HERSHEY —
All season Danville was able to dictate the flow of games with a defense that was aggressive — at times lethal — from back to front.
Their superior secondary allowed the Ironmen to key on the run, and preyed on any team that thought it could pass its way out of trouble.
In Saturday’s state quarterfinal game, Wyomissing stunned Danville with 165 yards rushing and three touchdowns in fewer than eight minutes.
The trio of ball-hawking defensive backs responsible for most of Danville’s 27 interceptions (Bret Berg, Cale Rice and Zack Kozick) were each forced to make an early touchdown-saving tackle in the open field.
While their heads-up plays simply delayed a Spartans’ TD by an extra snap or three, it was quickly apparent the game would be unlike any the Ironmen played in an 11-3 season.
“It was a total change,” said Berg, a senior safety. “They just had a great overall offense for the most part. Their backs were great, their line blocked well ... they just schemed us and outplayed us.”
From the Spartans’ second offensive snap — a jet sweep Mason Smith took 33 yards along the right sideline — the Ironmen were on their heels. Berg made the first of Danville’s four TD-saving stops on that run; Notre Dame-bound Alex Anazalone ran 10 yards for the first of his three first-quarter TDs a play later.
On Wyomissing’s next play after a Danville punt, Smith went 57 yards on a carry Spartans long-time coach Bob Wolfrum admitted “didn’t go anywhere near where the play was supposed to go.
“We really didn’t have that play blocked,” Wolfrum added. “He just made a cut.”
Rice saved the TD, again frustrating Smith, and setting up Anzalone’s second score.
On their next possession, the Spartans got a 29-yard gain from Anzalone, with Kozick’s tackle forcing him to take three more carries to the end zone.
“They scored on almost every drive, but they could have scored a lot quicker,” said Danville coach Jim Keiser. “They have great speed, and we just got caught inside too many times. I really feel a lot of it was nerves at the beginning, a little bit awed by the big stage.”
Anzalone, a 6-foot-3, 235-pounder with the major college ride gets a lot of ink, and rightly so, but Mason’s runs were back-breakers for Danville. He totaled 144 yards on seven carries with four runs covering 30-plus yards.
“We’re blessed to have big-play people; they’re not just going to get five or 10 (yards),” said Wolfrum. “Our game plan was — because they have so many people stacked from tackle to tackle — that we were going to get outside. We did a good job of that. You put (opponents) in that kind of position (being on their heels).”
“I think (Wyomissing’s blocking at) the point of attack was huge,” Keiser said. “They didn’t even worry about our defensive line; they went straight to our ’backers and Berg. If you’re going to beat us, that’s what you’ve got to do: You’ve got to get on (junior linebacker Eric) Haney and you’ve got to get on Berg.”
Kozick’s second TD-saving tackle (on Smith inside the 10 after a 31-yard gain) forced a Wyomissing field goal for a 24-0 lead with seven minutes left in the half. The Ironmen then had a five-minute drive, their most substantial series of the game, and crossed midfield before turning it over on downs. They followed it with a Berg interception deep in Ironmen territory, but the momentum was short-lived as Smith picked off a tipped pass and returned it 22 yards for a TD.
“When it gets to that point you’ve got to play for pride, just keep on playing hard,” said Berg. “This was the best team I’ve ever been a part of. I’ll remember how close we were as a team, and that we played so well over the course of the year and got that district championship.”
Game Night Online
Danville's defense on its heels against Wyomissing
- Football News Wire
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High School Football Scoreboard
PIAA Playoffs
Friday
PIAA Class AAA Quarterfinal
at Bethlehem
Allentown Central Catholic 41, Selinsgrove 13 FINALSaturday
Continued ...
PIAA Class AA Quarterfinal
at HersheyPark Stadium
Wyomissing 52, Danville 0, FINAL
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Lewisburg's Brandon Smith will walk on at Penn State as a linebacker
LEWISBURG - Some may question Lewisburg Brandon Smith's decision to walk on at Penn State despite getting two offers from Ivy League schools at both Penn and Princeton. For the Lewisburg senior though, it all came down to his faith and believing in it.
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Brandon Smith sweeps 2012 high school football honors
LEWISBURG - When he was playing football at Lewisburg High, Nathaniel Brown once joked in a film session after watching himself throw a block that if he could block for himself, he would have a lot more yards.
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Daily Item names 2012 high school football all-stars
SELINSGROVE - If the 2012 edition of The Daily Item All-Stars were not a fictional team, the quarterback would find a familiar downfield target. But Bloomsburg quarterback Ricky Klingerman, while knowing he could make big plays with teammate and cousin wide receiver John Klingerman, the Panthers’ junior first-year starter might be just as content to hand the ball off to one of his elite running backs.
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Jim Keiser and Dave Hess are 2012 Coaches of the Year
Two of the pleasant surprises among Valley football teams this season were the turnaround by Selinsgrove and the solid season by a young Danville team.
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Nine local football stars earn all-state nods
LEWISBURG - For the third consecutive season Lewisburg linebacker Brandon Smith headlines the Valley’s contingent on the Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Football team.
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High school football: Eagles place five on All-Star team
Following a hotly-contested 2012 season, Line Mountain placed a combined five players on the 2012 Tri-Valley League All-Star Team, as selected by the league's head coaches.
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HAC champions dominate all-star teams
In addition to claiming its first District 4 Class AA title since 1999, Danville also put the most players onto the 2012 Heartland Athletic Conference All-Star team, as selected recently by the league’s head coaches.
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High School Football Scoreboard
- Box Scores
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- Wyomissing 52, Danville 0
- Allentown Central Catholic 41, Selinsgrove 13
- Danville 28, Mount Carmel 21
- Dunmore 35, Southern Columbia 29
- Southern Columbia 47, South Williamsport 12
- Mount Carmel 48, Montoursville 20
- Danville 14, Athens 13
- Selinsgrove 31, Milton 0
- Montoursville 37, Lewisburg 33
- Southern Columbia 28, Line Mountain 21
