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For information on submitting an obituary, please contact Reading Eagle by phone at 610-371-5018, or email at obituaries@readingeagle.com or fax at 610-371-5193. Most obituaries published in the Reading Eagle are submitted through funeral homes and cremation services, but we will accept submissions from families. Obituaries can be emailed to obituaries@readingeagle.com. In addition to the text of the obituary, any photographs that you wish to include can be attached to this email. Please put the text of the obituary in a Word document, a Google document or in the body of the email. The Reading Eagle also requires a way to verify the death, so please include either the phone number of the funeral home or cremation service that is in charge of the deceased's care or a photo of his/her death certificate. We also request that your full name, phone number and address are all included in this email. All payments by families must be made with a credit card. We will send a proof of the completed obituary before we require payment. The obituary cannot run, however, until we receive payment in full. Obituaries can be submitted for any future date, but they must be received no later than 3:00 p.m. the day prior to its running for it to be published. Please call the obituary desk, at 610-371-5018, for information on pricing. After a week off and plenty of time to dwell on their Week 10 Lancaster-Lebanon Section 1 loss to Manheim Township, the Wilson Bulldogs finally returned to the field. And with that loss in the past, Wilson defeated William Penn 28-14 in the District 3 Class 6A quarterfinals Friday night in West Lawn. The unusually smaller crowd was a rare sight to see at a Bulldogs game, especially for a home district playoff game. It might have been due to the rain that began falling in the second half. But that didn’t faze the fourth-seeded Bulldogs, who came out swinging right from the opening kickoff. Correll Akings set the tone early with a 54-yard kickoff return to the Bearcats’ 35-yard line. Just four plays later, the Bulldogs were in the end zone. Quarterback Mason Young hit Monty Greer out of the backfield on a swing pass, and the junior took it 12 yards to the end zone for the game’s opening score at the 10:34 mark. “It’s huge and that’s something we’ve been working on all year,” junior Michael Glover said of getting out to a quick start. “That big return by Correll, and then we go on score, that just gets us rolling. It gets our momentum up, gets us hype, and gets us ready to go for the game. That’s super important. We’ve got to keep doing that through the playoffs.” Bulldogs head coach Doug Dahms reiterated the fact that the team knew they needed to start fast. “When you score right away, it builds the energy,” Dahms said. “For the most part, I thought we played pretty well on both sides of the ball.” Two series later, the Bearcats finally found some offensive rhythm of their own. On third down, Najee Still hit Khaydin Bishop in stride on a slant route. It looked like Bishop was going to take it 83 yards to the house, but Chase Herb hawked him down and forced a fumble to give the Bulldogs the ball back. But the drive stalled after a few dropped passes and costly penalties, giving the Bearcats the ball back. Syracuse commit Shavane Anderson carried the bulk of the workload in the Bearcats’ seemingly one-dimensional offense. The senior opened the drive with 10 consecutive carries, racking up 82 yards, including a 53-yard run that was pure Madden-esque. He juked defenders and slipped past tackles before finally breaking down the sideline into the Bulldogs’ red zone. “I told the kids we’re gonna wear them down. Make No. 3 (Anderson) earn his yards,” Dahms said of Anderson. “That kid’s a stud. He’s a hell of a football player. Don’t give him too many big ones and keep pounding him.” But the Bearcats took the ball out of the playmaker’s hands, and the drive stalled, ultimately turning the ball over on downs. On their next possession, the Bearcats finally found success, driving once again into the Bulldogs’ red zone and this time punching it in. Najee Still found Jaishan Matte on a fade route in the end zone for six points. The Bearcats went for a two-point conversion, taking an 8–7 lead with 3:07 remaining in the first half. Giving up the touchdown seemed to ignite the Bulldogs, who came alive after three previous empty possessions. Monty Greer delivered a 40-yard return off a squib kick, putting the Bulldogs into the Bearcats’ territory quickly. The Bulldogs saw two big plays wiped out, first, a personal foul on Greer for hitting a defender in the head after the play, and then a block-in-the-back penalty that erased a 38-yard touchdown from Jaiden Carpenter. “We had a couple tonight that hurt us, but we didn’t have nearly as many holding (penalties) tonight, which was good,” Dahms said of the Bulldogs’ penalties. “We really worked hard over the last couple of weeks. The personal foul penalties, though, there’s no excuse for them.” But the Bulldogs bounced back immediately, as Young connected with tight end Michael Glover, who caught the ball over the defender to reclaim the lead heading into halftime, 14–8. “Mason (Young) threw a great ball,” Glover said. “Split me out wide, and I was one on one. I knew I could go make a play. It got us rolling. Great play call and great throw by Mason. I love to go up and get the ball like that.” William Penn’s Shavane Anderson rushed for 135 yards in the first half, jumping off the stat sheet, but for the most part, the Bulldogs’ defense did an exceptional job keeping the future Division I running back in check. “He’s a really talented player and he played great tonight,” Glover said of Anderson. “He ran the ball hard. He’s tough to bring down. But I’m proud of our defense. They worked hard, and our linebackers, everybody came up and filled to make plays.” Coming out of halftime, Wilson’s opening series was once again a success. Young dropped back in the shotgun, looked left, and launched a deep pass to Carpenter, who beat the cornerback at the line of scrimmage, caught the ball in stride, and sprinted 76 yards to the end zone. The Bulldogs held a 22-8 lead. The rest of the third quarter offered little excitement for offensive fans, as both teams traded punts while the clock steadily wound down. At the 3:17 mark, the Bulldogs took over possession at their own 35-yard line. As the rain fell at West Lawn, Dahms leaned on the ground game. Akings carried the ball four times, and Glover added three carries, consistently pounding the rock against the Bearcats’ front seven. With 37 seconds left in the quarter, Glover powered up the gut for a 21-yard touchdown, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 28–8 heading into the fourth quarter. “I love being able to do all these different things in receiving, rushing, and blocking,” Glover said. “That’s why I love being the tight end. It’s awesome that my coaches trust me to use me in different ways. I just want to keep doing that and do whatever I can to help my team win.” With 5:28 remaining, Anderson punched in a 16-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 28–14, though a two-point conversion attempt failed. Any hope for a late-game comeback was not in the cards for William Penn, as the Bulldogs controlled the clock and secured the win in their final home game of the season. Young completed 10 of 15 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Akings rushed for 70 yards, while Glover totaled 89 all-purpose yards. Carpenter led the receiving corps with 107 yards. For the Bearcats, Anderson carried the ball 40 times for 247 yards. Still went 6 of 13 passing for 88 yards and threw one interception. The Bulldogs will travel to face top-seeded Central York (11-0) next Friday night. The Panthers advanced with a 42–7 quarterfinal win over Cedar Cliff. “Go win, baby,” Glover said of the mindset heading into Central York. “We know we can win. We know we have the guys to make things happen. They’re a great team. It’s gonna be a great game, and a great challenge, but I know we’ve got it.”
