Muncy over Warrior Run

Written by: Matt Beltz on Saturday, August 26th, 2017. Follow Matt Beltz on Twitter.

TURBOTVILLE – Sometimes, a football game can be somewhat of a ho-hum affair in the early part, only for the action to pick up late and feature an exciting finish.

Except for the final drive, Friday’s season opener between Muncy and Warrior Run was the exact opposite. The teams combined for 28 points and 281 yards of total offense, which didn’t even include an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, in the first quarter alone. All 28 points came in the first six minutes.

From that point forward, there were only 236 yards of combined offense for the remainder of the game and Muncy’s late-second quarter touchdown that capped a 16-play drive ended up being the difference in the game as the Indians topped the Defenders 21-14.

“They got after us. We weren’t getting enough yards on first down, which put us in a difficult situation and they have enough talent on their defensive line that when they knew we were passing, they could pin our ears back and get pressure,” said Warrior Run coach D.J. Flick, who saw Muncy record four sacks against his Defenders.

This marked the fourth straight year that the two teams opened the season against each other. After three years of trading blowout victories – two by Warrior Run and one by Muncy – this was the first game decided by single digits in that string, and Warrior Run’s 32-7 win a year ago at Muncy provided the Indians with plenty of motivation coming into Week 1 this year.

“Our team remembered how tough that felt last year to come out and be smacked in the mouth and they didn’t like that taste so they put in a lot of hard work this offseason,” said Muncy coach Sean Tetreault. “Warrior Run came out fired up but we answered the bell and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Muncy came out strong and despite having a 40-yard kickoff return shortened by a penalty on the opening kick, still went 72 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead on the first of three Colby Alpaugh touchdown of the evening, this one a 12-yard run. Quarterback Coleman Good completed a pair of 23-yard passes to two different receivers on the drive. Alpaugh was the offensive star of the game as he amassed 151 yards on the ground on 26 carries and also 30 through the air.

Warrior Run answered immediately as Pacey Howard returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.

The Indians answered right back with a 64-yard drive on just four plays, with a long 52-yard run by Alpaugh highlighting the drive, and he capped it with a three-yard run to put Muncy back up 14-7.

The Defenders then took just 59 seconds to tie things up again on Gage Anzulvich’s 62-yard touchdown run as he took an option play down the right sideline and outran Muncy’s last defenders to the end zone.

From that point on, however, the closest Warrior Run would get for the remainder of the evening to the Muncy end zone was the Muncy 32-yard line, until its final play of the game, which came from the Muncy 26. The Defenders got just six more first downs for the rest of the game up until their final drive, which started at their own 20 following a missed 29-yard field goal by Muncy. Warrior Run converted a third and fourth down play on that drive and got to the Muncy 26 with under 20 seconds remaining for a fourth-and-1 play, but Anzulavich’s pass was dropped.

“You don’t want to be in second and third-and-long the whole game,” said Flick. “We tried to establish the run on first down but it really didn’t work out and that was a credit to them.”

“Our defensive line is probably our strength right now and they came after the quarterback hard, limited his mobility and kept him in the pocket pretty well,” said Tetreault. “He got free a few plays but that’s going to happen with a good quarterback but we felt if we could keep him in there, we were confident in our secondary.”

The difference in the game ended up being the 16-play, 76-yard drive by Muncy that took up 5:35 in the second quarter. The Indians successfully converted two fourth down plays, including one from about midfield, and capped the drive when Good found Alpaugh down the middle of the field on a post route from 30 yards out.

 

Muncy 21, Warrior Run 14
Muncy (1-0) 14 7 0 0 – 21
Warrior Run (0-1) 14 0 0 0 – 14

 

First quarter
8:55 – (M) Colby Alpaugh 12-yard run (Nate Paisley kick), 7-72, 3:05
8:41 – (WR) Pacey Howard 88-yard kickoff return (Austin Soltesz kick)
7:15 – (M) Colby Alpaugh 3-yard run (Nate Paisley kick), 4-64, 1:26
6:16 – (WR) Gage Anzulavich 62-yard run (Austin Soltesz kick), 4-70, :59

Second quarter
2:33 – (M) Colby Alpaugh 30-yard pass from Coleman Good (Nate Paisley kick), 16-76, 5:35

 

Statistics
M WR
First downs 16 10
Rushes-net yards 48-214 28-94
Passing yardage 100 109
Passing 8-22-1-0 12-27-0-0
Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-1
Penalties-yards 7-55 7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Muncy: Colby Alpaugh (26-151-2), Michael Kustanbauter (12-44), Colby Moyle (7-11), Coleman Good (1-5), Chad McElwee (1-4), TEAM (1-(-1)); Warrior Run: Pacey Howard (14-35), Gage Anzulavich (12-54-1), Forrest Seybold (2-5)
PASSING: Muncy: Coleman Good (8-22-100-1-0); Warrior Run: Gage Anzulavich (11-26-100-0-0), Denver Beachel (1-1-9-0-0)
RECEIVING: Muncy: Dylan Wilt (2-31), Kolby Moyer (2-7), Colby Alpaugh (1-30-1), Christian Good (1-23), Noah Gush (1-7), Michael Kustanbauter (1-2); Warrior Run: Riley Daubert (6-63), Denver Beachel (4-29), Isaiah Derr (1-13), Pacey Howard (1-4)

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