Doug Dahms-Wilson

Wilson’s football program has always been known for its physical and fundamentally sound defense. Although Hempfield didn’t light up the scoreboard at John Gurski Stadium, Bulldogs’ head coach Doug Dahms was disappointed. “I’m very upset with the way we tackled, and we’re gonna go back to the drawing board. They must of had 150 yards after touch. Defensively, we did not make the plays,” he lamented. The Black Knights piled up 238 yards in the second half of a stunning 20-16 victory at West Lawn. Hempfield put together a 17 play, 76-yard drive that took nearly seven and a-half minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter. Stephen Katch, a 190-pound senior, crashed into the end zone from two yards away for the go-ahead score with only 17 seconds remaining. Junior quarterback Jackson Landis came up big on that series. He found Andy Garcia for 12 yards on third-and-eleven with five and a-half minutes left. He then dumped off a pass to tight end Aidan Shorter on fourth-and-three from the 32-yard line with two minutes to go. Shorter refused to go down and stretched out the football for a pivotal 4-yard gain. Moments later, Landis and Garcia hooked up again for 18 yards to the 9-yard line. Katch completed the comeback and put a halt to Wilson’s 16-game winning streak over the Black Knights. Garcia, a 140-pound senior, racked up 101 yards on seven receptions. Landis went 16-of-26 for 269 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown pass to Micah Gates early in the third quarter. Gates (4 catches/124 yards) ripped the ball away from 6’1 senior cornerback Rafael Fernandez to even it at 10 apiece. The Bulldogs broke the tie on Cam Jones’ 48-yard touchdown run with 3:26 remaining in the third period. Jones stepped through a tackle near the line of scrimmage and sprinted down the right sideline. Cannon Biscoe connected on a 29-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to get Hempfield within 16-13. Biscoe converted a 20-yard field goal on their opening possession. Jones had given Wilson the early advantage with a 53-yard touchdown run up the middle on the second play from scrimmage. The Holy Cross commit had a career-high 189 yards on 15 carries. “Great balance, great vision, physical [and] fast. Everything you want,” replied Dahms when asked about Jones. Ben Rada booted a 25-yard field goal late in the second quarter for a 10-3 edge, but Dahms wasn’t pleased with their effort on special teams. Rada missed a 37-yard field goal and an extra point. He also had a 28-yard field goal attempt blocked by Jacob Karkoska. “Difference in the game. That’s frustrating, but we got down into the [red] zone so many times and we’d stall or make a penalty, or we’d do something dumb,” stated Dahms. The (5-2, 2-1) Bulldogs were limited to 55 passing yards overall and 123 yards in the second half. Wilson was held to six points after halftime. “We’ve got to get more consistent up front. We still made too many mistakes. You can’t make mistakes against a good football team,” explained Dahms. The (6-1, 4-0) Black Knights stopped the Bulldogs’ 16-game league winning streak. Dahms gave credit to Hempfield head coach George Eager who’s a former assistant at Wilson. “He’s doing a great job. He’s got a great staff. They’ve got that program rolling right now. They’re gonna win the league championship. Kudos to him,” emphasized Dahms. Eager is in his third season at the helm of the Black Knights. Brian Williams came up with two interceptions for Hempfield. Deyvid Palepale made five tackles. The 6’3. 315-pound junior has offers from Penn State, Louisville, and Temple. Nick Weitzel contributed a team-high nine tackles (3TFL) for Wilson at defensive end. Tackling is definitely going to be a focal point at practice next week in West Lawn.