MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — All week, Nick DeFelice saw on film that Morgantown High was going to have the advantage along the line of scrimmage against rival University High.
“You just saw things like their guys leaning back in their stance,” DeFelice said Friday, after Morgantown dominated the Hawks, 55-10 in the annual Mohawk Bowl at Pony Lewis Field. “They are just real young on the offensive line. They’re going to get better, but they’re young now.”
Morgantown coaches saw the same thing and came up with a new defensive package.
It wasn’t hard to describe — all 11 players stood up like linebackers, giving the defensive front a running start at the young Hawks offensive line.
“We knew we could use our speed up front,” DeFelice said. “We couldn’t let them sit back there all day and throw the ball. We figured our speed would help get pressure on the quarterback.”
The name of the defense: Money. Sometimes these things just write themselves.
“Yeah, it was money for us tonight,” DeFelice said.
It certainly was.
DeFelice was a big reason why, as he continued to rotate from one side of the defensive front to the other, each time getting a full head of steam once he came into contact with the UHS offensive line, which did little more than offer minimal resistance.
He finished with two of Morgantown High’s six sacks, one of which led to a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown by teammate Christian Sedney.
“I knew I got it and I felt the ball pop up,” DeFelice said of the play. “If Christian could get the ball, I knew he had the touchdown. He’s really fast.”
For good measure, DeFelice batted down two fourth-down passing attempts at the line of scrimmage for an MHS defense that held the Hawks to minus (-3) yards rushing for the game.
“We just put the money package in this week and our defensive staff did a great job of getting that in and our guys adjusted to it real well,” Morgantown coach Matt Lacy said. “We had a little more speed and we had to create pressure. All of their big plays throughout the season came when they had to time to set everything up and throw it downfield.”
