WILMINGTON — Drew Novak passed for five touchdowns and ran for two others as Western Brown won a 49-28 shootout with Wilmington Friday night at Alumni Field.
Despite the 21-point difference, the game felt much closer. In fact, with 9:47 to play in the fourth quarter, the Hurricane were within 35-28.
But a 95-yard pass from Novak to Matthew Frye broke the back of the Hurricane who fall to 3-6 on the year.
Western Brown is 7-2.
The game was called with 4:20 to play in the fourth period after the lights on the Western Brown side of the field went out. After a brief delay, the two teams shook hands at midfield.
“We battled but to beat them you can’t make mistakes and we made mistakes,” WHS head coach Scott Killen said.
Though the outcome will never be known, without the mistakes Wilmington went toe to toe with one of the best Division III teams in the area.
WHS took the opening kickoff, drove 72 yards in 10 plays but fumbled inside the WB 20. Four plays and a 70-yard pass later, it was 7-0 Broncos.
The Hurricane tied the game at 7-7 on the next drive as the offense continued to be pretty much unstoppable. Ky Bozarth hauled in a pass from Cameron McEvoy and went 50 yards for the touchdown.
Western Brown came up empty on a 17-play drive. Josh Snell, Tayshon Cordy, Tyler Kramer and Shane Griffith all had key defensive plays on that series.
Down 14-7 late in the first half, Wilmington was faced with 4th and 1 at the WB 41. But two false start penalties made it 4th and 11 and the subsequent punt snap went over Henry’s head and WB took over at the 19. The Broncos scored with 46 seconds to go til halftime for a 21-7 lead.
Scoring on the first drive of the second half, Western Brown appeared headed to an easy win, up 28-7. But a nifty drive with big runs and pass plays turned things around for the Hurricane. Thad Stuckey went the final 13 yards and it was 28-14.
WHS was again faced with a 21 point deficit in the fourth quarter. But McEvoy passed 12 yards to Jeff Valentine for a score and then, one the next WB possession, the defense blocked a punt and Mike Brown recovered at the 15. A short three-play drive ended with a perfectly executed screen pass to Stuckey and with 9:47 to go in the game, WHS was within 35-28.
But the pin in the WHS bubble was the 95-yard pass play that came after a stellar effort by the Hurricane special teams.
“The fumble hurt. Jumping offside twice before halftime, that hurt,” Killen lamented. “We have to find a way to overcome but our kids battled, they fought. It’s frustrating but my kids fought. We have to limit our mistakes.”
Drew Novak was 26-45 passing for 460 yards. He ran 16 times for 66 yards. Dylan Novak caught 9 for 183 while Frye had 3 for 112.
“Of the offenses I’ve seen in my career, Kenton was explosive but these guys are pretty efficient in what they do,” Killen said.
McEvoy ran 13 times for 68 yards while Stuckey went 14 for 76. McEvoy was 9 for 20 passing for 169 yards. Tanner Killen caught 2 for 47 and passed for 33 to McEvoy. Stuckey had 3 receptions for 45 yards.
SUMMARY
October 15, 2021
@Alumni Field
Western Brown 49 Wilmington 28
WB^7^14^14^14^^49
WIL^7^0^7^14^^28
First Quarter
WB: Dylan Novak 70 yard pass from Drew Novak (Evan Grimes PAT) 5:26
WIL: Ky Bozarth 50 yard pass from Cameron McEvoy (Parker Henry PAT) 2:19
Second Quarter
WB: Drew Novak 4 yard run (Evan Grimes PAT) 6:00
WB: Logan Campbell 14 yard pass from Drew Novak (Evan Grimes PAT) 0:46
Third Quarter
WB: Logan Campbell 10 yard pass from Drew Novak (Evan Grimes PAT) 9:26
WIL: Thad Stuckey 13 yard run (Parker Henry PAT) 5:48
WB: Logan Campbell 6 yard pass from Drew Novak (Evan Grimes PAT) 0:29
Fourth Quarter
WIL: Jeff Valentine 12 yard pass from Cameron McEvoy (Parker Henry PAT) 11:55
WIL: Thad Stuckey 23 yard pass from Cameron McEvoy (Parker Henry PAT) 9:47
WB: Matthew Frye 95 yard pass from Drew Novak (Evan Grimes PAT) 9:29
WB: Drew Novak 10 yard run (Evan Grimes PAT) 4:44
