Freshman quarterback shows he’d run through a wall to help Woodstown win, Wolverines use big second half to turn back Pitman
SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Thursday’s Games
Gloucester 44, Pennsville 20
Woodstown 34, Pitman 14
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Frankie Hoerst came to the Woodstown football program with a reputation of a big arm, the kind of arm that gets a player who’s only a freshman noticed by Power 5 organizations.
The big wing may very well be the thing that gets the quarterback to the next level four years from now, but the biggest play he made in his high school debut Thursday night came with his legs and his body.
Hoerst broke off a 51-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to literally send the Wolverines on their way to a 34-14 season-opening victory over Pitman, but it was the way he scored that had people talking.
| PIT (14) | WOOD (34) | |
| 10 | 1st Downs | 12 |
| 22-76 | Rushes-yards | 32-192 |
| 12-16-1 | Passing (C-A-I) | 6-11-0 |
| 191 | Passing yards | 88 |
| 1-1 | Fumbles-lost | 1-0 |
| 3-37.7 | Punts-avg. | 3-38.3 |
| 7-66 | Penalties-yards | 7-50 |
With the game tied at 14, Hoerst called his own number on a play from midfield. He rolled out to his right, saw some open field, pulled the ball down and then took off down the sideline.
The first down was a given, but Hoerst wanted more.
The Panthers were converging on him around the 20, but the 6-4 freshman wasn’t stopping. He lowered the boom on defensive back Sam Adams and just kept trucking into the end zone.
The last time a freshman blew up an opponent that demonstratively on his way to the end zone his name was Herschel Walker and they still talk about the way he ran over Tennessee’s Bill Bates 45 years after the fact.
“That’s just a special athlete making a special play, and sometimes that’s all you need,” Wolverines coach Frank Trautz said. “His playmaking ability, you see that. Yeah, he has a big arm but that’s a special play he made there.
“I know he has the ability to do that. I saw him take off running, I was like, all right, good, first down, thinking next play. Then all of a sudden I see he’s still on his feet running and I start running down the sidelines and we’re in the end zone.”
“It felt good, it felt good stiff-arming those two down there,” Hoerst said.
Hoerst won the starting job after a tight battle in camp with sophomore Mason Middlemiss and played the majority of the game. Trautz said he was in “complete command of the offense.”
Thanks to the big run, he wound up with 49 yards rushing. As a passer he completed six of 11 for 88 yards. After misfiring on his first two passes, his first career completion produced his first career touchdown pass, a 28-yard floater over the middle to Bryceton Rooney.
“I wasn’t really nervous,” Hoerst said. “I felt good going into it.”
Trautz may have put the offense in his freshman’s hands, but Middlemiss didn’t miss his chance to make a mark.
He made a big contribution on defense, recovering a muffed punt in the first quarter to keep the Wolverines’ opening possession alive, breaking up a pass in the second quarter and intercepting a pass at the start of the fourth. The Wolverines converted both turnovers into touchdowns by Cole Ware.
“I came into this game with a mentality that I’m going to do whatever I need to help our team win,” Middlemiss said. “If I’ve got to play defense, that’s the way I’ve got to go to help the team.”
Middlemiss did see some action at quarterback and made the most of it. He went in with two minutes left in the third quarter and the Wolverines in the red zone. He covered the final 12 yards on a pair of carries for the touchdown that made it 27-14. He also was under center in the Wolverines’ final series of the game.
“I went in with the mentality that I was just going to help the team and do what I do every day in practice,” he said. “I came into the game knowing if I want to be great I’ve got to get in there and do what I need to do every single day. Getting in there felt amazing, the first varsity touchdown for the Woodstown Wolverines with me, and it just felt great.”
The touchdown runs by Hoerst and Middlemiss were part of a big second half that carried the Wolverines to their fourth straight Opening Night win. They pulled away from a 14-all halftime tie with 155 yards and touchdowns on their first three possessions while shutting out the Panthers on just 85 yards and never letting them cross midfield.
“Coming into this game I just wanted to see us line up and execute,” Trautz said. “I knew we were going to do some things I was happy with (and) I knew that we were going to make some mistakes. I think the two touchdowns we gave up were very uncharacteristic of us, especially on defense to give up things like that, but that’s going to come with a young team. We’re going to get it fixed.
“I thought the way we responded in the second half was that of a mature team. A lot of young teams, not used to being in close games like that, it could go the other way. I was very happy with how they came out and answered the bell.”
Woodstown 34, Pitman 14
| Pitman (0-1) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0- | 14 |
| Woodstown (1-0) | 14 | 0 | 13 | 7- | 34 |
SCORING SUMMARY
WO: Cole Ware 6 run (Frankie Hoerst kick), 5:33 1Q
WO: Bryceton Rooney 28 pass from Frankie Hoerst (Frankie Hoerst kick), 1:45 1Q
P: Aiden Upham 55 pass from Dane Collum (Christian Camiscioli kick), 9:09 2Q
P: Jay Craig 49 pass from Dane Collum (Christian Camiscioli kick), 2:52 2Q
WO: Frankie Hoerst 51 run (kick blocked), 6:57 3Q
WO: Mason Middlemiss 3 run (Frankie Hoerst kick), 1:27 3Q
WO: Cole Ware 1 run (Frankie Hoerst kick), 9:58 4Q
Gloucester 44, Pennsville 20
PENNSVILLE – For a team that is looking to take the next step in its progression, this was not the way Pennsville wanted to open the season.
The Eagles had the game tied 6-6 in the second quarter, but the Lions pulled away.
“We didn’t do the little things right today,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “Made too many mistakes.”
One of the early miscues led to the Lions’ go-ahead touchdown. The Eagles had just tied the game and appeared to have stopped the Lions on fourth down near midfield, but they were hit with a facemask penalty that gave Gloucester a new set of chains and two plays later they broke off a 34-yard touchdown run to take the lead.
The Lions scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass later in the quarter to take a 20-6 halftime lead.
Adrian Alleyne, Rylan Hardy and Robbie McDade scored Pennsville’s touchdowns.
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