Two third quarter touchdowns spark Wellsboro, 14-13.

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The win was icing on the cake to a very successful Homecoming weekend at Wellsboro. The Hornets combined two third quarter touchdowns with a stingy defense to defeat Canton 14-13 in a Twin Tier League football game Friday night at Wellsboro.

Canton is now 1-2 in league play Wellsboro is 1-4.

Canton opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 40 yard pass play from Quarterback Bill Chamberlin to Nate Williams. Foreign exchange student Marcelo Spagnolo kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Warrior edge.

The second period was scoreless and Canton took their 7 point edge into the locker room.

According to Hornet coach Jeff Strohl, "We played a little flat in the first half but began to really take control of the game in the second half."

Indeed it didn't take long for Wellsboro to assert themselves. Jack Maynard returned Canton's second half kickoff 66 yards to the Warrior 29-yard line. Several plays later quarterback Todd Coolidge hit tight end Ken Leisey on a 14 yard scoring strike. Ken Gfroerer's point after knotted the count at 7-7.

The score seemed to spark the Hornets as they began to control the line of scrimmage. After the Wellsboro kickoff, Canton failed to move the ball and was forced to punt. The Hornets took over possession of the pigskin on their own 28-yard line. On third-and-six, Coolidge connected with Leisey again, and the tight end rumbled 66 yards to Canton's two-yard line.

Maynard ran the final yard two plays later and Gfroerer's kick increased Wellsboro's lead to 14-7.

The dramatics were not over yet though. Midway through the fourth quarter Canton's Brett Alexander pounced on a Hornet fumble deep in Wellsboro territory.

A second Chamberlain to Williams touchdown pass, a five yarder this time, made the score 14-13. Warrior coach Miller Moyer decided to try to tie the game rather than go for the two-point conversion. The strategy however backfired when Spagnolo's kick sailed wide.

"There were two keys to our victory," coach Strohl said. "One was the play of our special teams which sparked our second half comeback by returning the kickoff 66 yards. The other was the play of our defensive line which shut down the Canton offense in the second half."

"Stu Wheeler lead the defense and Leisey at tight end also played excellent games and helped to spark the rest of the squad," Strohl added.

Wellsboro's ground game was down from what it has been lately, but Gfroerer was the top rusher with 44 yards. Maynard led the receivers with four catches while Leisey snagged three for 88 yards.

Coolidge finished the evening with eight completions on 15 attempts for 138 yards and no interceptions. Wheeler and Gary Cooper led the defense with 10 tackles each

Troy provides the opposition on Friday evening, October 15. It will be the Hornets first away game in a month. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m.