Under Haubert’s rule
Palisades player makes presence felt on both sides
Ben Haubert had 2 ½ sacks and another tackle for a loss in Palisades’ 42-20 win Friday night over visiting Wilson. That comes as a shock to no one in the Lehigh Valley. However, the Pirates senior showed his versatility by taking his punishing style to the Pirates’ offense. He ran for 118 yards, including scoring runs of 7, 1 and 25 yards.
“I was surprised by how many times I actually got the ball,” Haubert said of his 12 carries. “I’m normally just a fullback, going around hitting people, putting them on their backs.
“It’s a good change of things, getting the ball, showing I can do multiple things.”
Haubert’s career-best effort was part of a 378-yard rushing attack by Palisades, which got 130 and two scores from standout tailback Mason Smeland and 98 more from Scott Segreaves, who made his season debut after suffering an injury this summer and missing the season opener.
It all added up to a dominant performance by the Pirates, who never trailed and were tied just once (at 7) before pulling away in the second half.
Haubert and Wilson’s Zack Gillen were the recipients of the honors given every year since Poynton, a Wilson graduate and Palisades coach, passed away in 2016.
Gillen had eight catches for 73 yards for the Warriors.
Uh, oh. Not again
Penalties stopped two Palisades drives in the first half of what was a 7-7 game. It looked like a repeat of a week ago when yellow flags were costly in a one-score game at Northwestern.
“We had a couple of penalties in the first half,” Palisades coach Ramie Moussa said. “But we cleaned it up and played really well the rest of the game.
“I’m still concerned about the penalties. The Northwestern game could have gone our way if we don’t do those kinds of things. When we stop beating ourselves, this is what we could be. Last year, we were a bunch of babies. That’s what I told the kids. I think we needed to figure out.”
Stingy pass defense
In addition to Haubert and Co. pressuring Wilson quarterback Cayden Stem, the Pirates secondary picked up two interceptions — one each from Jon DeNato and Nick Petrillo.
Petrillo’s pick came in the red zone to stop a Wilson drive in the first quarter.
DeNato’s INT led to Palisades’ final score in the fourth quarter. It was his fourth interception in two games this season.
Palisades has seven picks in two games.
Two big plays
Wilson managed just two big plays in its first game of 2020.
The first was a C.J Fazio 80-yard TD run with just more than three minutes left in the first quarter to tie the game for the final time. Fazio ran for 154 yards, but just five came between his TD run and the Warriors’ final drive against Pirates second teamers.
The other big play for Wilson came when Damian Simpson returned a kickoff 91 yards in the second quarter for a score. However, the Warriors missed the extra point to trail 14-13. They never got even again.
Up next
Wilson is off until Oct. 2, when it visits Northwestern. Its home opener Sept. 26 against Southern Lehigh was postponed because a Spartans coach tested positive for COVID-19.
Palisades visits Northern Lehigh next Friday night in the Bulldogs’ season opener.