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Defense steals the show in Williamsport’s win against Selinsgrove at home

By GARRETT CARR 6 min read

The Williamsport offense has been getting all the headlines, and for good reason. It came in to Friday's clash against Selinsgrove averaging 43 points and over 400 yards of offense per contest en route to a 3-1 start. But, it was the defense that stole the show against the Seals.

The Millionaires pitched a shutout using a simplified defensive game plan for nearly 43 minutes en route to a 23-8 win over Selinsgrove on homecoming on Friday at the grand opening of Millionaire Stadium.

"We definitely had a way better week of practice than we've had the previous weeks. But what also really helped us tonight was, after the loss against Shikellamy, last week, we reset and simplified some things,” Williamsport’s leading tackler Anthony Manley said. “I moved to defensive end and I was getting pressure all night, and they didn't know what to do about it.”

A bit of online smack talk through burner social media accounts that called the Millionaire defense into question heading into the week served as fuel for Williamsport.

"(A burner account) made a post about us about how it was Christmas morning playing us and how we were just giving them a gift of a win tonight. They said our defense was sorry, and that really lit a fire under our (butt) because we don't believe we're sorry,” Manley said. “We believe we let up some points for sure, but we're dogs at the end of the night, and we showed them you can't come here, disrespect us and walk away with a win.”

Manley, along with Kason Ulmer on the edges of the Millionaire front, controlled much of Friday's contest. Ulmer, who has become one of the area's premier tight ends this season, worked hard all offseason to put a significant amount of muscle on his 6-foot, 7-inch frame. It is showing up on both sides of the ball in a big way.

"I put on about 20 pounds since last year. I was in the gym from the end of basketball season to really the beginning of football season, and it's really helped me with blocking. Last year, I didn't block that well. I played wide receiver a lot more, but this year I can help block in the running game and on defense," Ulmer said.

Ulmer's impact was quickly felt on offense.

After Williamport muffed a punt, Selinsgrove was stopped on fourth down deep in Millionaire territory on the game's first drive. The Millionaires got to work on a nine-play, 87-yard drive that featured two hook-ups through the air from Zion Hughes to Ulmer and culminated in a 10-yard touchdown pass with 4:26 remaining in the first quarter to put Williamsport up 6-0.

"It was just all about getting him his shot. He's been a big player for us from the rip. He's a great blocker, and he does the things that we ask him to do. It's his time now,” Hughes said of Ulmer. “I watched a lot of film, and he was open a lot of the time in previous weeks. So right now, it's just about letting him shine. He's there for a reason. He's big, he does everything we ask him to do.”

Hughes, in his second start of the season after star quarterback Tevin Williams was hospitalized nearly two weeks ago with kidney inflammation, looked the part of a starting quarterback on Friday. He completed nearly 75% of his passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, and routinely fit the ball into tight windows and processed coverages effectively.

"He hasn't played quarterback since he was a sophomore, and it was a whole other system. So we're kind of dropping a whole system on him in two weeks, whereas when we had Tev, he had a whole offseason and summer to prepare. For what we're asking him to do with the amount of time he's had to do it, he's doing a great job for us," Williamsport coach Kevin Brown said. "Zion made some good decisions, and he's starting to understand that if you just allow the defense to tell you where to throw the ball, your job is a lot easier. He literally said that to me. He said, 'I see what you're saying now.’ Yeah, just let the defense tell you where the ball is going. As long as you understand what's going on, let the defense tell you where the ball is going, we should be all right."

Williams, who was in attendance on Friday night, could return before the season's conclusion.

Williamsport added to its lead in the second quarter when, with 5:21 left in the half, freshman running back Za'Mir Mathis scampered in from eight yards out to make it 13-0. Mathis broke out in a big way in last week's loss to Shikellamy with a long kickoff return touchdown. And after Brown worked with him on hitting the hole in a more decisive manner in his second career start at running back heading into this week, he looked the part of a future star, tallying 140 yards on 24 carries and bouncing off defenders.

The Millionaire offensive line gave him plenty of holes to hit, too.

"All they talk about is me just getting the ball, using my confidence and just hitting the hole. No dancing, just hit the hole. That's all I gotta do. And, you see what happens when I hit the hole," Mathis said. "Kudos to my O-line. They did great today. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have done any of it.

The Millionaire defense got a big stop to end the half on a fourth-down play in Williamsport territory, and added to its lead on the first drive of the second half with a Brayden Ungard 36-yard field goal.

Williamsport put the game to bed early in the fourth quarter when Jaylen Lilly caught a tipped pass behind the defense for a 38-yard touchdown with 7:21 remaining in the contest.

Friday's win was a great way to put the chaos of last week behind them and prove this new-look Millionaires team could win in Williams' absence.

"That was the message as soon as we heard about Tevin's situation. A guy like that, of course you want him, but until he's back, he's not here. So there's no sense in wondering. Who's here is here, and we're gonna play. He's still a part of the team. He was here supporting us today,” Bron said. “They needed to see that they can do things without Tevin around. He's just going to enhance us if and when he does come back.”

Starting at /week.