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Williamsport was trying to put its District 2-4 Class 6A semifinal away late in the first half. The Millionaires went to reliable Trey Damschroder to do just that. Damschroder caught a short pass, wiggled his way past three West Scranton defenders, one of whom had grabbed his facemask, and scampered in for a 38-yard touchdown catch to put the game into the mercy rule as the Millionaires beat West Scranton, 38-13, at Millionaire Stadium on Friday.
“It was supposed to be a five-yard out. I saw I had a soft spot, sat there, and (Williamsport quarterback Tevin Wiliams) threw a good ball. I just made something happen,” Damschroder said. “I got the facemask, and then just did the rest.”
Damschroder has scored at least one touchdown in 10 of 11 Williamsport games this season.
The top-seeded Millionaires took control of the game almost immediately, going right down the field and scoring on a 12-yard run by Zion Hughes (14 carries, 115 yards). A quick three-and-out by the Williamsport defense meant that Williamsport took over deep in Invader territory, and it didn't take the Millionaires long to score again. Williams fumbled a snap under center, but picked it up and out-ran the defense to the pylon to put Williamsport up 14-0 less than five minutes into the game.
Williamsport wasn't done scoring in the first quarter, as Williams found Jaylen Lilly for a 27 yard touchdown on a post pattern right under the goal post with 1:11 remaining in the quarter as the Millionaires went up 20-0.
Six-foot, seven-inch Kason Ulmer did his best JJ Watt impression on the ensuing drive, jumping up to knock down a pass from talented West Scranton freshman quarterback Austin Sostre, knocking it straight up into the air and corralling it for an interception as the Williamsport defense continued to flourish in the first half.
"I was reading the screen, and then he just threw it to me. I’ve dropped like three in the past, but I actually caught that one this time," Ulmer said.
Two plays later, Williams faked a handoff to Hughes that the West Scranton defense bit hard on, thinking they had tackled Hughes in the backfield for a loss. Instead, Williams went untouched into the end zone, jogging the last 20 yards of his 51-yard touchdown run.
“For the first couple of times that we ran it, the defensive end stayed and Zion got a couple of nice carries. I feel like they were scared of him, so they came down and tried to keep their eyes on him. They bit down on the read option, and I just pulled it. The receivers did a great job blocking downfield, especially Jaylen Lilly, and it was green from there," Williams said.
The aforementioned Damschroder score, and an ensuing two-point conversion on a pass from Hughes, put Williamsport up 35-0 at halftime, invoking the mercy rule. West Scranton would add two fourth-quarter scores, but the Millionaires were never truly threatened from start to finish as they advanced to next Friday's District 2-4 Class 6A championship game. They will host Wyoming Valley West, winners over Hazleton in the other semifinal.
Williamsport has played for the district title the last two seasons, winning in 2024 and losing last season, with both matchups coming against Wilkes Barre. This time, they will host the final, but that shouldn't matter much according to first-year Williamsport coach Kevin Brown.
“It’s great not having to get on a bus and drive an hour and a half or something. But at the end of the day, wherever we play, it’s a 100-yard field, and there’s 11 people on the field at a time. You’ve just got to play football no matter where you’re at," Brown said.