By Corey J. Corbin
Allied News Sports Editor
NEW WILMINGTON — If there were any lingering doubts about what kind of athlete Wilmington senior running back Chris Burns early Friday afternoon, they soon dissipated.
The University of Pittsburgh recruit rushed for 249 yards rushing and two scores on 18 carries and added a 37-yard touchdown reception as the Greyhounds (1-0, 2-1) whipped Region 3AA rival Grove City (0-1, 2-1) at Wilmington.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of bottling him up the past couple of years,” Grove City coach Jeff Bell said. “He decided that wasn’t happening this year. You have to give him credit he’s a good player. We sure as heck couldn’t tackle him. We had people in position. I can’t fault the scheme, because we had people there. We’ll have to work on tackling.”
Burns sandwiched scoring runs of 1 and 57 yards around a nice 37-yard pitch and catch over the middle from Collin Fulkman.
“Obviously, he’s the key to our backfield,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. “In our first game, he was still limping around on a bad ankle and wasn’t very effective. Last week, he was back to around 90 percent and tonight, he ran real well.”
On the evening, the Hounds rolled up 414 yards of total offense behind the offensive line of senior tackles Lou Campbell and Tom Rohan, guards senior Paul Yohman and sophomore Ryan Welch and junior Clint DeRosa.
“They did a nice job,” Verrelli said. “We have some good kids there. We have some new kids in there and they have to fit in. I thought it was good sign tonight.”
After Wilmington placekicker Nick Riggall booted a 30-yard field goal with 137 ticks left in the first quarter, the Hounds put up 21 unanswered points in the second quarter on a pair of Burns TDs and Shane Wagner pulled in a 22-yard scoring strike from Fulkman for a 24-0 lead entering the break.
The third quarter was much of the same with Burns scoring on the Hounds’ 4th play from scrimmage and little brother Derrick evoking the mercy rule with a 3-yard score and a 37-0 lead with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
“We haven’t played a team of Wilmington’s caliber,” Bell said. “After tonight, we’re not ready yet, but we will be if we keep the right attitude. I’m not giving up on them. We can’t lose our heads and start changing things. We just need to get better, get more consistent and cut down on the mistakes.
“If you looked up disappointment in the dictionary, there’s probably a picture of me standing there. I’m disappointed in the all-around effort. I thought that would be the one thing that I wouldn’t have to worry about. We didn’t respond the way I hoped we would when we got down.”
The game was halted after a flash of lightning in between the third and fourth quarters.
“We were going to be on the running clock for the last quarter and I was going to substitute,” Bell said. “Terry was going to substitute. We have a JV game (today) and those kids’ll play then. Why stand here for a half an hour and then go out and play with the chance of another delay. At that point, all your going to do is get somebody hurt. If the game would have been 14-12 or something like that, it would have been different. I was fine with it.”
The win was the second straight for Wilmington since a season-opening setback to Ford City.
“That was a very strange situation,” Verrelli said. “I never noticed the problems we ran into down there at Ford City. None of that showed up in our scrimmages. Boom, there it was. We moved people around defensively and changed some of our strategies offensively. It was obviously something we needed to do before the first game. Hopefully, we’re on the right track.”
Notes: Wilmington has won 13-of-15 meetings since 1994, while the Eagles fell to 2-9 against the Hounds under Bell. Wilmington has outscored GC 381-99 during that span. ... Derrick Burns finished with 51 yards rushing on 9 totes. ... Fulkman completed 5-of-6 passes for 91 yards. ... Chris Clark led the Eagles with 60 all-purpose yards (36 yards rushing and 24 receiving), while Mike Burk completed 8-of-10 passes for 100 yards. ... The Wilmington defense limited the Eagles to just 147 yards and 7 first downs. ... The teams combined for 5 fumbles, losing 3.
———
GROVE CITY 0 0 0 — 0
WILMINGTON 3 21 13 — 37
Scoring plays
W — Riggall, 30-yard field goal
W — Chris Burns, 1-yard run (Riggall kick)
W — Chris Burns, 37-yard run (Riggall kick)
W — Shane Wagner, 22-yard pass from Fulkman (Riggall kick)
W — Chris Burns, 57-yard run (Riggall kick)
W — Derrick Burns, 3-yard run (kick) failed
Team stats
GROVE CITY WILMINGTON
7 First downs 12
47 Rushing yards 323
100 Passing yards 91
10-8-0 Att-comp-int 6-5-0
147 Total yards 414
3-1 Fumbles-lost 3-2
4-35 Penalties-yards lost 3-25
Individual stats
Rushing: GROVE CITY — Clark 3-36, Martin 4-23, Spencer 5-3, Mike Burk 6-(-14); WILMINGTON — Chris Burns 18-249, Derrick Burns 9-51, Shane Wagner 3-22, Fulkman 2-0.
Passing: GROVE CITY — Mike Burk 10-8-0 100; WILMINGTON — Fulkman 6-5-0 91.
Receiving: GROVE CITY — Ferderber 2-26, Justin Burk 2-20, Spencer 2-16, Clark 1-24, Martin 1-18; WILMINGTON — Shane Wagner 3-41, Chris Burns 1-37, Derrick Burns 1-13.
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