Warrior Run big over Muncy

Written by: Matt Beltz on Saturday, August 27th, 2016. Follow Matt Beltz on Twitter.

MUNCY – Warrior Run and Muncy opened the year against each other for the third straight season on Friday, and Warrior Run’s 32-7 victory followed the same trend as the last two season openers, which were also lopsided wins.

Two years ago, it was Warrior Run winning 29-6. Last season, Muncy ran for 272 yards and topped Warrior Run 35-0 in head coach Sean Tetreault’s debut.

This year, former Montgomery and Slippery Rock standout D.J. Flick made his debut at Warrior Run. The former Canadian Football League veteran got a strong rushing performance from his team as the Defenders ran for 226 yards and combined that with a strong defensive performance to stifle the Indians.

“I think the team believes in what we’re doing as a coaching staff. I had an idea that they did but after tonight, seeing them reap the rewards from the entire offseason, I think they’re going to buy in even more and we’re just going to keep the ball rolling,” said Flick.

Warrior Run got big performances from a trio of freshmen on offense and its defense held Muncy to just 117 yards of offense and forced three turnovers, which were turned into 19 points.

“We made some unfortunate mistakes early in the game, had some costly turnovers,” said Tetreault. “Warrior Run came ready to play, they were aggressive and flying around, making plays on the ball so hats off to them. They did a great job tonight.”

Freshman running back Riley Daubert that led the way. The smallest player on the field at just 5’4, 130 pounds, he ran 21 times for 107 yards and a touchdown, which came on a 36-yard burst on a third-and-1 play on the Defenders’ first drive of the night. Fellow freshman Ahmad Keyes had 10 carries for 53 yards while Denver Beachel had three carries for 24 yards, a reception and a pair of PATs.

“We had some injuries and knew we were going to need some freshman to step up and they were up to the task,” said Flick.

It was an early miscue by Muncy that shifted the momentum to the Defenders, and the Indians would never get back all night. After Daubert’s touchdown less than four minutes into the first quarter gave Warrior Run the lead, a lateral pass from Coleman Good to Jeff Fry was fumbled, which Matt Gummo scooped up and returned 34 yards to put the Defenders up by two scores.

“It was supposed to be a forward pass. I thought it was forward but the officials saw it different and that’s what happens. You’ve got to get on the ball and cover it and make sure it’s still ours,” said Tetreault. “That play did burst our bubble a little bit and we never bounced back.”

“Any time you’re on the road and get an offensive score right away and then get a defensive score, that can change the momentum and we tried to ride that for as long as possible,” said Flick.

Muncy was able to cut that in half late in the first quarter and the Indians then stalled a long Warrior Run drive at their own 15 midway through the second. But the Indians then lost their second fumble of the night and the Defenders were able to once again capitalize off the takeaway, as Gummo took a handoff on an end-around play on a fourth-and-7 and ran it in from 10 yards out to put Warrior Run up 20-7.

Warrior Run then made it three scores off three Muncy turnovers on the Indians’ next drive as Gage Anzulavich picked off Good at the Muncy 45 and returned it to the end zone to put his team up 26-7 at the half.

The Defenders then held Muncy without a first down in the entire second half on four possessions as the Indians ran only four plays in Warrior Run territory. Warrior Run ran 34 plays to Muncy’s 16 in the second half.

Warrior Run 32, Muncy 7
Warrior Run (1-0) 14 12 0 6 – 32
Muncy (0-1) 7 0 0 0 – 7

First quarter
9:20 – (WR) Riley Daubert 36-yard run (Denver Beachel kick), 6-75, 2:40
8:28 – (WR) Matt Gummo 34-yard fumble return (Denver Beachel kick)
1:09 – (M) Adam Dietrick 10-yard pass from Coleman Good (Chris Titman kick), 7-58, 1:49

Second quarter
2:22 – (WR) Matt Gummo 10-yard run (kick failed), 7-41, 3:17
:51 – (WR) Gage Anzulavich 45-yard interception return (rush failed)

Fourth quarter
10:35 – (WR) Ty Kirkner 20-yard pass from Gage Anzulavich (kick failed), 4-27, 1:15

Statistics
WR M
First downs 17 5
Rushes-net yards 49-226 26-82
Passing yardage 105 35
Passing 7-15-1-0 5-11-1-1
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 7-35 4-17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Warrior Run: Riley Daubert (21-107-1), Ahmad Keyes (10-53), Gage Anzulavich (6-15), Denver Beachel (3-24), Matt Gummo (3-13-1), Ty Kirkner (3-9), TEAM (2-(-4)), Kade Meyer (1-9); Muncy: Coleman Good (7-51), Mike Kustanbauter (5-30), Gerard Alpaugh (8-4), Jarred King (5-(-1)), Jeff Fry (1-(-2))
PASSING: Warrior Run: Gage Anzulavich (7-15-105-1-0); Muncy: Coleman Good (4-10-32-1-1), Kolby Moyer (1-1-3-0-0)
RECEIVING: Warrior Run: Kade Meyer (3-33), Matt Gummo (2-24), Ty Kirkner (1-20-1), Denver Beachel (1-28); Muncy: Jeff Fry (3-22), Adam Dietrick (1-10-1), Eric Berkheiser (1-3)

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