The host Hornets out-gained the Panthers on the ground (232 yards to 173), through the air (221 yards to 117), ran 20 more offensive plays (66 to 46) and doubled North Penn-Mansfield’s first downs (20 to 10) while  jumping out to a 14-0 lead nine minutes into the annual rivalry game. 

The Panthers showed no signs of panic, gathered themselves and quickly answered Wellsboro’s second TD of the game with a Cooper Shaw 63-yard run on a 3rd-and-10 to start chipping away at the Hornet lead. 

“The boys wanted this win so bad”, said NP-Mansfield Head Coach Jed Wright after the game, “I don’t think it mattered how big the lead was.”

Wellsboro had put their early points on the board with a pair of touchdown runs by Ryder Bowen, from 23 and seven yards out, and a two-point conversion by the senior, who finished with 201 yards on 27 carries with three scores. 

On the Hornets’ possession following Shaw’s long TD run, NP-Mansfield’s Colton Pellett got the ball right back with an interception of Wellsboro QB Griffin Morral on a 3rd-and-11 play. On their own 3rd-and-11 play, Shaw dropped back to pass, scrambled and found Keaton Manikowski completely alone down the middle of the field for a 56-yard scoring strike. Brody Grinnell’s second good PAT attempt tied the game at 14-all just 20 seconds into the second quarter.

Shaw would finish his final high school game with 155 yards rushing and 117 yards through the air on 7-17 passing with all four of the Panthers’ TDs. 

The senior QB’s next score came after the Panthers forced a Wellsboro punt and went on a 5-play drive that ended with Shaw taking it in from 10 yards out. Grinnell hit his third PAT and North Penn-Mansfield led 21-14 with 8:34 left in the first half of play.

Wellsboro found their rhythm on their ensuing 11-play drive, highlighted by a pair of good gains by Bowen (13 and 16 yards), a 16-yard run by Morral and a pair of passes from Morral to Kody Enck, including the final play of the drive when the freshman QB found his classmate Enck for an 11-yard TD. Jonathan Carl’s extra point tied the game at 21 with four and a half minutes left before the break.

After NP-M and Wellsboro traded punts, the Panthers took over on their own 33-yard line, and Shaw ripped off his second long TD run of the night, covering all 67 yards to the end zone. Grinnell was good again and the Panthers took a 28-21 lead into the locker rooms.

The Panthers got the second-half kickoff and would be forced to punt the ball back to Wellsboro .. for the first of all five times NP-Mansfield had possession in the final two quarters. But the Panther “D” stepped up and held the Hornets in check for the most part, coming up with another interception and forcing two Wellsboro punts. 

When Wellsboro did find cracks in the NP-M defense, it was through the air, as Morral found Enck for 40 and 13-yard gains and Bowen for 26 yards to reach the Panther 10-yard line. Bowen finished off the drive on a run with 5:47 remaining in the game and the Hornets opted to go for two. Morral found Bowen on a middle screen, but Mansfield was able to stop him from getting in and held onto their 28-27 advantage.

After forcing the Panthers’ fifth punt of the second half the Hornets had one last chance and drove from their own 19 into the red zone behind several Bowen runs .. including a 37-yard gain and a 12-yard run that gave Wellsboro a 1st-and-goal at the Panther 8. 

The Panthers stuffed Bowen at the line, got Morral for a 2-yard loss and forced a hurried incompletion, setting up Carl’s 27-yard field goal attempt with 10 seconds left in the game. The Panthers interior was able to come up with the block and sealed the 28-27 victory to retain the M.F. Jones Trophy for the third straight season. 

“The win is very satisfying,” said Coach Wright, “because it showed how much we’ve grown throughout the season. It’s an example of us trying to get better everyday .. and sometimes it takes until the last game to all come together.” 

NP-Mansfield senior Riley Oakes was Shaw’s favorite target, making three catches for 35 yards, while Wellsboro limited Panther leading receiver Luke Kreger to one catch for 15 yards. George Perry added 31 yards rushing on six carries.

Morral finished his final game of his inaugural varsity season with 221 yards passing, completing 13 of his 26 attempts. He added 32 yards on the ground. Enck had seven catches for 143 yards while Carl had three grabs for 46 yards. 

Defensively, North Penn-Mansfield’s George Valentine collected 12 tackles while Luke Sexauer had nine stops, Shaw and Pellett each had seven tackles and a pick, Brayden Route had six tackles and Oakes and Kreger each had three tackles with Kreger adding three pass deflections. 

Lincoln DeCoursey led the Hornets with seven tackles in his final game while Bowen added six stops and Evan Ingerick and Hayden Stevens finished with five tackles each. Levi Champaign also added four tackles and a sack.

Neither squad earned a District 4 playoff berth, as the Panthers finish the season with a 3-7 record while Wellsboro ends up 2-8. 

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