WELLSBORO–One yard separated Wellsboro from a fourth quarter lead. And the Hornets had four shots at gaining that advantage Saturday against Muncy.

It was going to take some preparation, some intelligence, some determination and some physicality to make this stop. It was going to take a lot of what players and coaches over the years simply call Muncy football.

And the Indians delivered. How they did so shined a light on what has made it so strong this past decade.

Bryson Barrows made two tackles for loss and a fearsome rush, as well as some outstanding coverage forced two incompletions. That tremendous stop, an ensuing 6+ minute drive and a big second quarter carried Muncy to a thrilling 23-20 win as it delivered coach Chris Persing his first victory.

“That’s just our team. That’s what Muncy football has been for years, gutsy,” quarterback Andrew Walters said after totaling 277 yards and three touchdowns. “We have the heart for it.”

“I love it,” Barrows said. “We knew it was going to be hard, but we play as a team and we got it done.”

That goal line stand epitomized how Muncy won as the defense made repeated stops and never wavered despite Wellsboro forcing three turnovers and getting a long kickoff return. The Indians (1-1) erased an eight-point second quarter deficit, built a nine-point halftime advantage, then made three crucial stops to secure victory.

Walters threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 103 yards and a score. Nate Rogers (4 catches, 67 yards) caught two touchdowns and Gavin Barrows made a fabulous play, knocking away a potential go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown pass. The stats are nice but this win was more about what comes from within than anything those numbers show.

“Once you get in that environment where you’re tired, your adrenaline is pumping and all that stuff, where do you find it? You have to find it down here,” Persing said as he pointed to his heart. “These guys have a lot of belief in each other.”

They needed it to overcome a determined Wellsboro squad which scored 14 straight points to take that second quarter lead and which did not flinch after Muncy scored 17 second half points. Marek Mascho intercepted two passes, setting up two scores and his 40-yard kickoff return set up his 14-yard touchdown catch from Griffin Morral.

Morral totaled 121 yards and three touchdowns. When he beat containment to run for seven yards on a third-and-five from the 8-yard line, Wellsboro (0-2) moved within a yard of the lead with nine minutes remaining. That’s when Muncy formed a Navy Blue wall and made a stand which not only defines its program, but which also could catapult it moving forward.

“That definitely personifies Muncy football. We don’t break,” Walters said. “We’ll fight and we’ll fight hard. We might come out banged up and bloody, but we’ll fight again next Friday.”

Muncy took the fight to Wellsboro on its stand, Barrows helping lead the charge. A Swiss Army Knife player who essentially plays wherever Muncy needs him on both sides of the ball, Barrows made two of the biggest plays of his scholastic career on first and second down. Both times he burst off the edge and drove the ball-carrier back a yard, forcing a third-and-goal from the 3.

From there, Wellsboro tried throwing the ball off play-action and roll-outs. The line, however, continued exploding off the ball and pressuring Morral, the backers flowed and the defensive backs blanketed receivers, forcing incompletions as Muncy preserved its 23-20 lead against long odds.

“I was just reading my keys and attacking the ball,” Barrows said. “It’s pretty simple, just read the keys and attack. That’s what we did at the goal line. Everyone did their job.”

That included offensive linemen Nick Delany, Nixon Lamper, Evan Trostle, Jackson Guardini and Kyler Fish who immediately built on the momentum the defense generated. They paved the way for an 11-play drive which did not produce any points but was as important as a scoring march. The Indians picked up three first downs, moved 47 yards, forced Wellsboro to take its final two timeouts and ran 6 minutes, 29 seconds off the clock.

Wellsboro had just 67 seconds remaining, no timeouts and started at its own 20 following the punt. The defense then dropped the hammer, Barrows and Carter Feigles setting the tone on first down when they forced a hurried pass. Muncy forced four straight incompletions, celebrating victory after allowing minus-two yards on Wellsboro’s final eight plays.

“Props to our o-line, getting all those first downs. Without them we don’t get those first downs and aren’t able take a knee at the end,” Barrows said. “We needed them and they came up big.”

“The line said let’s do this and they took it upon themselves to make sure we got some first downs. We had some guys run hard, and got good blocks,” Persing said. “The swing there with the stop and the line working hard to get us downfield, that’s defining stuff for an offensive line.”

Wellsboro did its best to create some defining moments as well, scoring on consecutive possessions set up by Mascho’s 40-yard kick return and 48-yard interception return to the 7-yard line. After running for a 2-yard score, Morral found Mascho in the middle of the end zone with a fourth down, 14-yard touchdown and Wellsboro led, 14-6.

Muncy, however, dominated the rest of the half, scoring 17 straight points during a six-minute span and building a 23-14 halftime advantage. A team implementing a new offense started to jell and Walters made it a one-point game with a 2-yard run before Austin Hartzel drilled a go-ahead 34-yard field goal.

Muncy regained possession with 34 seconds left in the half. It needed just three plays and 26 seconds to show far it has grown from last week’s opener against Warrior Run. Walters completed three straight passes to Dominic Guardini and Rogers and his 41-yard touchdown to Rogers down the left sideline gave Muncy a huge lift entering halftime.

“That was a big confidence boost, especially for me. That was the first one where we really said, ‘Let’s take a shot,'” Walters said. “Up front and the running backs, they all did an excellent job blocking that and Nate made a great catch. They all put in the work for it. That’s a team.”

Indeed, sophomore running back Layken Harris delivered a perfect block as a defender barreled toward Walters who had rolled left. Harris doing so enabled Walters to plant and throw a dime deep downfield as Rogers, who turned a screen into a first quarter touchdown, hauled in his second score.

“That’s massive. That’s the stuff that gets overlooked,” Persing said. “We see the great throw and the great catch and Nate getting into the end zone which is great but that doesn’t happen if Layken doesn’t do his job to free Andrew up to make the throw. That was awesome to see.”

Muncy outgained Wellsboro, 220-84 in the first half but the Hornets dug in defensively in the second half and allowed just 96 more yards. After Morral’s 11-yard touchdown made it, 23-20, Cole Knapp intercepted a pass at Muncy’s 44-yard line and the Hornets had a shot at taking the lead.

Again, the Indians stiffened and forced a three-and-out with Gavin Barrows knocking away a pass at the 1-yard line which initially looked like it might go for a touchdown. Muncy limited Wellsboro to 142 yards and all three scores came after the Hornets were set up in Muncy territory.

The Indians bent at times, but like Walters said, they never broke.

“Losing a lot of guys since last year, we need a lot of guys to step up and I think we did that tonight,” Bryson Barrows said. “We had a lot of people step up. We had a lot of young guys out there and everyone played their butts off.”

Muncy 23, Wellsboro 20

Muncy 6 17 0 0―23

Wellsboro 7 7 6 0―20

First Quarter

M–Nate Rogers 11 pass from Andrew Walters (kick failed), 7:23

W–Griffin Morral 2 run (Finn Matthews kick), 2:31

Second Quarter

W–Marek Mascho 14 pass from Morral (Matthews kick), 11:37

M–Walters 2 run (Austin Hartzel kick), 6:38

M–Hartzel 34-yard field goal, 3:01

M–Rogers 41 pass from Walters (Hartzel kick), :08

Third Quarter

W–Morral 11 run (kick failed), 6:57

TEAM STATISTICS M W

First Downs 14 9

Rushes-yards 27-140 32-75

Passing yards 174 67

Total yards 314 142

Comp-Att-Int 14-19-3 7-18-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 8-79 5-34

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Muncy, Andrew Walters 15-103, TD; Nate Rogers 1-19; Layken Harris 6-18; Wes Somits 5-0. Wellsboro, Griffin Morral 16-54, 2 TD; Max Mascho 12-33; Marek Mascho 3-8; Team 1-(-18).

PASSING: Muncy, Walters 14-19-3, 174 yards, 2 TD. Wellsboro, Morral 7-18-0, 67 yards, TD.

RECEIVING: Muncy, Carter Feigles 5-65; Rogers 4-67, 2 TD; Dominic Guardini 2-27; Roman Maiorana 1-7; Gavin Barrows 1-5; Somits 1-3. Wellsboro, Kody Enck 4-39; Mar. Mascho 3-28.

INTERCEPTIONS: Wellsboro, Mar. Mascho 2, Cole Knapp.

SACKS: Wellsboro, Hayden Stevens.

Records: Muncy 1-1. Wellsboro 0-2.