Corning East stunned in play against Hornets.

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The Wellsboro Green Hornets put things together Friday night and stunned the highly touted Corning East Trojans 6-0. The rain did not dampen the Hornet's enthusiasm as they played almost flawless defense before a wet but enthusiastic parents night crowd.

The game was the first of the year for the Trojans who entered Wellsboro as the defending Sullivan Trail Conference Capitol Division Champs sporting an eleven game winning streak and one of the most feared and devastating offenses in the southern tier. Also the Trojans entered the game as the 13th ranked team in the state of New York. The Hornets boosted their record to 1-2 after having lost to Loyalsock and Wyalusing in the first two weeks of the season.

Defense was the name of the game for the Hornets. Playing solid defense has become a tradition at Wellsboro and Friday night the Hornets equaled all past performances, allowing Corning East just 87 yards on the ground and zero in the air. The Trojans candidate for Twin Tiers Player of the Year, Wayne McMillan, who rushed for over 900 yards last year, was held to just 38 yards net for the evening.

The key for the Hornet defense was team play with outstanding performances turned in by all eleven. Terry Ingerick, Randy Weimar, Vince Driebelbies, Jon Carson, Brian Parsells, Steve Radocaj, John Driebelbies, Dave Gibson, Tim Cisco, Jerry Carson, and Bill Bower.

The offense for the third week in a row gained over 200 yards. Although only scoring one touchdown the offense was also a key factor in the Hornets victory. Using their time consuming ground attack to use up the clock they greatly limited the time that Corning East had the ball.

Led by the signal calling of Tim Cisco, and the running of Steve Radocaj and Dave Gibson, the Hornets rolled up 163 yards on the ground and 13 first downs. Leading ball carriers for Wellsboro were Steve Radocaj with 78 yards on 16 carries and Dave Gibson with 90 yards, 19 carries with one touchdown.

Wellsboro received the opening kickoff and began setting the tempo of the game on their first possession moving from inside their own territory out to about midfleld before being forced to punt. The first Wellsboro defensive series also proved to be an omen of things to come as they shut off the Trojans without allowing a first down. The remainder of the first quarter saw the same type of action.

Early in the second quarter Wellsboro began a march goalward Utilizing the running of Radocaj and Gibson the Hornets pushed deep into Trojan only to be foiled by an interception on fourth-and-goal. This set back was only temporary when on first down the Hornets forced the Trojans to fumble and defensive end Jon Carson scooped up the loose ball on the Corning East eight-yard line.

It did not take the Hornets long to capitalize. On their second play Dave Gibson sliced into the end zone untouched for the only six points of the game. The snap from center was high and the conversion failed. With 8 minutes left in the first half Wellsboro led 6-0.

The remainder of the game was simply a replay of the first quarter with the Hornet offense controlling the ball and the Hornet defense completely containing the Trojan Wishbone. In the closing minute Wellsboro had the ball and was running out the clock, when Dave Gibson broke off left tackle and scampered into the end zone from 34 yards out only to be nullified by a clipping violation.

The next game for the Hornets will be this Saturday night when they travel to Troy to take on the Trojans at 8:00 p.m.