PREP FOOTBALL: Wise Central crushed by Wilson Memorial, 68-24

FISHERSVILLE, Va. – Wilson Memorial rushed for over 500 yards and scored six touchdowns in the first half on its way to a 68-24 thrashing of Wise County Central in the Group A, Division 2 Western Section playoffs on Saturday.

The Hornet tandem of Malik Rucks and Connery Swift provided the one-two punch with 185 and 182 yards, respectively. Rucks had four touchdowns, while Swift added three.

“Speed, speed, speed – that’s what killed us today,” Warrior coach Jason Mullins said after the game. “[I] felt that [Wilson’s] backs were very, very good. All night they were one block away from taking it to the house.”

Mullins began the year in the unenviable position of starting a brand new program with two consolidated schools – J.J. Kelly and Pound.

“[Combining] the schools has been tough, but I wouldn’t want to do this with a different bunch of kids,” Mullins said. “Nobody thought we would be [in the playoffs]. I admire this class of seniors a lot. They set the standards.”

Mullins said that the Warriors were given the task of writing their own history.

“There were no record books for Central,” he said. “Now, expectations have been set. I knew the toughness was there – I’ve coached at both Kelly and Pound. We’ve got a good group coming up and hopefully they will carry on the tradition.”

Central could not stop the running attack that Wilson threw at it.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Hornets scored on their fourth play from scrimmage, a 44-yard sprint by Rucks. Senior Grant Sauer kicked his first of eight extra points.

The Warriors stormed back with a seven-play, 80-yard drive. A pair of 14-yard runs by Logan Collins sandwiched around a 41-yard romp by Joe Burnopp set up the first Central score.

Collins’ second dash around the left side gave the visitors some hope. The kick failed leaving the Warriors down by one, 7-6.

It was all Wilson after that, as Rucks scored on a 42-yard sprint down the left sideline on third-and-one and Swift delivered a 21-yard punt return after the Hornets stopped the Warriors on their next series.

Swift pounded out a 35-yard touchdown on Wilson’s first play after the punt return and it was quickly 21-6.

The Hornet’s Sauer picked off Central quarterback Tyler Mullins on the next series and three plays later, Swift’s four-yard run made it 28-6.

Central could do nothing against the Wilson defense and consecutive three-and-outs sunk the Warriors’ chances.

The Hornets, who scored on their first six possessions, made it 35-6 on a six-play, 65-yard drive as Rucks took an inside handoff from Swift and ran in from the eight yards out.

Wilson’s Preston Deacon scored the final touchdown of the first half on a 10-yard plunge. On the drive, Swift tossed a 15-yard pass to freshman Juh-Kwquan McCauley on fourth-and-three to keep the series alive and then sprinted 30 yards to set up the Deacon run.

“Malik and I really ran our hearts out,” Swift said. “All we wanted to do was to leave it all on the field.”

Central ended the half on a hopeful note as Graysen Hale nearly broke away for a score on the last play of the half. Only a tackle from behind by Jacob Walker saved the score.

The Warriors took that momentum into the second half, when Justin Stanley recovered an onside kick and took up residence in Wilson territory.

But hope flickered as Wilson stuffed a fake punt and then drove 54 yards in six plays to up the score to 48-6. Rucks’ five-yard run capped the drive.

Wilson’s defense stopped another fourth-down attempt by stopping a Mullins sneak at the visitor’s 29.

It took just three plays for Swift to hit pay dirt from 11 yards out. Sauer's kick made it 55-6 at the 5:31 mark of the third quarter.

Wilson then put the game away as freshman Thai Wright grabbed an interception and returned it 18 yards to set up a 17-yard dash by McCauley to build a 62-6 bulge.

After allowing Central’s first score, the Green Hornets defensively allowed just 89 yards – including Hale’s 43-yard run at the halftime horn – on the Warrior's next six possessions.

Wilson coach Jeremiah Major was pleased with his defense.

“After giving up a couple of big runs, we settled down. We had a great week of practice and we were prepared mentally,” he said.

Senior Ricky Hanger led the hosts with 11 tackles and caused a fumble, while classmate Ryan Coffey added 10 tackles.

“Our defense works hard,” Hanger said. “Our key word is 'punish' and we want to do that to all our opponents.”

“We’ve done nothing but get better as the season goes on,” he said. “But it's not like we have one key player – we are strong as a team.”

Central did add three scores late in the game.

Burnopp finished off a 14-play, 78-yard drive with a four-yard run with 9:45 left in the contest.

Wilson’s reserve quarterback, freshman Mack Cullen, added a 37-yard score on a broken play and the Warriors added two touchdowns to close out the game.

With the win, the Hornets reserved their spot in the next round and a trip to Appomattox, a 40-7 winner over Grundy on Friday night.

“We are really excited about the next game,” Swift said. “We are playing together as a family and taking care of business. We’ll enjoy this win tonight, but we'll watch some film and be ready for our next game.”

Central                6              0            0              18—24

Wilson Memorial             21              20              21              6—68

Scoring Summary

WM—Rucks 44 run (Sauer kick)

C—Collins 14 run (kick failed)

WM—Rucks 42 run (Sauer kick)

WM—Swift 35 run (Sauer kick)

WM—Swift 4 run (Sauer kick)

WM—Rucks 8 run (Sauer kick)

WM—Deacon 10 run (kick failed)

WM—Rucks 5 run (Sauer kick)

WM—Swift 11 run (Sauer kick)

WM—McCauley 17 run (Sauer kick)

C—Burnopp 4 run (pass failed)

WM—Cullen 37 run (kick failed)

WM—Thompson 7 pass from Mullins (pass failed)

C—Graham 57 run (run failed)

Team Stats

Rushes-Yards: C 50-374, WM 45-503; Passing Yards: C 27, WM 15; Comp.-Att.-Int.: C 5-16-2, WM 1-2-0; Fumbles-Lost: C 2-0, WM 2-1; Penalties-Yards: C 4-50, WM 2-10