SAYRE - Troy Hembury has been Muncy's horse all year and on Friday night, the Indians rode Hembury's legs and Anthony Barberio's arm to a 21-14 win over Sayre to keep their hopes of a District 4 Class A playoff berth alive.
"I give Sayre all the credit. They're a tough team," said Muncy coach Jay Drumheller, whose Indians overcame 11 penalties for 75 yards. " We didn't play our smartest tonight. We had a lot of penalties, a lot of missed communications, a lot of missed formations, but it was a good game."
Hembury amassed 30 carries for 163 yards, shedding tackles along the way. Hembury never made it to the end zone, but he regularly put the Indians in position to put points on the board. Barberio hit 11 of 19 passes for 134 yards with two TDs in the win.
"Troy got nicked a little bit last week against South and didn't play the second half," said Drumheller. "We rested him this week and he dared me. He said, 'I'm fine coach,' so we played him. He did a good job. He actually went in a cornerback and made some nice stops at cornerback."
Muncy drove to the Sayre 3-yard line on its first possession only to be turned away on an incomplete fourth-down pass. The Indians got the ball back at Sayre's 44 after a short punt and covered that distance in eight plays. Barberio did the honors on the last play of the first period, but it was a big 18-yard pass from Barberio to Ebner on a third-and-15 that overcame two 5-yard penalties and keep the drive alive.
Late in the half, Muncy capped a 97-yard, 13-play march that ate 3:42 off the clock with a 20-yard TD pass from Barberio to T.J. Moyle. Barberio connected on five of seven passes for 65 of the 97 yards, with the connection to Moyle leaving 28 seconds on the clock.
That was a bit too much.
Sayre hadn't attempted a pass in the half with the exception of a fake punt that fell incomplete. After taking over at the Muncy 49 following three kickoffs that went out of bounds, the Redskins went to the air. Quarterback Adam Wampole found Kyle Post behind the Muncy defense for 22 yards on the first snap and for 20 yards and a touchdown on the third. Despite a dominating performance by the Indians in the first 24 minutes, J.P. Harbst nailed the PAT kick to send the game to the half at 14-7.
The Indians started off well in the third period when Ken Koch picked off a Wampole pass, but penalties ended the Indians' drive before it could even begin.
Sayre took over at its 23 and methodically drove to Muncy's 13 before Koch picked off Wampole again.
The Indians got the ball back again after a fumble, but the host's defense stood strong.
