But the Indians kept their focus and didn’t let even an hour-plus long weather delay break it, as Muncy scored on its first six possessions and picked up its first win of the season, 45-0 over Wyalusing.
“We had to come up here, travel well, face some unknowns and take care of business,” said Muncy coach Chris Persing. “We got here about 45 minutes late, then had the weather delay, but I thought we did good job of being prepared and only looking at this week and not anything else.”
The Indians’ offense posted 369 yards and featured touchdowns by seven different players, while its defense held down Wyalusing offensively, as the Rams were limited to just 77 total yards and had six plays go for negative yardage. Muncy also picked off two Ram passes on the evening, one of which led to an Indian touchdown.
The Indians also got outstanding play at the quarterback position from two different players, with freshman Noah Walters throwing for 134 on 8-of-10 passing with two touchdowns and also running for 35 yards on six carries with a score. Sophomore Noah Weikle completed 3-of-4 passes for 59 yards.
“We like both of them a lot, so the plan coming into the year was to give them both reps because they both bring a skill set that is a little bit different from each other depending on what we’re trying to do offensively,” said Persing. “As long as they’re kind of even, we’re going to keep playing them both”
Muncy was in control from the beginning. The Indians received the opening kickoff and went 58 yards on just five plays, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Layken Harris.
After a three-and-out by Wyalusing, the Indians took over at their own 40-yard line, which was actually their worst starting field position of the game. Nathan Rogers made it a one-play drive with a 60-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
The Rams then chewed up nearly five minutes with their next drive, but were stopped on downs at midfield. From there, Muncy took over and needed just three plays to take a three-score lead on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Noah Walters to Kynton Fish on a third-and-11 play. The Rams blocked the PAT.
After another Wyalusing three-and-out, the Indians put together their longest scoring drive of the game in terms of plays, going 55 yards in eight plays and capped by a one-yard plunge by Walters. The Rams once again managed to block the PAT.
Trobaugh was picked off by Muncy’s Cullen Reed at the Ram 28 with just over seven minutes to play in the second quarter. The game was then suspended due to a thunderstorm for over an hour and when it resumed, Muncy went 28 yards in five plays with a two-yard touchdown by Jaxson Thomas giving them a 33-0 lead.
Muncy then tacked on one more score just before halftime to ensure it would be a running clock for the entire second half, as Walters hit Reed for a 21-yard touchdown pass with just :05 left before the half.
“It’s all about just piecing it together. I’ve asked these guys to learn a lot of new stuff this year both on offense and defense and we’re doing things in different ways than they’re used to,” said Wyalusing coach Jeff Hindman. “That was always going to be a big task for them and as a coach, I think I need to do a better job of breaking it down during the week and making sure they can focus on the pieces so we can put them all together. The kids are working hard and giving it everything they’ve got and we started to come together a little bit tonight.”
One positive for the Wyalusing offense was the connection between Wiley Trobaugh and Landry Tinna, as Tinna caught four of Trobaugh’s five completed passes for 55 yards.
“It’s early in the season, this is a young team and for many guys it’s their first taste of varsity football,” said Hindman. “And I’m proud of them because they’re standing up there, taking the hits and not backing down. I couldn’t be any prouder of this team right now because they’ve had two really tough games and they’re going to be back at it, giving it everything they’ve got.”
Muncy notched the only score of the second half early in the fourth quarter when Ajay Zuniga capped an eight-play drive with a two-yard touchdown.
Muncy 45, Wyalusing 0
Muncy (1-1) 20 19 0 6 – 45
Wyalusing (0-2) 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
8:59 – (M) Layken Harris 2-yard run (Trostle kick), 5-58, 3:01
6:26 – (M) Nathan Rogers 60-yard run (Trostle kick), 1-60, :14
:26 – (M) Kynton Fish 51-yard pass from Noah Walters (kick blocked), 3-50, 1:06
Second quarter
7:39 – (M) Noah Walters 1-yard run (kick blocked), 8-55, 3:14
5:52 – (M) Jaxson Thomas 2-yard run (Trostle kick), 5-28, 1:20
:05 – (M) Cullen Reed 21-yard pass from Noah Walters (kick failed), 7-30, 3:02
Fourth quarter
9:33 – (M) Ajay Zuniga 2-yard run (kick failed), 8-35, 5:13
Statistics
M W
First downs 19 4
Rushes-net yards 32-176 21-8
Passing yardage 193 69
Passing 11-14-2-0 5-17-0-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-50 3-17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Muncy: Layken Harris (8-27-1), Ajay Zuniga (8-2-1), Noah Walters (6-35-1), Nasir Miller (4-14), Chase Boozer (2-19), Jaxson Thomas (2-18-1), Nathan Rogers (1-60-1), Noah Weikle (1-1); Wyalusing: Jacob Gromley (9-10), Patrick O’Connor (6-5), Wiley Trobaugh (6-(-7))
PASSING: Muncy: Noah Walters (8-10-134-2-0), Noah Weikle (3-4-59-0-0); Wyalusing: Wiley Trobaugh (5-17-69-0-2)
RECEIVING: Muncy: Cullen Reed (4-74-1), Kynton Fish (2-49-1), Nathan Rogers (2-44), Kyle Feigles (1-12), Aydan Aurelio (1-9), Chase Boozer (1-5); Wyalusing: Landry Tinna (4-55), Sullivan McCracken (1-14)