Doug Dahms-Wilson

Jah Jah Boyd is ranked #274 in the country in ESPN’s Top 300 for the Class of 2024. The James Madison commit had one catch for 13 yards, yet Roman Catholic still put up 49 points and 408 yards. That should illustrate the depth of talent that Wilson faced in its season opening 49-14 loss at Upper Dublin High School. “It’s hard to practice against that kind of speed because we don’t have it. We didn’t do a very good job slowing them down to give the pursuit a chance to get there,” said longtime coach Doug Dahms. Five of the Cahillites’ touchdowns were over 45 yards. They outgained the Bulldogs 292-83 in the second half. “I don’t think we quit, but we don’t have the depth and that showed in the third and fourth quarter. They’re rolling 20 guys through on defense,” Dahms replied. Gov. Mifflin transfer Mykell Ford had three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Wilson committed three turnovers including two on its first three possessions. 5’10 junior Lou Gaddy raced 68 yards for a pick-six with two minutes left in the opening quarter. The Bulldogs responded with a 54-yard pass down the right sideline from Tommy Hunsicker to Jackson Wagner. That set up Hunsicker’s 15-yard touchdown scramble to pull Wilson within 13-7 just ten seconds into the second period. Hunsicker, who was under heavy pressure, finished 14-30 for 165 yards. “He was hitting some receivers right on the money. In the second half, we had a lot of drops,” stated Dahms. Dazhaun Hopkins broke off a 46-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. The 5’10, 185-pound senior had 94 yards on 13 carries, as well as a 5-yard TD grab. The Bulldogs made it 20-14 with 8:17 remaining in the third quarter thanks to a blocked field goal. Jonah Pertet spinted 80 yards down the sideline for a score. Then Semaj Beals and his speedy corps of receivers took over. Beals has several Division I offers including Alabama and Penn State. The 6’1, 175-pound sophomore went 11-22 for 264 yards and 5TD. Tayden Mines, a 5’7 junior, took two wide receiver screens to the house in the third quarter. The first covered 58 yards and the second went for 33 yards. Mines racked up 103 yards on three catches. In between those drives, Beals hit Ash Roberts down the middle for a 66-yard score. That was the lone reception for Roberts. The 5’10 sophomore has offers from Alabama, Penn State, and Michigan. Roman Catholic was on top 42-14 after the third quarter. Beals added a 51-yard strike to junior Zamir Newsuan with 9:40 to play. The Cahillites averaged a staggering 10.2 yards per play. Their defense limited sophomore Correll Akings to 34 yards on ten carries. Roman Catholic had eleven tackles for loss. Wilson ended up with 264 yards. “It’s gonna be a very long film session with the kids on Sunday night. There’s gonna be changes that our made, especially on special teams. Kids that didn’t do the job are gonna get replaced,” said Dahms. He entered his 18th season as head coach with a school record 178 wins.