North Penn beats Wellsboro, takes home Trophy.

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After seven years in the Wellsboro Green Hornet trophy case, the Morton Jones Memorial Trophy will be making the short trip back to North Penn High School. The physical distance between the two trophy cases may be measured in miles, but in the past half decade the distance felt more like astronomical units.

For North Penn, it seemed that Wellsboro would forever dominate the series between the two rivals. Everything changed last Friday night when the North Penn Panthers won their gridiron war with Wellsboro and ended their seven year itch.

"We talked about the win as a coaching staff," said North Penn Head Coach Tom Dickinson. "We have had some big wins here at North Penn but that win was huge. It was a total team effort in front of our great fans and a victory against Wellsboro in Wellsboro It was a great feeling."

For the last three years, Friday night's victorious North Penn seniors have been beaten by the Green Hornets. This year, they got one back in what probably was one of the biggest football games of their young lives.

North Penn had all the tools to win last Friday night's ground battle. One of their biggest tools was J.D. Baker, a veritable plow, who slashed through the Wellsboro defense for a total of 152 yards on 25 carries. If Baker was the plow, the North Penn offensive linemen were the draft horses hauling him.

"Going into the game, we knew that this year was going to be one of the few times that our line was going to be bigger, stronger, and more experienced then Wellsboro's," Dickinson said. "We thought we could go toe to toe with them and knock them off the ball and wear them down."

They did. The Panthers amassed a total of 306 rushing yards against a young Wellsboro defense that struggled. Baker was not the only one to do the plowing. Fullback Jeff Kling had 50 yards on 10 rushes and halfback Jason Sparks ripped off an additional 79 yards on 15 carries.

Wellsboro's first two offensive possessions resulted in three plays and out. They held the Panthers scoreless on North Penn's first drive. But in short order, the combination of downhill running by the Panther backs and excellent fakes by North Penn quarterback Nate Tompkins resulted in the first score of the game.

Kling scored first for North Penn on an inside handoff that he took eight yards around the right side of the line for a touchdown. Tompkins extra point kick was good. Wellsboro managed to put together a nine play drive in the end of the quarter that stalled at midfield because of penalties.

"We were able to get pretty good yardage but we shot ourselves in the foot," Wellsboro Head Coach Keith Dils said. "We aren't a very powerful football team and we are young. We can't make mental mistakes like that."

North Penn's next score came on a two yard run by Sparks. It seemed as if the Wellsboro defense was waiting for Baker to get the handoff but the Panthers surprised them by sending Sparks through the right side of the line for the score.

Wellsboro did manage to put together a drive that reached North Penn's door step just before the half. That offensive foray was shut down when Wellsboro signal caller Jarred Regina rifled a pass into the end zone that was picked off by Kyle DeHaven when the ball bounced off the Wellsboro receiver.

"Us stopping them right before the half and getting that interception was the turning point," Dickinson said. "We were able to go into the locker room with the momentum."

Wellsboro did manage to score first in the third quarter. Under pressure, Regina connected with tight end Jesse May for a 78 yard touchdown score. May rambled for 60 yards after he caught the pass in the flat for the score.

"After that touchdown, it would have been 14-14 if we would have had just one bounce go the other way," Dils said.

North Penn answered the score quickly. Baker scored from four yards out with a minute left in the third quarter to end the scoring for both squads. A 42 yard halfback option pass by Baker to Craig Pequinogt set up his four yard run.

When the buzzer sounded, North Penn had regained the trophy and the bragging rights to being the better football team in Tioga County.

The Panthers went wild, players and fans alike.

"Friday night was a great start for us. It was a great feeling," Dickinson said. "With that win under our belt, I think that we can play with anybody."

It was not such a great feeling for Wellsboro. Dils, however, remained upbeat.

"You have to be proud of the way that these kids played. We started a lot of freshmen," he said. "When you have fifteen year olds playing against seniors in some spots it makes it real tough. There is a big difference developmentally. But, now we are getting ready to play our next game and we are excited about it."

Wellsboro gained 238 yards of total offense. Regina was 6-16 for 116 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also led the Hornets on the ground with six scrambles for 37 yards.

Fullback Nate Debockler added 30 yards on five carries. Ike Rivers was a bright spot for Wellsboro with 96 all purpose yards that included two long kickoff returns.

North Penn had a total of 387 yards total offense. Tompkins was 2-2 with 35 yards through the air. Both passes were to Kling. Wellsboro plays next at Troy while North Penn faces off against West Branch league foe Montgomery.