By After starting the 2026 season 0-2, there were plenty of questions surrounding the Wyomissing Spartans, including whether we would see them miss the District 3 playoffs for the first time since 2005.
But the confidence and high aspirations never escaped the locker room. With a defensive scheme switch, the Spartans are now riding an eight-game winning streak and heading back to the District 3 championship game after falling in the Class 4A semifinals last year.
“It’s great,” junior quarterback Brady Eisenhower said of advancing. “I don’t think if you asked any of us or told any of us that we would be doing this at the start of the season, I don’t think anyone else would agree or think anything like this. We’ve been working for this, and we’re all excited.”
No. 1 Wyomissing (8-2) defeated No. 4 Trinity (6-5), 21-0, in the District 3 Class 3A semifinals Saturday at Bob Wolfrum Field.
The Spartans will now face No. 2 Annville-Cleona (8-3) next Friday at ELCO in hopes of capturing the 13th District 3 title in school history.
Sticking together was never a concern for the Spartans, as senior captains Teddy Long, Diamante Strong and Zander Westwood did not allow the team to lose focus on what was ahead. Ultimately, that leadership helped put together a season that earned them the Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4 title and now has them potentially one win away from a District championship.
“I’d say start with captains Teddy, Zander, Diamante were always on everyone, making sure just forget about it,” Eisenhower said of the senior leadership. “Those two (losses) didn’t mean much, but it hurt us. We knew we could fight back and win against even these good teams, and it worked, and it was something we focused on.”
To get to the title game, Wyomissing put together another strong defensive performance with their Double Eagle Flex scheme, which the Spartans had implemented when they won the 2012 PIAA Class 2A state championship.
The Spartans forced four takeaways, including two interceptions from senior safety Andrew DiFabrizo. One of those picks came in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
The Shamrocks did not record a first down until the second quarter and even then struggled to move the ball downfield.
It seemed like the Spartans’ defensive front and linebackers knew where the play was headed before the ball was even snapped.
Leading rusher Brandon Harris averaged 127 yards per game this season and scored 18 touchdowns, but Wyomissing held him to just 81 yards Saturday.
Trinity was also without junior quarterback Makai George because of PIAA playoff rules regarding new transfers, forcing him to watch from the sidelines.
Sophomore Nick Sweppenhiser got the nod but threw two crucial interceptions, completing 11-of-22 passes for 137 yards while struggling against Wyomissing’s ball-hawking secondary.
On offense, Eisenhower used his legs to perfection, scoring on runs of 33 and 3 yards. The touchdowns came courtesy of yet another shelved scheme pulled out of head coach Bob Wolfrum’s bag of tricks, one he’s kept in his back pocket over his many, many years of coaching.
And the exact team and year? Holy Name in 1984.
“We used our quarterback run, which we haven’t done much over the years, but thought we needed to add a runner to our offense and Brady’s very capable of it,” Wolfrum said.
“We ran a formation today that we’ve used sparingly over the years, but I can still remember 1984 Holy Name. That was the first time we ever used that formation, and we brought it back thinking maybe it’ll help us, and we ended up all those runs that Brady made today were off of that strong wing formation that we pulled back out.”
History and experience matter when you’ve seen just about it all as a head coach. Even at 76 years old, Wolfrum is still finding ways to surprise opponents.
Eisenhower also completed 6-of-9 passes for 97 yards, while Zander Westwood and Ethan Nye each had over 50 yards on the ground. Westwood also added a 25-yard touchdown run.
To kick off a windy, chilly November afternoon, true football weather, the Spartans forced three consecutive three-and-outs.
Wyomissing’s first possession lasted over five minutes, with Eisenhower connecting with DiFabrizio, who had three receptions for 67 yards, on an out route for a 33-yard gain to get down to the Trinity 3-yard line.
However, on third-and-goal, Eisenhower and Curran Curulli had a bad handoff exchange, resulting in a fumble and turnover.
But the Spartans got it back on a short field, with Westwood breaking multiple arm tackles on his way to a 25-yard touchdown run.
Similarly to Wyomissing’s red-zone turnover, Trinity had a chance to capitalize in the second quarter but suffered the same fate.
After converting a fourth-and-11 to get down to the 15-yard line, Sweppenhiser rolled to his left and threw across his body toward the back of the end zone, where Brady Focht came away with the interception.
That takeaway led to a scoring drive with two minutes remaining before halftime. On a designed quarterback keeper, Eisenhower raced 33 yards untouched around the left side for six points, giving the Spartans a 14-0 lead heading into the locker room.
The offensive success continued as the Spartans received the opening kickoff of the second half.
In just three and a half minutes, Eisenhower scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard carry to cap off a 10-play, 66-yard drive.
Trinity was forced to punt on its next possession before entering the fourth quarter with the ball.
Following a conversation on fourth down, Sweppenhiser tried extending the play near midfield, but DiFabrizio was lurking in the secondary for the Spartans’ second takeaway.
That interception came after a big third-down conversion when the senior made a fantastic play on a go ball, “mossing” the cornerback to move the chains.
“I was an outfielder so tracking the ball is just like second nature,” DiFabrizio said of his game-changing plays on the ball.
The Spartans forced two more turnovers, including DiFabrizio’s game-ending interception.
Defensive lineman Robert Martino never gave up on the play when Sweppenhiser connected with Adam Dalton for a 16-yard gain downfield. As Dalton tried to pick up a few more yards, Martino delivered a textbook, hard-hitting tackle that jarred the ball loose for the Spartans to recover.
Up next, the Spartans enter another matchup where the offensive focus will be on pounding the rock against the Dutchmen, who average over 350 rushing yards per game.
The District 3 Class 3A championship should be one for the books.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/district-3-class-3a-football-044800665.html
