Six touchdowns from senior quarterback Ryan Pettway led Wilson to a dominant 49-14 win over visiting Lakewood on Friday night.
“We told our guys all week that the last four years we’ve played them it’s been physical close games, and that we couldn’t be slow from the get-go,” Wilson coach Mark Ziegenhagen said. “We executed the game plan. They showed us a different front but our offensive guys did a great job adjusting to it.”
Pettway completed 11 of his 18 pass attempts for 253 yards and five touchdowns. The senior also ran for a 33-yard touchdown. Three of those touchdown passes went to junior Michael Bruner.
“I told Bruner that he was going to go off sooner or later,” Pettway said. “He’s a stud, and he’s come a long way. If you give him the ball he’s going to make a play. He’s been doing it all year and I didn’t expect anything less tonight.”
Bruner finished with a season-high five receptions for 136 yards, and the junior has 10 touchdowns on 23 receptions in seven games.
The Wilson defense was equally dominant against a Lakewood offense that had averaged 34 points in its first three Moore League games. The Bruins held the Lancers to just 202 yards of total offense while senior linebacker Brett Dowgiewicz led the way with seven solo tackles.
“We needed to get more pressure,” Dowgiewicz said. “Our defensive ends slanted well and we applied pressure by blitzing our linebackers. We were also faking blitzes to catch their lineman off-guard and create lanes for our defensive lineman.”
The game plan of putting Dowgiewicz and fellow linebacker Ethan Moxley on the outside to contain Lakewood quarterback Gevani McCoy and running back James Voorhies also worked extremely well.
“I think our linebacking corps is probably the best linebacking corps in the Moore League,” linebacker Logan Ziegenhagen said. “I can trust all of these guys to make a play next to me. And if I mess up, they’ll have my back.”
Pettway found Bruner on a fourth-down screen pass to open the scoring on their first drive, and after McCoy hit receiver Mister Bridges for a tying touchdown, Pettway’s 33-yard rushing touchdown in the middle of the second quarter gave Wilson the lead it would not loose. The Bruins led 28-7 at halftime.
“He understands what we’re tying to do,” Coach Ziegenhagen said of Pettway. “He’s in control. He’s a bull dog on the mound (in baseball) and a bulldog here on this field.”
Pettway has 4,853 yards passing and 58 total touchdowns as the three-year starter at Wilson.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Lakewood coach Scott Meyer,” Pettway said. “He lives five houses away from me and I’ve known him for a long time. His son and my brother were friends. But man, I’m so happy we blew them out for my last Homecoming game. I hate Lakewood. It just feels good to beat Lakewood.”
Wilson (8-1, 4-1) takes a stranglehold on second place in league with the win and will enjoy the bye next week. Lakewood (4-4, 3-1) will need a win over Compton to clinch third place and a CIF-SS playoff spot.
