Julian DiMaio-Wyomissing

The Class 3A state championship turned out to be a defensive battle. Central Valley held off Wyomissing 7-0 at Hersheypark Stadium. The Warriors extended their winning streak to 27 games, and defeated the Spartans for the second straight year in the state final. The only score came on Landon Alexander’s 28-yard run with just under ten minutes remaining. Wyomissing NG/C Julian DiMaio talked about trying to slow down Alexander. The 190-pound senior is Central Valley’s all-time leading rusher with 4,161 yards. Alexander finished with 231 yards on 35 carries against the (15-1) Spartans. 157 of those yards came in the second half. Wyomissing had a chance to tie it with 6:30 left, but Pittsburgh commit Sean FitzSimmons blew up the play in the backfield. The Spartans were trying to run a sprint out pass to the right on 4th & goal from the 3-yard line. The 6’3, 280-pound FitzSimmons forced Ben Zechman to fumble. The Warriors then used a quarterback sneak to convert on 4th & 1 at their own 18-yard line. They were able to take all but 21 seconds off the clock. DiMaio said FitzSimmons is an incredible athlete. Wyomissing managed just 115 total yards. The Spartans were held to 2.9 yards per carry. Tommy Grabowski ended up with a team-high 55 yards on 15 carries. The senior fullback went over 1,400 yards this season. Grabowski also made an amazing one-handed interception at the goal line late in the third quarter. DiMaio had high praise for the Wyomissing coaching staff. Bob Wolfrum has 337 victories over 35 years. DiMaio also took time to thank the fans for their support all season. The 200-pound senior believes the future is very bright for the Spartans. DiMaio told me that Wyomissing has the talent to get back to the state championship game in 2022. His leadership will certainly be missed.