Hornets fall short in final frame.

presented by:

He who punts comes up short. That seemed to be the adage for the NTL contest between two equally talented teams in Wellsboro Friday, September 6.

Both Wellsboro and Wyalusing had stellar nights on offense and defense. The Hornets tallied 396 yards on offense while Wyalusing churned out 431 yards.

But despite the valiant effort in the final frame, Wellsboro couldn't overcome the Ram's lead and came up five points short in the 43-38 league loss.

The only difference in the game was that Wellsboro was the only team to punt.

Wellsboro's defensive secondary was playing short handed after Tyler DeLeonardis was sidelined with a concussion after his first play of the game.

Wyalusing jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter following touchdown jaunts of seven and three yards by Rams running back Gary Shantz. He ended the night with 107 yards on 21 carries.

"We were short in the secondary and we were playing with a limited amount of players. We tried to stop them from making the big plays but m have to coach better on defense," Wellsboro's reinstated head coach Russ Manney said. "I was proud of the whole team. Nobody gave up."

Wyalusing had built a 22-7 lead 4:15 into the second quarter but the Green Hornets battled until the end.

"We knew their running game was tough. We didn't expect them to throw the ball. Our secondary started getting bumped up and were not ready," reinstated coach Manney said.

Wellsboro first got on the board seven minutes into the second quarter when Brandon Keck took the hand-off and raced 71 yards. Keck ended the night with 133 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Complementing Keck was running back Matt Priset, who tallied 107 yards rushing on 11 carries. Combined, the Wellsboro offense accumulated 245 yards rushing.

The Hornet's passing game was running efficiently as well due to the savvy play of signal caller Will Osgood who completed eight-of-19 passes for 151 yards and three touchdown tosses.

Osgood first connected with Seth Rockwell for a 50 yard touchdown completion with 2:44 remaining in the second quarter. The touchdown narrowed the Ram's lead to 22-15.

The Hornets narrowed that lead by three points when Pat Coolidge split the uprights on his 22 yard field goal attempt, with 25 seconds remaining in the first half, to pull the Hornets within four points of the lead.

Wellsboro opened the second half with a 63 yard touchdown run by Priset 14 seconds into the third quarter and took a 24-22 lead.

Wyalusing and Wellsboro swapped touchdowns over the remaining minutes of the third frame.

The Rams hit first with another Shantz touchdown run. Wellsboro countered with an Osgood 48 yard touchdown completion to Nate Compton.

The Rams capped the frame with a touchdown pass to Tim Worrell for a 36-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The contest remained a defensive battle until the Rams found their way into the end zone with 3:03 remaining in the fourth when Shantz punched the ball over the goal line from one yard out.

Two minutes later the Hornets answered back when Osgood fired a four yard touchdown completion to Keck. Wellsboro tried an onside kick but was unable to regain possession.

The Hornets travel to Jersey Shore this Friday, September 13, for a non league contest. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.