Hornets Take Down Indians.

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The NTL high school varsity football was back in action for the new season as of Friday, September 4. The Wellsboro Hornets played host to Cowanesque Valley, securing their first win, 21-7 over the Indians.

In the first quarter, junior Ethan Callahan received a 25 yard pass from freshman Ben Shaw to put the Hornets on the board.

With a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, Shaw returned with another touchdown as he pulled over the one-yard line. Capitalizing on another pass, 79 yards out from Nick Saniga, Callahan took the ball into the end zone in the third quarter with 7:05 showing on the clock.

Cowanesque came on board late in the fourth quarter on a four yard run from Tyler Bowers, eleviating the shutout, 7-21.

Wellsboro posted 149 yards rushing to Cowanesque's 196, while the Hornets passed a total of 161 yards to the Indians 10. Shaw completed nine of 18 attempts for 82 yards and one touchdown, while Saniga posted 1-6 with 79 yards. Sophomore Thomas Johnston aided the Hornets with 12 rushing attempts for 86 yards, Shaw posted six for 53 yards.

For the Indians, Tyler Bowers posted 24 attempts rushing for 108 yards gained.

Callahan received three passes for 108 yards, while Cowanesque's Tyler Bowers garnered two for 10.

"We played well," commented Cowanesque Valley Head Football Coach Jeremy Loveland. "We made a few mistakes as a team, myself included, and Wellsboro capitalized on them."

"We had four opportunities to score, but shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers. Our defense played well," continued Loveland, "except for the two coverage breakdowns that they scored on."

Wellsboro's Head Coach Brandon Falk stated, "The staff and the players worked very hard over the summer to stress that this season and this new system is not the same as last year. In video game terms we say that we have pushed the reset button and everyone has started new. We have had some new additions to the team as far as new players to football and players returning to the game following some time off."

"CV was a solid opponent who gets better with every week and every season. CV opened the game with a little more enthusiasm and emotion than we did," continued Falk. "I was proud of the way our kids responded to the initial turnover and eventually scored first in the game."

"The importance of the CV win was huge. It gave the kids some confidence and was the first step to one of the major team goals for this season (go undefeated at HOME)."

"We have a tough opponent this week in Troy and would love to be 2-0 before starting on a three game road trip. We are confident that with each practice and each game, we become a better football team and hope to make some noise in the NTL and District IV this season," concluded Falk.