By George Calver, Standard Correspondent
Junior running back Micah Schlabach scored quickly—and often Friday night to propel the Wasps to a 42-14 win over Mill River.
The fans had hardly settled into their seats at McLaughlin Field when Schlabach scampered 78 yards downfield on the opening kickoff for the first of his three touchdown on his way to a total of 131 rushing yards. With the win the Wasps move to 4-0 in League play.
Fellow running backs Caden White and Jed Astbury were not too shabby as well. White powered his way to two short yardage markers in the second
half, racking up 79 rushing yards, while Astbury put up 44 yards on nine carries. White’s 40-yarder brought the ball down to Mill River’s 25-yard line with 5:28 remaining in the second quarter to stage the” backbreaker.” A nine-yard plunge though the middle by White on the following play teed- up the sweep by Schlabach to put Woodstock up 27-7.
The Minutemen showed signs of life approaching the half with a 65yard catch and run, and another 44 –yarder, to narrow it to 27-14, but that was as close as the visitors came.
“He [Schlabach] is the perfect wing-T running back, “said head coach Ramsey Worrell. “He’s able to see and feel the gaps and really good at running though arm tackles, and he just goes hard.”
The thing about the Wasps’ trio of backs is that they are also playing solid defense. Its’ either sound tackling, or knocking down passes like Jed Astbury’s pass deflection of a Mill River toss on the last play of the first stanza.
Patrick Potter was less visible on offense, but he sure made up for it plugging up the middle from the middle-linebacker position. Gabe Marsicovetere shut down the passes and sweeps to the outside, and junior Charlie Amato slapped down a number of passes from the safety position. And what more can be said about the offensive and defensive lines led by Dylan Carnehammer and Elliot Shoemaker.
Perhaps overlooked amidst all the fireworks of the Wasps’ running backs has been the steady and workman-like performance of sophomore quarterback
Trevor White. Though the Woodstock program had been largely centered on the ground game, Worrell stated earlier in the campaign that he wanted to wrap in a bit more of a passing game into the attack. Witness a few tosses to tight end Brendan Schwartz, and to Caden White out of the backfield Friday night and you get the sense that more is to come.
“Coach has been working with me to get my body squared and I think I am getting there,” said White, who also credits last year’s graduated quarterback, Luc Issa, for helping him grasp the fundamentals of the position.
Worrell remains pleased his team’s performance so far this year, pointing out what he terms “the businesslike” practices of late and the emphasis on the controlling of emotions. He said,” We did pretty well this week, but we lost our focus early on with’ bonehead’ penalties. It took longer than I wanted but the control came through.”
The Wasps travel upstate to Missisquoi Saturday, October 7.
This article first appeared in the October 5, 2017 edition of the Vermont Standard.