| By Travis Hubbard WAYNE -- The Wayne Pioneers tallied season lows in almost every statistical category on Saturday and ultimately suffered the utmost low -- the end of its season and its first loss of the 2006 football season in Saturday's Class AA semifinal game. The Weir Red Riders (12-1) -- who were mere minutes away from a berth in last year's Super Six with a 14-0 lead and possession of the ball in last year's semifinal against Bluefield before a monumental collapse -- got vindication at the expense of the Pioneers (12-1) and will get a rematch with the Beavers (8-4) on Saturday at Wheeling Island Stadium in the Class AA title game. Bluefield beat James Monroe, 24-14, in the other semifinal.
But Wayne won't get revenge against the Beavers, who won last year's AA championship in a "I'm not sure they did anything different, I'm sure they just did it a little bit harder and a little bit better in the second half," said Wayne coach Tommy Harmon. "Speed kills, and they were able to make big plays when they had to. A lot of times it was just a matter of running harder or outrunning us. When you play a team with superior speed, if you can't push them off the ball you are going to be in trouble, and that's what happened in the second half." Wayne took the 7-6 first-half lead in the closing seconds on a 2-yard run by Bub Hill that answered a 6-yard run by Weir's Josh Smith. But the Red Riders dominated the second half on both sides of the ball. They rushed for a total of 324 yards, all but 150 in the second half. Wayne finished with 241 total yards and 150 rushing yards, but only had 71 passing yards and negative-5 yards rushing in the second half. "We've been wearing people down all year and nobody has outscored us in the second half all season," said Weir coach Eric Meek. "I told Coach Harmon before the game today that it was a shame one of these teams had to go home today. I'm sure Wayne will be back and have their day later. "Really, we didn't do too much with the schemes (at halftime). ... We just continued to stack the line of scrimmage and attack the ball. When we get rolling we're pretty good on both sides of the ball. Weir regained the lead on its second drive of the second half on a 14-yard scoring pass from Brandon Sperlazza to Smith. Wayne went three and out on its first three drives of the second half for a total of negative-7 yards. Sperlazza added a 1-yard TD run with 3:23 left to play that gave the Red Riders a 22-7 lead. It was a drastic contrast from last year's semifinal result when the Red Riders threw an interception in the final minutes that was returned for a TD by Bluefield. Bluefield tied the game on a second touchdown after an onsides kick and won in overtime. But this year the Red Riders finished off their opponent. "We've been a second-half team all year and come out and make adjustments, and we have a great coaching staff that makes those adjustments," Sperlazza said. "I've been waiting for this for three years. Finally, it's about that time and time for us to go up there (Wheeling) and win." Wayne's Nick Newell threw only his second interception of the season on the next Wayne drive, and on the final drive of Wayne's season, connected with senior tight end Trevor Marcum for a 32-yard pass play as time expired. "When you set your bar as high as we do every year, most times it ends in disappointment," Harmon said. "But that shouldn't take away from the type of kids we have, because I thought they presented themselves in a first-class manner. I thought they got after them and gave it everything they had and just came up a little bit short." Wayne suffered offensive season lows in points, rushing yards and total yards. Their lowest point total coming into Saturday's game was 27 points in a shutout victory against Lawrence County the opening week of the season. They had scored 40 points or more in nine consecutive games. But Weir had the top defense in Class AA, allowing only 7.9 points per game. "They are a good team that just keeps coming at you, and we just couldn't stop them and they ran it down our throats," said Marcum, one of 19 Wayne seniors. "Besides Bluefield, they're the fastest team I've ever played. They can make up ground like nothing and you just can't move. "We gave it all we had and left it all on the field. There's always next year for everybody else." WEIR 0 6 8 8 -- 22 WAYNE 0 7 0 0 -- 7 Weir-J. Smith 6 run (pass failed) Wayne-Hill 2 run (Thompson kick) Weir-J. Smith 14 pass from Sperlazza (Taflan pass from Sperlazza) Weir-Sperlazza 1 run (Lyons run) Weir Wayne First downs 20 15 Total Net Yards 397 241 Rushes-yards 26-324 42-150 Passing-yards 73 91 Comp-Att-Int 7-10-0 6-11-1 Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 6-49 7-67 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING -- Weir: Lyons 16-164, J. Smith 14-103, TD; Sperlazza 9-53, TD; Buffo 3-4. Wayne: Roland 21-76, Newell 11-21, Endicott 3-8, Runyon 3-4, Hill 2-5, TD; Gilkerson 1-35; Dolance 1-1. PASSING -- Weir: Sperlazza 7-10, 73 yards, TD. Wayne: Newell 6-11-1, 91 yards. RECEIVING -- Weir: Gatto 3-33, J. Smith 3-31, TD; Taflan 1-9. Wayne: Roland 3-28, Marcum 2-48, White 1-15. • Get more information on this topic by searching our Archives • Discuss this topic with others in our Community Forum |  |
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Weir upends Wayne
Weir upends Wayne
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