After scoring 14 straight points to take a second quarter lead and then giving up 17 straight to Muncy before the break, Wellsboro closed the gap to 23-20 with a third quarter touchdown and kept the Indians off the scoreboard in the second half. 

With nine minutes left in the game, the Hornets had a first and goal from the Muncy 1-yard line and seemed likely to retake the lead, but the Indians pushed Wellsboro back to the three, forced a turnover on downs and essentially ran the clock nearly out on the Hornets’ comeback attempt.

With an 11-play drive which included three first downs, Muncy moved 47 yards, forced Wellsboro to take its final two timeouts and ran 6 minutes, 29 seconds off the clock, handing the ball back to the Hornets with just 67 seconds remaining in the game and 80 yards away.

Muncy forced four straight Wellsboro incompletions to seal the win after allowing minus-two yards on Wellsboro’s final eight plays.

After Muncy took a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter, Wellsboro senior Marek Mascho gave the Hornets great field position with a 40-yard kick return and QB Griffin Morral led the Hornets on a drive and scored from two yards out. Finn Matthews’ extra point kick gave Wellsboro a 7-6 lead with 2:31 left in the opening frame.

Mascho then set Wellsboro up again, picking off Muncy for the first of two times and eventually hauling in a 14-yard TD catch from Morral that put the Hornets up 14-6 after Matthews kick just 23 seconds into the second quarter. 

But Muncy dominated the rest of the first half, scoring 17 straight points .. two TDs and a 34-yard field goal .. during a six-minute span and building a 23-14 halftime advantage.

Morral provided Wellsboro with the second half’s only score, finding the end zone from 11 yards out with seven minutes left in the third. The PAT was no good and Muncy would make the 23-20 score hold up.

Morral totaled 121 yards and three touchdowns in the loss, rushing 16 times for 54 yards and two scores and completing 7-18 passes for 67 yards and a touchdown. 

Marek Mascho had three catches for 28 yards and a score, Kody Enck had four for 39 yards and Max Mascho had 33 yards rushing on 12 carries. 

Defensively, Enck had nine tackles while Hayden Stevens had six tackles and a sack. 

Wellsboro (0-2) returns to action next Saturday night with a trip to Wyalusing to take on the 1-1 Rams.