HS Football: Williams Valley blasts Upper Dauphin

Williams Valley High School logo
WILLIAMSTOWN — There is nothing that is greeted with more anticipation in football than the opening kickoff to a new season.
Williams Valley made that moment a memorable one in its 54-0 rout over nearby rival Upper Dauphin on Friday night at Viking Stadium.
More specifically, kick returner Evan Achenbach set the tone for his team after fielding the opening kickoff on the 16-yard line, breaking right, and finding an opening down the sideline for an 84-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 18 seconds into the game.
“It was an absolute crazy play,” Achenbach said. “The ball bounced right to me and I just took a lane to the right and made a play.”
The Vikings offense kept pouring it on from there as it produced 346 yards of total offense to take a 41-0 lead into the halftime locker room and putting the mercy rule into effect going into the second half.
“We preach all the time to our seniors that we want big plays from them,” Williams Valley coach Stephen Sedesse said. “Evan stepped up at the beginning of the game, and there’s nothing more you can ask for than a kick return and be up 7-0.”
Quarterback Brady Shomper and running back Fletcher Thompson took over from there as they combined to score four touchdowns to secure the victory.
Shomper scored twice, on runs of 1 yard in the first quarter and 2 yards in the second, while rushing for 62 yards.
He also threw touchdown passes of 24 yards to Thompson in the second quarter and 20 yards to Blazer Lords in the third. He completed 7-of-9 passes for 126 yards.
Thompson led the Vikings with 63 yards rushing that included a 13-yard scoring run in the first quarter. Trevon Bair added 2-yard TD run for Williams Valley.
“We were allowing our big guys to perform up front. We wanted to establish our run game and then we kind of moved from there,” Sedesse said. “Shomper was on the money with a lot of his passes tonight. We didn’t have to spread it out too much.”
Sedesse said the Vikings prepared for the opener as if it was a state championship game, and Upper Dauphin showed signs of moving the ball by driving to the Vikings 30-yard line on its opening drive only to be turned away on downs.
The Trojans’ only other scoring chance came in the fourth quarter when they drove to the WIlliams Valley 1-yard line and were once again turned away without scoring.
“It was an all summer long preparation,” Sedesse said. “When you’re able to prepare like that with the veteran team we have, then we’re going to be pretty hard to beat.”
The Vikings capped the scoring in the third quarter on a 20-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Chevy Green.
Game Summary
Williams Valley 54, Upper Dauphin 0
UDA (1-0) 0 0 0 0 — 0
WV (0-1) 21 20 13 0 — 54
WV — Achenbach 84 kickoff return (Smeltz kick)
WV — Shomper 1 run (Smeltz kick)
WV — Thompson 13 run (Smeltz kick)
WV — Thompson 24 pass from Shomper (Smeltz kick)
WV — Shomper 2 run (Smeltz kick)
WV — Lords 20 pass from Shomper (kick failed)
WV — Bair 2 run (kick failed)
WV — Green 20 run (Smeltz kick)
Team Statistics
UDA-WV
First Downs —- 5 19
Rushes-Yards — 31-89 31-220
Passes —- 2-4-0 7-9-0
Passing Yards —- (-10) 126
Total Yards —- 79 346
Fumbles/Lost —- 2-2 0-0
Penalties — 0-0 3-25
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Upper Dauphin — Drebelbis 11-47, Kassier 7-24, Downs 10-14, Grassmyer 2-5, McClain 1-(-1). Williams Valley — Thompson 5-63, Shomper 10-62, Green 5-48, Bair 6-31, Hubler 5-8, Achenbach 1-6, Dotson 1-2.
PASSING: Upper Dauphin — Santiago 2-4-0, (-10). Williams Valley — Shomper 7-9-0, 126.
RECEIVING: Upper Dauphin — McGilvray 1-0, Drebelbis 1-(-10). Williams Valley — Achenbach 2-41, Crisswell 2-38, Lords 2-31, Thompson 1-24.
INTERCEPTIONS: None
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