Wyomissing rolls to District 3-3A title
As the final minutes ticked down, the kids who had been playing football on the practice field behind the press box had dispersed.
Even they didn’t want to miss the coronation.
Behind a defensive performance led by linebacker Jack Miller and a running game powered by Tommy Grabowski, Wyomissing defeated Boiling Springs 55-14 Saturday at the A Field to win its third straight District 3 Class 3A championship and its 10th district title overall.
“It means everything to us,” said Grabowski, a senior who ran for 184 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. “And for us to pull it out today, make history for Wyomissing, we’re never going to forget this moment.”
“Well, every one is special,” Spartans coach Bob Wolfrum said, “but you know three in a row, OK, that’s neat, but it’s neater for the kids. There’s kids now that have won a district championship every year they were in high school, and that’s unusual for sure.”
The top-seeded Spartans (130) eventually were able to have their way against the secondseeded Bubblers (11-2) and will host Scranton Prep in a PIAA quarterfinal game this week, site and time to be determined.
Wyomissing gained 519 yards, 429 on the ground — and held Boiling Springs to 280 — though it took a couple drives for the Spartans to literally gain their
footing.
Ben Zechman threw an interception on the game’s first possession for Wyomissing. The Spartans forced a three-andout, but again could get no traction and punted.
That’s when Miller began to make his presence felt with back-to-back big plays.
He tackled Jack Laing for a 5-yard loss on a first-and-10 from the Bubblers 28, then sacked Colin Lunde for another 5-yard loss on second down.
“It was a good way to set the tone,” said Miller, a senior. “We really were working on that all week, so I think that really got into their head and the game
went on from there.”
“Our defense has been special,” Wolfrum said. “Our defensive coaches do a great job and our kids do a great job. We got a couple kids who sit with one of our defensive coaches in their study hall each day and they really go over all the stuff from soup to nuts. You saw Jack Miller, he knew everything. At the beginning of the game he was jumping up and making plays, cause he just knew where the ball was coming. That’s been a major part of our success on defense.”
The Spartans broke through on the ensuing drive. On a second-and-15, Zechman passed to Aiden Mack for 42 yards to move the ball to the Bubblers 15. Grabowski took over from there, running it four straight times, the final carry from the 1 to put Wyomissing up 7-0 with 11:04 left in the first half.
“We had trouble figuring out what we were going to hang our hat on and we finally started just pounding the ball on that one drive,” Wolfrum said. “But after that we did whatever we wanted.”
The Spartans would score three more times in the quarter.
A sack by Miller on a thirdand-4 forced a punt. Five plays later, Charles McIntyre scored on a 22-yard run to make it 14-0.
Boiling Springs made the first of its two big offensive plays, as Joey Menke scored on a 55-yard run to cut it to 14-7.
After forcing a Wyomissing punt, the Bubblers had a chance to tie it, but Grabowski followed with a huge play on defense, forcing a fumble by Laing at the end of an 18-yard run that was recovered by Drew Eisenhower.
Amory Thompson ended the ensuing drive with a spinning, 20-yard run for a TD.
Matthew Kramer then blocked a Boiling Springs punt following a high snap to set Wyomissing up at the Bubblers 22. Thompson scored on a 7-yard pass from Zechman to make it 28-7 with 47 seconds left in the first half.
Boiling Springs got a brief jolt when Menke, who finished with 177 yards on 13 carries, scored on an 82-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, but Wyomissing scored on its remaining four drives while stifling the Bubblers.
Grabowski scored on runs of 6 yards and 69 yards to make it 42-14. Zechman hit Mack for a 24-yard score to invoke the mercy rule, then sophomore Ryker Jones scored on a 65yard run.
After that it was just a countdown to a celebration.
“Some people didn’t believe that we were going to be as good as we were last year,” said Thompson, a senior running back/defensive back. “We just had to take the time. We capitalized on what we had and we put the work in, so we got it done.”
“It’s amazing,” said Grabowski while his teammates took pictures with the championship trophy. “The scenery here. Everybody came out to support us, the community with friends and family here. You can’t get better than this on a Saturday afternoon.”