Hopewell’s Rushel Shell argued that his offense needed less balance, and his coach agreed. Surprisingly, so did his quarterback.

“I knew I had to come out and play,” said Shell, who rushed for 170 second-half yards in Friday night’s 22-19 victory over No. 1 Montour at Tony Dorsett Stadium. “If not, we were going to lose.”

Hopewell (2-0, 1-0 Parkway) upset the WPIAL’s No. 1 team in Class AAA and No. 2 in the state by throwing no second-half passes. Instead, Shell had 25 carries and two touchdown runs during those final two quarters, and quarterback Nolan Harmotto added another rushing touchdown.

“That’s what our kids believe in,” Hopewell coach Dave Vestal said. “Nolan came over and said, ‘Coach, let’s pound the ball.’ Most quarterbacks would try to get a pass called, but he knew eventually we’ll wear you down.”

In all, Shell had 233 yards on 38 carries, including 12 straight to begin the third quarter.

With 90 seconds left, Hopewell trailed, 19-16, and faced fourth-and-4 at Montour’s 35-yard line.

Earlier, Shell had seven straight runs to the right. This time, Shell wanted the same play — but to the left.

Shell stepped through the line, then broke free for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:25 left.

One drive earlier, Shell fumbled 20 yards from the end zone while driving for a go-ahead touchdown with 4:48 left. But Montour punted after gaining just four yards in three plays, giving Hopewell another chance.

“I believed in my defense,” Shell said. “For some strange reason, I had a feeling we were going to get the ball back.”

Montour (1-1, 0-1) had 85 seconds left for one last drive.

Dillon Buechel moved the Spartans 49 yards in six plays, including two key clock-stopping runs by the quarterback that covered 24 yards. However, the drive was halted at Hopewell’s 17-yard line when Buechel’s first-down pass was intercepted in the end zone by Keenan Barrett with 8 seconds left.

Buechel completed 14-of-21 passes for 71 yards, but his longest completion was an 11-yard touchdown pass to Darren Massey in the second quarter.

Montour tailback Julian Durden had 14 carries for 166 yards, but just 27 were in the second half. And of those, 17 came on his third-quarter touchdown run that gave Montour a 19-10 lead with 4:18 left.

Montour had only three second-half possessions.

“Their game plan was to keep us off the field, and they succeeded,” Montour coach Cerro said.

This wasn’t the high-scoring shootout most expected. A year ago, these teams scored 55 points, including four touchdown passes by Buechel and four other scores by Shell.

Trailing, 12-3, at halftime, Hopewell leaned on Shell heavily in the second half. The star tailback ran 65 yards with seven consecutive carries, ending with a 4-yard touchdown run. With 9:18 left in the third, Hopewell trailed, 12-10.

Massey scored twice in the second quarter to give Montour a 12-3 lead at halftime. An 11-yard catch gave Montour a 6-3 lead with 2:31 left. His 4-yard end-around run extended the lead with 29 seconds left. Montour missed the extra point after the first touchdown, and its two-point conversion run was stuffed on the second.

At halftime, Shell had 63 yards on 12 carries, which somewhat put his string of 100-yard games in jeopardy. He had just one run longer than six yards — a 29-yarder in the second — and had an 18-yard touchdown run negated by a holding penalty.

Shell has 31 straight 100-yard games, which is eight short of the national high school record set by Billy Sims.

Seven-11

Hopewell senior Rushel Shell became only the second WPIAL rusher and 11th in state history to surpass the 7,000-yard mark for his career with 234 yards Friday night against Montour:

Yards — Player, School,Years

9,027 — Jeremiah Young, Steelton-Highspire,2004-07

8,432 — James Mungro, East Stroudsburg South,1993-96

8,325 — Zach Barket, Schuylkill Haven,2005-08

8,324 — Ryan Brumfield, Owen J. Roberts,2007-10

7,749 — Terrin Ash, Honesdale,1991-94

7,646 — Mike Vernillo, Fort Cherry,1996-99

7,413 — Curtis Brinkley, Phila. West Catholic,2000-03

7,165 — Henry Hynoski, Southern Columbia,2003-06

7,146 — Rushel Shell, Hopewell,2008-11

Photo Galleries

Hopewell vs. Montour 9/9/11

Hopewell defeats Montour, 22-19, on Friday September 9, 2011.

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