FOOTBALL: Northern Lebanon remains perfect with 'ugly' win
Results can be deceiving. But for Northern Lebanon, it'll take what it can get right now as it heads into the toughest part of its schedule this season.
Two late touchdowns allowed Northern Lebanon to escape with a 16-13 home win over Williams Valley (2-4, 2-2 Tri-Valley) in a non-conference affair, keeping Roy Wall's club at a perfect 6-0 record.
"They played us tough last year," Wall said. "We kept shooting ourselves in the foot, we had people wide open dropping passes. Williams Valley played tough. They have a limited number of players and they gave as all we can handle. Sometimes you have to win ugly and this was ugly, but it's a win."
Northern Lebanon senior quarterback Issac Wengert tossed touchdown passes to receiver Corey Teasdale and running back Luke Funck in the fourth quarter in the Vikings' toughest challenge of this season.
Wengert found Funck on a screen pass with 1:13 remaining to push Northern Lebanon ahead of Williams Valley 14-13 and Dustin Motter's two-yard rush for the two-point conversion gave the Vikings a 16-13 lead.
Wengert finished the evening with 136 passing yards on 11-of-23 passing, but played much better than his stat line. Many of his receivers dropped passes, including Colton Herb, who would have grabbed a touchdown reception late in the game if not for the dropped ball.
"Anytime a player can become confident in makes them that much more dangerous," Wall said of Wengert.
Williams Valley big play capabilities early in the game netted them a 13-0 lead, with the road club scoring two touchdowns in less than a minute. Senior quarterback Nick Rodichok fired a 35-yard pass to Jake Wolfgang with a minute left in the opening quarter and hit receiver Allen Hand in stride for a 78-yard touchdown pass with just 1.6 seconds left.
Rodichok finished the game with two interceptions and two touchdowns on 7-of-18 passing, finishing the evening with 166 yards through the air. When Northern Lebanon's defensive line was able to create intensified penetration in the second half, Rodichok struggled significantly, completing just one pass over his final five attempts, for a mere 11 yards.
"Our whole defense stepped up," Wall explained. "We had a couple linebackers banged up, we pulled it out at the end, that's all that matters. That was the first time we trailed all year."
A bigger story for Northern Lebanon was the absence of now former running back Dylan Weaver. After a big game against Pequea Valley last week, Weaver was absence from the home team's bench. Wall addressed the situation after the win.
"He's no longer on the team," he said concisely.
Without Weaver for the rest of the season, Wall and the Vikings will have to rely on running back Luke Funck to handle most of the duties in the Northern Lebanon backfield. Funck had a big game for the home team Friday, rushing for 104 yards on 26 carries, along with his game-winning touchdown reception with 73 seconds left.
Northern Lebanon prepares for their two biggest contests of the year in the coming days, with home matchups against Elco and Annville-Cleona on the horizon.
"We need to get pumped up because these next three weeks are going to determine the Section championship," Wall said. "We're the defending champions, and we're not going to go down without a fight."
Northern Lebanon 16, Williams Valley 13
Northern Lebanon00016—16Williams Valley13000—13
First Quarter
WV- Nick Rodichok 35 yard pass to Jake Wolfgang (Peppe Mini kick) 1:00 left
WV-Rodichok 78 yard pass to Allen Hand (Mini kick blocked) 1.6 left
Fourth Quarter
NL- Issac Wengert 20 yard pass to Corey Teasdale (conversion successful)
NL- Wengert nine yard pass to Luke Funck (conversion successful)
NL – WV
NLWVFirst downs1412Rushes-yards43-13633-115Passing11-23-07-18-2Passing yards136166 Total yards272280Punts4-344-24.5Fumbles-lost2-12-1Penalties-yards4-65-45
Individual statistics
Rushing: NL- Funck 26-104, Wengert 11-6, Smith 3-14, Teasdale 1-9, Motter 2-3; WV- Rabuck 25-93, Ulsh 1-9, Rodichok 4-11, Engle 1-(minus four), Savage 2-6
Passing: NL- Wengert 11-23-0-136; WV- Rodichok 7-18-2-166
Receiving: NL- Teasdale 7-94, Smith1-14, Funck 2-15, Herb 1-13; WV- Wolfgang 1-35, Hand 1-78, Rabuck 2-23, Engle 2-19, Savage 1-11