friday's game with Bloomsburg, a team that knocked off Southern Columbia, 19-0, on Friday.
"We've got momentum going, but we've got to come out every week focused and play a good football game."
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