PhillyBurbs.com: Wilcox enjoys spectacular debut in Morrisville win
By: JEAN-PAUL LAUTENSCHLAGER
Bucks County Courier Times
The junior, filling in for injured starter Matt Cookson, threw for 233 yards and four touchdowns in a victory over Delaware County Christian.
MORRISVILLE - A family rallies when a relative gets hurt. That's what the Morrisville football team did after losing its starting quarterback.
The Bulldogs scored seven touchdowns en route to a 47-30 Bicentennial Athletic League victory over Delaware County Christian Friday night at Robert Morris Field.
Backup quarterback Eric Wilcox picked up where injured starter Matt Cookson left off. Wilcox connected on four passing scores and rushed for a touchdown in his debut. The 6-foot junior threw for 233 yards and completed seven of 12 passes.
"We know what we have with Eric Wilcox," said Morrisville coach Jim Gober. "I'm sure he would be the starting quarterback for a lot of the teams that we play."
Wilcox hooked up with wide receiver Julian Walker on passes of 64, 36 and 44 to ignite the Bulldogs' offense. It was first time in Walker's career that he scored three times in a game. Kevin McClease also hauled in a 44-yard bomb from Wilcox just before halftime.
"He had a perfect game, pretty much," Walker said. "He comes in at quarterback and the offense clicked."
The Bulldogs pounced on the Knights early, thanks to the elusive rushing style of Jimmie Miller. He scored on his first carry (11 yards) of the contest. Miller finished with 133 yards on the ground and one reception.
Delco Christian (0-2 overall, 0-1 BAL) countered with Michael Monaghan's score, but Morrisville reclaimed the lead with three touchdowns on its next four possessions. The Bulldogs held a 26-6 advantage at halftime.
"That's the beauty of a spread offense: You have the right players and you have the right play called, you can score in bunches," Gober said.
Morrisville (3-0, 1-0 BAL) pushed the lead to 33-6 to start the third quarter, but the Knights rallied to score four times on as many possessions, including a Caleb Favino's 80-yard kickoff return.
The Bulldogs' defense dug late in the fourth quarter. After spending most of the night defending the Knights' misdirection attack, senior captain Austin Crist picked off Delco's Matthew Hirshman to seal the victory. Teammate Rich Laypo also intercepted a pass in the first half.
"(Cookson's) biggest thing this year was to be a family. So with or without, we're still a family and we're going to keep going," Wilcox said. "We just have to go work on our defense and get better."
