Wellsboro's 300-yard man does it again.

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For the second consecutive week, Wellsboro's Derek Harsch was the power behind the Green Hornet scoring machine.

Harsch broke the 300-yard barrier again while scoring five touchdowns to pace Wellsboro to a 57-40 shootout win over Sayre Friday, September 7.

But returning head coach Russ Manney said the successful night was a combination of outstanding running backs and offensive line.

"It was a combination of both good running backs and offensive line," Manney said. "The line did an excellent job of opening up the holes."

Manney also said the addition of the Wing-T offense gave the Hornets versatility and kept opposing teams from keying on Harsch.

Wellsboro totally dominated the first quarter of the NTL game and garnered a 16-0 lead. Two Harsch scores of eight and 29 yards were divided up by a Matt Coxford, Ed Weaver, and Harsch safety.

Sayre punched their way into the end zone two minutes into the second quarter when Andy Bortle connected with Matt Wayman for a nine yard touchdown completion. Bortle followed with a second pass to Wayman for the two-point conversion two narrow Wellsboro's lead, 16-8.

But Wellsboro pulled ahead on another Harsch run one minute later. This time Harsch took the hand off and scampered 37 yards to paydirt. Pat Coolidge added the extra point and Wellsboro widened their lead to 23-6.

Although Harsch scored five touchdowns on the night, he was not the only productive running back this week. Matt Priset shifted into overdrive when he took the hand off from Will Osgood and rocketed 21 yards for another Green Hornet scored with five minutes remaining in the first half. Priset rushed for 122 yards on the night while Brad Smith demonstrated another Wellsboro running threat with his 77 yard rushing night and a touchdown.

Manney was also pleased with Tyler Mead who may have only taken four handoffs but gained 28 yards to put the Wellsboro offensive running game at 560 yards for the night.

Sayre answered back with one minute remaining in the second quarter when Bortle connected with Kevin Craig for a 24 yard touchdown completion to pull within 14 points of Wellsboro, 30-16, at halftime.

Bortle ended the night completing 30 of 41 for 397 yards passing and four touchdowns.

Wellsboro struck again seven minutes into the third quarter when Harsch bulled his way into the end zone with five minutes remaining in the third frame. Coolidge added the extra point and Wellsboro was up 37-16.

The big lead gave Wellsboro the opportunity to rest the first string and put in secondary players. So did Sayre for a while, then it was back to the first string.

Bortle zipped a 21 yard touchdown pass to Wayman with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter. Bortle followed with a conversion pass to Chris Bently to pull Sayre closer to Wellsboro's 37-24 lead.

Wellsboro answered back in the opening minutes of the final frame when Tyler Mead ponded his way into the end zone from one yard out. The extra point kick failed and the Hornets led 43-24. Less than four minutes later, Smith punched in for another Hornet score. The two-yard touchdown run and the Carlos Lopez extra point increased Wellsboro's lead to 50-24 with 5:14 remaining.

Sayre struck back with a 38 yard Bortle touchdown pass to Wayman and a Kevin Craig one yard touchdown plunge to narrow the lead, 50-32.

Harsch added his fifth score of the night with less than a minute remaining in the game. Harsch gobbled up 315 yards in his second outing of the season which puts the senior running back only 351 yards away from breaking 1,000 yards rushing on the season. This time, a 21 yard scamper followed by a Coolidge extra point let Sayre know who was the team with the most dominating running game.

Although the defensive line had it's highlights, Manney said they will need to fine tune things before hosting Jersey Shore Friday night.

Although Jersey Shore hasn't won a game, their losses came at the hands of powerhouse Selinsgrove and Bald Eagle Area.

Against Sayre, the Green Hornets were able to curtail their offensive ground game and held them to only 17 yards total rushing. But when it comes to Jersey Shore, the Hornets will have to be more focused in order to earn the non-league win.

Manney describes Shore as a team that has a more balanced attack with both quality running backs and a versatile quarterback.