Olexy, Wyomissing ‘D’ rules the day in win over PW
Steve Olexy wasn’t happy with his play a week ago against Fleetwood. Wyomissing’s high-motor defensive tackle got in on only one sack and grew frustrated because he felt he should’ve had more.
The 6-foot, 240-pound senior heard about it from his coaches and was determined to make amends.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh ballcarriers ended up paying the price for it Saturday.
“I just wanted to go out there and show what I could do,” said Olexy after wreaking havoc on the Colonials’ TripleOption offense as the Spartans defense dominated in a 44-0 non-league win at the A-Field. “I tried to get better at practice every day (this week), and hard work pays off.”
Olexy spent as much time in the Colonials’ backfield as their backs. He shot gaps, shed blockers and disrupted plays. He recorded a couple of tackles for loss and shared a sack with tackle Isiah Fernandez.
“They had a whole lot of trouble blocking Steve,” said Spartans coach Bob Wolfrum. “He’s a handful.”
The Colonials, playing their first game, had a whole lot of trouble blocking any of the Spartans (3-0).
Linebacker Darren Brunner had three tackles for loss and was in on a sack. Linebacker Tommy Grabowski had a couple of tackles for loss. Linebacker Jack Feightner got in on a sack and blocked a punt.
The Colonials ran 42 plays, nine of which went for negative yards. They had 13 total yards in the first half and 62 overall.
“I’m proud of my defense,” Olexy said. “We left them with a zero, got pressure on the quarterback, running back and pitch man. I’m really happy for my teammates right now. I’m pretty happy about (myself); this was my best game.”
This is nothing new for the Spartans. Their first-team defense has yielded three points
in three games. They’re ranked No. 1 in Berks in total defense, allowing 127 yards per game.
This Ply mout hWhitemarsh team isn’t nearly as strong as last year’s, which won nine times and reached the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals. There’s been a lot of turnover since but it still runs the same Triple-Option, which can be tricky to defend.
It was doubly so because the Spartans had no recent film to study since the Colonials didn’t play a scrimmage. They went off video from last season and relied on their experience against Annville-Cleona — which runs the same offense — from last year’s district title run.
“We didn’t know much going into this game, but I think we played it well,” Feightner said. “We spent this whole week focusing on each assignment. I think we executed amazingly today; I’m just really happy we got the amount of flow we got.”
Wolfrum, always a tough grader, gave out A’s to his D.
“I couldn’t ask the defense to do anything more,” he said.
“For the first time playing an option team with this group, (and it being) early in the season, we did a great job.”
The Colonials were up against it coming into the lion’s den and made things even harder on themselves with some early special teams breakdowns.
Feightner blocked their first punt at the 14, setting up the first of two short TD runs by Evan Niedrowski.
Their second punt attempt ended up as a safety when the ball was snapped out of the end zone. Another botched punt snap resulted in the Spartans taking over at the 4.
It was 30-0 at the half and could’ve been worse.
“Wyomissing is a great team,” said P-W coach Dan Chang. “They’re wellcoached and they know exactly what they do, and they do it well. They’re big, physical, fast. They were excellent in every facet today.”
The Spartans’ biggest challenge over the next month will be staying motivated. They likely won’t get pushed until deep in the playoffs.
“We just stay self-motivated,” Feightner said. “All of our practices, we try to go as hard as we can. We know the schedule’s a little weak but we push each other.”