Hornets top Cowanesque 28-13 in Saturday play.

presented by:

The Wellsboro Green Hornet Football team got back on the winning side Saturday with a 28-13 victory over the Cowanesque Indians.

Cowanesque provided the early thrills for their Hornecoming crowd by dominating the first quarter. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Indians marched down the field utilizing the running of John Buffington and Rick Hubbard.

After having a touchdown minified by a holding penalty, they were forced to turn the ball over to Wellsboro deep in their own territory on downs. After three plays, Wellsboro was forced to punt and the Cowanesque offense again moved the ball, this time scoring with Hubbard' blasted in from the one. The kick was good and Cowanesque led 7-0.

Wellsboro began to show its offensive strength the very next series as they moved from their own 37-yard line in a well executed drive to score. Key play in the drive was a 39 pass from quarterback Jeff Coolidge to sophomore halfback Jerry Carson.

As the second quarter began, Coolidge capped the drive with an aerial strike to split end Tim Smith which covered 27 yards. The point after failed and the Indians led 7-6.

Wellsboro's defense began to gel and after a change of possessions, safety Jeff Coolidge intercepted and returned the ball to the Cowanesque two-yard line. From there it was easy for tailback Jay Buker to score on the first play. Jeff Coolidge carried the ball in for the two-point conversion and the Hornets led 14-7.

Wellsboro was able to mount a drive into Indian territory but turned the ball over on downs. The Indians were given a golden opportunity to score late in the second quarter when Tim Smith fumbled a Cowanesque punt deep in Wellsboro territory. This opportunity was thwarted by a second Jeff Coolidge interception in the end zone.

Wellsboro was able to mount a drive into Indian territory just before the half ended, with Wellsboro leading 14-7.

The Hornets iced their victory late in the third quarter when senior tailback Matt Cooiidge took a hand off and darted through the middle of the line for a 28 yard scamper and six points. Jerry Carson added the two-point conversion and the score reached 28-13.

The remainder of the game was scoreless with both teams committing numerous penalties.

The Hornets showed good balance on offense rushing for 158 yards and passing for 162. Offensive standouts for the Hornets were Tim Smith, Jeff Coolidge, and the offensive line - Darryl Kauffman, Darryl Keck, Jerry Miller, Scott Greenawalt, and Rhett Gorda.

The defense returned to old form by allowing only 178 yards total oftense to the Indians.

Only 46 of that yardage came in the second half. The Hornet defense came up with 4 interceptions, 3 by Jeff Cooiidge and one by Darryl Kauffman.

The win evened the Hornets record at 3-3 with just 3 games remaining. This week Wellsboro travels to Wellsville, New York to take on the Wellsville Lions, who boast a 4-2 record.