Second half ‘Snowballs’ on Wooster in 42-35 loss to Wadsworth
It seemed the stars were aligned for the Wooster football team midway through its non-league game at Wadsworth on a hot, sticky night for football. Just as quickly, those stars unraveled and things snowballed on the Generals.
When the final seconds had ticked off the clock Sept. 3, Wadsworth running back Jack Snowball had strapped the Grizzlies on his back to give the hosts a come-from-behind win in a 42-35 shootout.
The Grizzlies, who defeated Ashland in its season opener, rallied back from a 21-6 first-half deficit to improve to 2-0. It was a tough loss for the Generals (1-1) and head coach Mike McCreary to swallow.
“It didn’t come down to the last minutes, but it did,” said McCreary. “There were things we could have done. It was two pretty good teams able to score points and, at different times, having the defenses step up.”
Despite Snowball’s big second half, one in which he added 217 yards to his first-half 60, the big play of the game may have come late in the second quarter. With Wooster leading 21-7 with three minutes left to play, Wadsworth quarterback Jon Kuss threw a lateral into the right flat. While Wooster surrounded the bouncing ball initially, it was former teammate and Wadsworth transfer Nick Miller who covered the ball.
That eventually led to a Wadsworth score by Bret Baughman just 53 seconds before halftime to cap a 70-plus yard drive to make the score 21-14 and change the tenor of the game.
“That had a huge impact,” said McCreary. “That was a potential 14-point swing and we would have had the momentum. It was 21-7; we had just scored and had another big play (by potentially recovering the lateral). If we go in and score and it’s 28-7 at halftime, that’s tough to overcome. … That’s a downer if it’s 28-7 at halftime. If anything goes wrong in the second half, maybe they have a hard time coming back.
“Still, we had chances and they made theirs at the end. It’s a shame. It’s so reminiscent of a couple years ago when we went triple OT with them.”
From that 21-14 deficit, the Grizzlies scored the next two touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead, with Snowball scoring on runs of 3 and 11 yards, the second coming following a fumbled kickoff return by James Preston.
If Preston was down following that mistake, he helped atone for it by taking the kickoff 98 yards, knotting the score 18 seconds later (7:28). Snowball, though, answered with a 55-yard run five minutes later, but when the kick failed, the Generals had an opportunity to regain the lead.
They did so on a thrilling 91-yard run by running back DeVonta Anderson (9:22) and Devin Daugherty provided the PAT kick to put the Generals up 35-34. However, Wadsworth and Snowball answered back with a second-chance play when he kept moving on a third-and-6 play. Just when it appeared Wooster had him stopped, he broke free for a 44-yard score on his 29th carry with exactly two minutes left in the game and the game-winning points.
“We had guys there. He only had 60 yards in the first half and then he had 200 in the second,” said McCreary of Snowball’s success against his defensive unit. “He pushed the pile, and the first half was not like that. It was hot out there. Both teams were tired, but you’ve gotta rise to the occasion. I think the experience part comes in … in crunch time, you’ve gotta make the play. We had them in a third-and-7 and (Snowball) kept spinning and he goes 40 yards for a touchdown. We had guys there, but we let up because we thought he was tackled. He keeps churning, though, and we let him go.”
Wooster struck for 330 yards in offense, with Daugherty getting 114 through the air (5-of-15 without a pick) but only 31 rushing in the end. Running back DeVonta Anderson, who had 177 yards on 17 carries, helped the Generals to its 21-7 lead by sandwiching scoring runs of 13 and 2 yards around a 13-yard Daugherty-to-Darrian Owens’ TD. Wadsworth finished with 399 yards, with 265 coming on the ground on 49 carries.
“We’re putting points on the board and moving the ball, but we should be able to,” said McCreary. “Most of our guys coming back are on offense. Devin is doing what he’s expected to do, DeVo is doing what he’s expected to do and the receivers are catching the ball. They were expected to do this and they’ve stepped up to the plate. Our offensive line really execute well. They’re really reacting well and giving Devin time to throw.
“We just have to tighten the screws on defense and we’ve got to tackle better. Some of that was their running back was pretty darn good; part of that shows that a talented back can do extra on their own. We just need to firm up things on defense. If we start playing tougher there, we’ll be tough to beat.”
McCreary praised the effort of linebacker Kevin Komara, “who had a pretty good game, a very physical game.
“That’s a physical position he’s at and he’s getting banged or doing the banging pretty consistently,” said McCreary. “He had a lot of tackles. He’s not going to be highlighted like Darrian or Devin or Devo. He’s in the middle of the pack or on the bottom of the pile and no one knows who made the tackles.”
The Generals hosted Akron Ellet Sept. 9, which was 2-0 entering the contest.
When the final seconds had ticked off the clock Sept. 3, Wadsworth running back Jack Snowball had strapped the Grizzlies on his back to give the hosts a come-from-behind win in a 42-35 shootout.
The Grizzlies, who defeated Ashland in its season opener, rallied back from a 21-6 first-half deficit to improve to 2-0. It was a tough loss for the Generals (1-1) and head coach Mike McCreary to swallow.
“It didn’t come down to the last minutes, but it did,” said McCreary. “There were things we could have done. It was two pretty good teams able to score points and, at different times, having the defenses step up.”
Despite Snowball’s big second half, one in which he added 217 yards to his first-half 60, the big play of the game may have come late in the second quarter. With Wooster leading 21-7 with three minutes left to play, Wadsworth quarterback Jon Kuss threw a lateral into the right flat. While Wooster surrounded the bouncing ball initially, it was former teammate and Wadsworth transfer Nick Miller who covered the ball.
That eventually led to a Wadsworth score by Bret Baughman just 53 seconds before halftime to cap a 70-plus yard drive to make the score 21-14 and change the tenor of the game.
“That had a huge impact,” said McCreary. “That was a potential 14-point swing and we would have had the momentum. It was 21-7; we had just scored and had another big play (by potentially recovering the lateral). If we go in and score and it’s 28-7 at halftime, that’s tough to overcome. … That’s a downer if it’s 28-7 at halftime. If anything goes wrong in the second half, maybe they have a hard time coming back.
“Still, we had chances and they made theirs at the end. It’s a shame. It’s so reminiscent of a couple years ago when we went triple OT with them.”
From that 21-14 deficit, the Grizzlies scored the next two touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead, with Snowball scoring on runs of 3 and 11 yards, the second coming following a fumbled kickoff return by James Preston.
If Preston was down following that mistake, he helped atone for it by taking the kickoff 98 yards, knotting the score 18 seconds later (7:28). Snowball, though, answered with a 55-yard run five minutes later, but when the kick failed, the Generals had an opportunity to regain the lead.
They did so on a thrilling 91-yard run by running back DeVonta Anderson (9:22) and Devin Daugherty provided the PAT kick to put the Generals up 35-34. However, Wadsworth and Snowball answered back with a second-chance play when he kept moving on a third-and-6 play. Just when it appeared Wooster had him stopped, he broke free for a 44-yard score on his 29th carry with exactly two minutes left in the game and the game-winning points.
“We had guys there. He only had 60 yards in the first half and then he had 200 in the second,” said McCreary of Snowball’s success against his defensive unit. “He pushed the pile, and the first half was not like that. It was hot out there. Both teams were tired, but you’ve gotta rise to the occasion. I think the experience part comes in … in crunch time, you’ve gotta make the play. We had them in a third-and-7 and (Snowball) kept spinning and he goes 40 yards for a touchdown. We had guys there, but we let up because we thought he was tackled. He keeps churning, though, and we let him go.”
Wooster struck for 330 yards in offense, with Daugherty getting 114 through the air (5-of-15 without a pick) but only 31 rushing in the end. Running back DeVonta Anderson, who had 177 yards on 17 carries, helped the Generals to its 21-7 lead by sandwiching scoring runs of 13 and 2 yards around a 13-yard Daugherty-to-Darrian Owens’ TD. Wadsworth finished with 399 yards, with 265 coming on the ground on 49 carries.
“We’re putting points on the board and moving the ball, but we should be able to,” said McCreary. “Most of our guys coming back are on offense. Devin is doing what he’s expected to do, DeVo is doing what he’s expected to do and the receivers are catching the ball. They were expected to do this and they’ve stepped up to the plate. Our offensive line really execute well. They’re really reacting well and giving Devin time to throw.
“We just have to tighten the screws on defense and we’ve got to tackle better. Some of that was their running back was pretty darn good; part of that shows that a talented back can do extra on their own. We just need to firm up things on defense. If we start playing tougher there, we’ll be tough to beat.”
McCreary praised the effort of linebacker Kevin Komara, “who had a pretty good game, a very physical game.
“That’s a physical position he’s at and he’s getting banged or doing the banging pretty consistently,” said McCreary. “He had a lot of tackles. He’s not going to be highlighted like Darrian or Devin or Devo. He’s in the middle of the pack or on the bottom of the pile and no one knows who made the tackles.”
The Generals hosted Akron Ellet Sept. 9, which was 2-0 entering the contest.
Published: September 7, 2011
