Wyomissing Freshman Running Back Justice Hardy shows poise beyond his years in win over Conrad Weiser

Written by: Sean McBryan on Sunday, October 15th, 2023. Follow Sean McBryan on Twitter.

Wyomissing freshman Justice Hardy is the latest stud running back to be part of head coach Bob Wolfrum’s Wing-T formation.

Hardy raced to an 83-yard touchdown to turn the momentum in the Spartans’ favor and finished with 108 yards on seven carries as Wyomissing defeated Conrad Weiser 35-14 Friday afternoon in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 game at the newly minted Bob Wolfrum Stadium.

“As a kid, I remember playing on the A-field and just looking up to all the older players,” Hardy said. “Everyone’s taking me in really well this season. I didn’t know it would go this well, but the coaches are very patient with me and it’s a great feeling.”

Wyomissing held a post-game ceremony to officially commemorate the former A-field in honor of Wolfrum, the Spartans’ legendary head coach who won his 357th game Friday.

“It’s amazing playing for coach Wolfrum,” Hardy said. “He’s probably the best coach in Pennsylvania. He’s hard on all of us, but it makes us all better and stronger. He’s just a great coach.”

The 73-year-old Wolfrum has been a part of Wyomissing football for 50 years and head coach for 37. He trails only Southern Columbia’s Jim Roth in wins by an active Pennsylvania high school football head coach and is sixth all-time behind Roth (489), George Curry (455 – Lake Lehman, Berwick, Wyoming Valley West), Jack Henzes Jr. (444 – Dunmore), Jim Render (406 – Carrolton (OH), Uniontown, Upper St. Clair), and Don Bailey (375 – Forest Hills).

“I’ve known I wanted to be a coach ever since I was a little kid,” Wolfrum said. “My dad was a coach and he used to take me to his practices when it worked out. I was the age of our ball boys. I knew from that point on this is what I wanted to do.”

Wyomissing has had its greatest success within the past decade or so, winning a state title in 2012 and appearing in the state championship in 2020 and 2021. Wolfrum has coached NFL players in linebacker Alex Anzalone, the main cog in the state champion squad and current Detroit Lion, guard Ross Tucker, and quarterback Matt Lytle.

He’s recently coached current and future Penn State linemen in J’ven Williams and Caleb Brewer with James Franklin making various helicopter trips to Wyomissing lately.

“If you figure 20 seniors per year, it’s about 1,000 guys that have come through here while I was here,” Wolfrum said. “It’s been an honor to coach every single one. I know there’s been some kids that think I don’t like them because I yell at them. But really that means I do like them and I’m just trying to help them get better.”

The Spartans’ 41-game regular season winning streak came to an end last week in 34-14 loss against section opponent Cocalico; the last time Wyomissing had lost in the regular season was October 27, 2018.

Wyomissing rebounded Friday notwithstanding Conrad Weiser’s tough effort. The Scouts moved the ball effectively, but just couldn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities.

Neither the Spartans (4-1, 7-1) or Scouts (2-3, 2-6) scored in the first quarter.

Drew Forrey broke away for a 35-yard TD with 8:06 left in the second quarter. The ensuing PAT missed and the Spartans led 6-0.
The Scouts drove down the field with a heavy dose of running back Sevon Parham, who rushed for a game-high 139 yards, but a fumble recovered by Forrey at the 19 halted the drive.

After the Spartans lost a few yards on their first play of the next drive, Hardy burst for his 83-yard score and Logan Hyde hit Ethan Brower for the two-point conversion to put Wyo up 14-0.

Weiser’s Donovan Gingrich found Evan Rittle for a diving touchdown reception in the far right of the end zone to put the Scouts on the board with no time remaining before halftime.

The teams only took a 3:00 halftime break since they went to their locker rooms with 32 seconds remaining in the first half after Forrey suffered a serious leg injury and was taken off the field on a cart and transported to an ambulance/hospital.

Brower caught a 31-yard TD pass from Hyde with 6:10 left, Marvin Armistead rushed for a 15-yard TD with 3:08 left, and Collin Niedrowski pounded in a 2-yard score with 42 seconds left in the third quarter as the Spartans exploded for a 35-7 advantage.

Gingrich scored on a 1-yard QB sneak with 3:33 left in the game.

STATS:
Conrad Weiser
Passing: Gingrich 1-9-1–3 (TD).
Rushing: Parham 24-139, Conde 4-21, McGarrigle 2-7, Rivera 3-3, Robinson 1-3, Rittle 1-2, Gingrich 8-(-3) (TD).
Receiving: Rittle 1-3 (TD).
Penalty: 3-25.
Punt-avg: 3-27.6.
First downs: 11.
Fumbles-lost: 5-1.

Wyomissing
Passing: Hyde 4-7-0–62 (TD).
Rushing: Hardy 7-108 (TD), Jones 10-75, Eisenhower 7-32, Forrey 4-28 (TD), Hyde 1-21, Marv. Armistead 2-19 (TD), C. Niedrowski 3-13 (TD), Diaz 3-12, Macrina 2-6 T. Niedrowski 1-2, Aguelles 1-2, Reason 3-0, Team 1-(-22).
Receiving: Brower 2-40 (TD), Eisenhower 1-14, Jones 1-8.
Penalty: 6-49.
Punt-avg: 2-31.
First downs: 13.
Fumbles-lost: 2-1.

Scoring Summary
Wyomissing (7-1) 0 14 21 0- 35
Conrad Weiser (2-6) 0 7 0 7 – 14

2nd Quarter
W-Forrey 35 run (kick failed) – 8:06
W-Hardy 83 run (Brower pass from Hyde) – 3:02
CW-Rittle 3 pass from Gingrich (Gingrich kick) – 0:00

3rd Quarter
W-Brower 31 pass from Hyde (Maher kick) – 6:10
W-Marv. Armistead 15 run (Maher kick) – 3:08
W-C. Niedrowski 2 run (Maher kick) – 0:42

4th Quarter
CW- Gingrich 1 run (Gingrich kick) – 3:33

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