The Wellsboro Hornets’ football season came to an end in the first round of the District IV playoffs against Troy, Friday, Oct. 31.

Though the Hornets fell 49-8, the final score wasn’t indicative of the team’s play.

The Hornets held Brendan Gilliland to just four yards on the Trojans’ first possession. On 3rd and 6 the Mason Smith threw an incomplete pass and the Trojans were forced to punt.

On Wellsboro’s first drive, sophomore quarterback Griffin Morral electrified the Hornets’ bench with monster touchdown run.

First, Morral connected with Marek Mascho on a three-yard completion for the Hornets first offensive play of the game. Then, on second down, Morral lined up in the shotgun with Dylan Copp to his left and Mascho in motion. Morral took the snap as Troy senior Roland Smith broke throw the line and nearly blew up the play. Morral reacted quickly and stepped up as a hole emerged in the line, Lance Starkweather pushed Smith backwards, freeing Morral to escape up the middle. Morral cut right and juked past a Troy defender and then outran three more defenders on his way toward the sideline. But Morral didn’t run out of bounds. Instead, as he looked downfield, Morral spied open field ahead. He turned upfield and raced down the sideline. Morral sped past Troy defenders and the Wellsboro bench erupted as he sprinted into the end zone on a 73-yard touchdown run. Wellsboro converted the two-point conversion and held an early 8-0 lead.

Troy responded on their next possession with an eight-play 60-yard drive capped off by a 36-yard touchdown run by Smith. After the two-point conversion the Trojans had tied the game with 5:32 left in the first quarter.

The Hornets weren’t able to sustain a drive on their next possession and were forced to punt. Troy took possession on their own 25-yard line and picked up a big chunk of yardage with one long pass from Smith to Trey Teribury for 28-yards. Troy relied on the run for the rest of the drive and took a six-point lead with a one-yard score by Gilliland with 52 seconds to play in the quarter.

The Hornets next drive started with a promising 24-yard pass by Morral to Mascho. But on the next play, Jayden Kutt intercepted Morral before the Hornets could strike again.

Gilliland broke loose for a 60-yard score that put Troy ahead 21-8 early in the second.

Morral led the Hornets on an 11-play drive that took the Hornets into the red zone on their next possession. A touchdown would have made it a one-score game again. Morral connected with Max Mascho twice on the drive with passes of 10 and 13 yards. On 2nd and 10 with the ball on the 14 yard-line, Morral dropped back and fired a missile over the middle toward Ethan Keane making a cut near the five-yard line. Troy junior defensive end Seth Feldmeier was waiting underneath and plucked the ball out of the air before Keane had a chance to make the grab. Feldmeier ran the interception back to the 43-yard line and gave the Trojans great starting field position for the next drive.

Troy capitalized on the turnover and marched downfield for their fourth score of the half and took a commanding 28-8 lead.

The Hornets picked up a couple of first downs on their next drive but were eventually forced to punt facing 4th and 9 on their own 47-yard line.

Troy capped off their first half scoring with a long 56-yard touchdown run by Smith with 1:36 left to play. With the extra point, Troy secured a 35-8 lead.

Morral led the Hornets on one more charge to close out the half. With the clock ticking down, Morral connected with Kody Enck for a 19-yard pass to set up a first and goal. Morral spiked the ball to give the Hornets one last chance for points before the half. Morral tried to drop a pass in to Mascho near the corner of the end zone, but Troy broke up the pass and held on to a 35-8 halftime lead.

The Hornets continued to fight in the second half but weren’t able to secure another touchdown and eventually fell 49-8. Morral finished the night 13-for-29 with 127 yards passing. Morral also had 105 yards rushing on 10 carriers. Smith led Troy’s ground attack with 10 carries for 155 yards and four touchdowns. Now the Trojans face the number two seed Warrior Run in the District IV semifinals this Friday, Nov. 7.