WOLCOTT — The Hawks ran into a more experienced and physical team last Friday night in Wolcott.
After a sustained drive to open the game, Wolcott’s Mike Pastore found the end zone from 10 yards out and Anthony Mennillo added the extra point to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff the ball bounced toward senior running back Sean McAllen; as he reached down to pick up the ball he was blasted by a Wolcott player and fumbled the ball straight into the waiting arms of an Eagle.
The Eagles scored two plays later, and were off and soaring en route to a 55-15 win.
“Physically we got manhandled, Wolcott was superior to us physically and experience wise,” head coach Chris Anderson said.
Wolcott (3-0) put up all but six of those 55 points in the first half.
In a game so focused on the physicality of it all, the mental side is just as important. Anderson knows that his players are mentally tough, but sometimes doubt can creep in.
“When you don’t stop people defensively you kind of get demoralized a little bit and when you’re not gaining yards on the ground running the ball the same thing happens,” Anderson said.
Woodland’s two scores both involved seniors in McAllen and wide receiver Jon Scirpo.
McAllen had a 64-yard touchdown run to get the game to a one-score contest in the first quarter. McAllen led the way on the ground for the Hawks (1-2) with 65 yards on eight carries.
Scirpo, who had two catches for 51 yards, snagged his first score of the season on a 16-yard 50/50 ball in the end zone tossed by freshman quarterback Zach Bedryczuk to end the first half.
Bedryczuk finished the night 2-for-7 for 51 yards and one touchdown.
“He [Bedryczuk] is doing a really nice job; he is going to make mistakes just like senior captains do. I am here to help fix them,” Anderson said.
Bedryczuk seemed to take strides in the latter half of the second quarter when the team moved the ball effectively to end the half with a score. The Hawks’ QB finished the drive strong on two well thrown balls to Scripo as well as completing the two-point conversion to senior David Bobbie. The team showed some resilience by ending the half on a high note.
Anderson understands that there is plenty of room for improvement to be made by everyone on the team.
“The game comes down to blocking and tackling and right now we aren’t doing either one of those fundamentals well,” he said. “Our players need to do a better job of executing what they are asked to do and we as coaches need to put them in better position.
“Our goal right now is to get better both individually and knowing what our roles are so that collectively as a team we can get better.”
The Hawks are back at home Friday night when they take on the Watertown Indians (1-2).
