Lions Beat Middletown 20-7 to Capture Regional Championship
by Joey Thompson photos by Michael Tauriello for Walkersville High School Lion’s Pride
The Walkersville Lions football team needed a win today to move on to the state semifinals, and that is just what they got on Friday night. The Lions beat the Middletown Knights for the second time in three weeks, this time by a score of 20-7.
The game did not have a promising start from the Lions. After a three-and-out on the Middletown opening drive, junior Matt Evich lined up to punt. Evich, who is also the quarterback, sent one downfield that bounced off the chest of return man and senior Chad Gleason and into the hands of Middletown senior Brandon Jones. The Knights got the ball at the Walkersville 35 and methodically moved the ball a few yards at a time. After 12 plays Jones punched it into the end zone from the 1 yard line, and the extra point made it 7-0.
The Lions on their first offensive drive, going three-and out after three runs up the middle. After another Middletown punt Walkersville deep in their own territory, the Lions started to move the ball. Running lanes started to open for Gleason and juniors Ty Littleton and Jacob Wetzel at the same time as mismatches started to be exploited. Wetzel and senior tight end Kyle Daggett were consistently open all game starting on this drive. As an uncharastically pass-happy Walkersville squad found themselves at the Middletown 15, everything started to go wrong. A sack and an interception ensured that a 18 play, 64 yard drive netted no points.
By now Walkersville had started to shut down Middletown on offense. There was nowhere for Middletown to run and the secondary was allowing nothing, so punts came often. The Lions got the ball back with around three minutes left in the first half. Using mostly Wetzel and Gleason they got the ball all the way down to the 5 yard line with 20 seconds left. After two straight toss runs with Gleason, junior quarterback Billy Gant pitched to him a third time. He then paused and threw to Daggett for a touchdown. The extra point was good and it was 7-7 at the half.
It was a sloppy half that had some missed opportunities and miscues for the Lions. Junior fan Kyle Wilkinson said, “We need to play with more intensity and step up on defense in the second half.”
The third quarter was a slugfest, with the two teams punting on four straight drives. The last punt was a Middletown punt on fourth and inches. It was a curious decision, considering they had had moderate success running in the game and it was only around midfield. That punt would come back to haunt them.
Backed up near their own end zone, Walkersville needed a big play to get the drive going, which is exactly what they got. Gant completed a 29 yard pass down the sideline to Wetzel, who followed that up with run to set the Lions up at the Middletown 44. Using Gleason, Littleton, and junior Christian Policelli in the running game, Walkersville went into the fourth quarter on the Middletown 7.
Two plays later Gant scrambled all the way down to the one, and Gleason scored on the next play. Good defense on the next drive forced another Middletown punt, and after a Walkersville three-and-out the Knights had a chance to tie up the game if they managed to drive down the field. They could not. The defensive line was great all night at stuffing the run and forcing the throw, and Middletown could not throw. Gleason picked off a pass from Matt Evich which set up Walkersville within the Middletown 40. Two plays later junior Tyler Gleason took the handoff and ran thirty yards to the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. It was 20-7, and it was all but over for the Knights.
The Knights tried to score again, but there were less than five minutes left and it was clear that there was no hope. An excellent performance by the defense had given the offense time to beat away at the Middletown line and they got the win because of this. Gant said, “We had a really good halftime preparation. Our seniors came out as leaders and we were ready to go.” Gleason said, “Middletown didn’t have the ball as much, so they didn’t have momentum and Tyler finished it off with a great run and it sealed the game.”
The win will take the Lions to the state semifinals. They are going to play the Dunbar Poets, who beat previously undefeated Hereford 60-14. It should be another great game on the road to a potential state championship.
