WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Turns out Bret Wingard is a mudder.
The Keystone quarterback was excited to play in the muck on a soggy Friday night. It showed.
With his jersey No. 1 barely legible under a layer of thick, brown mud, Wingard’s improvisational skills in the quagmire at Moniteau High School provided the momentum shift the Panthers needed in a 31-13 win in the regular-season finale.
Trailing 7-6 coming out of halftime and facing a second-and-25 right off the bat to start the third quarter, Wingard struggled to handle a low shotgun snap. He was able to gather it and scrambled to his right, only to find a slew of Warriors waiting for him.
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The senior quarterback broke a bevy of tackles and wiggled his way out of trouble, dashing to his left. That’s when he spotted receiver Tyler Albright standing all by himself near the Keystone sideline.
Wingard lobbed the muddy football to Albright, who had no one in front of him for an easy 70-yard touchdown that put the Panthers up for good, 12-7.
“The thing was, that ball was covered in mud and I didn’t think I was gonna be able to throw it,” Wingard said, smiling. “So, I threw a duck out there and Tyler was able to catch it and get up field.”
It was a back-breaker for Moniteau, which had the momentum in the first half.
Keystone (7-2) wrested it away.
The Panthers scored again just a few minutes later when Zander McHenry delivered a big hit on Moniteau punter Connor Alfreno, forcing a fumble he recovered and returned it to the Warriors’ 4. One play later, Wingard followed his interior linemen into the end zone and suddenly Keystone was up 18-7.
“It was a gut-check,” Wingard said. “We were down one point coming out in the second half and we were able to come out with the win.”
Wingard had a big part in the victory.
He completed just four passes, but they went for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Zander McHenry for an 18-yard score with a little less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter to get Keystone on the board.
Wingard also made a huge play with his feet after Moniteau had closed the gap to 18-13 on a 21-yard touchdown pass from David Dessicino to Cooper Boozel.
On the first play of Keystone’s ensuing possession, Wingard raced around right end and out-ran the Moniteau defense for a 58-yard touchdown run.
Another back-breaker for the Warriors.
It’s been a season full of them.
“It’s been a bunch of just little things here and there and, unfortunately, all those little things during the course of a game end up adding up to big things,” said Moniteau coach Bob Rottman.
And big plays for the opponent.
Keystone got another one when McHenry, who was bottled up in the backfield for most of the game, broke off a 43-yard run to set up his 2-yard TD to cap the scoring.
The Panthers’ leading rusher this season, Kyle Nellis, started the game at running back for Keystone, but left the game after two possessions.
“He’s nursing a bit of an ankle injury from last week’s game,” said Keystone coach Ryan Smith. “We wanted to give him a try and see what he could do. The trainer came to me and said, ‘Let’s pull him.’”
McHenry filled in admirable and had a big night in all three phases of the game. He caught two passes for 50 yards, rushed for another 53 yards on eight carries and also had a slew of tackles on defense.
“He’s a senior and seniors go make plays,” Smith said. “Zander makes those plays week in and week out. I mean, in every game he’s had a stamp on something where he’s gone out and made a huge play. He’s just a great, great kid with a good heart.”
There were some broken hearts after the game for Moniteau (1-8). Players stayed on the field well after the final whistle to talk, take pictures and share hugs.
“Since my first year here, this might have been the closest team that I’ve ever had,” Rottman said. “They bonded and supported each other.”
Boozel, a senior, caught eight passes for 88 yards.
Dessicino threw for 104 yards, but was picked off three times — all three by Albright. Hunter Stalker led the Warriors with 89 yards rushing on 15 carries.
While the season is over for Moniteau, the second season will get underway next week for Keystone, the District 9 Small School South Division champs.
The Panthers will get a home game against an opponent to be determined.
It may be another muddy game.
“Our field isn’t in the best shape,” Wingard said, laughing.
“These are the type of field conditions we’ll probably have at Keystone next week,” Smith said. “So, that was good, No. 1, that we got to play in these type of conditions because it’s supposed to rain all week, but also to keep fine tuning things. We keep putting in new plays, new things, and the guys are executing.”
Back in April, Smith had his players list their goals.
Keystone has checked off a few already, like beating Redbank Valley (the Panthers did Week 1), like winning the Small School South, like making the playoffs.
“Our next goal is the D9 championship,” Smith said. “We’re going to do our best to go after it.”
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