Nov 29, 2017 3 min read

When looking at Terry Verrelli, the last adjective that might be used to describe the 70-year-old head coach who has patrolled the Wilmington High School football team’s sidelines for nearly four decades is deceptive.

However, deception might just be the most important reason why Verrelli has become one of less than 20 coaches in state history to have won 300 games.

Verrelli remembers the first day he installed the Wing-T offense, eight years after taking over as head coach of the Wilmington football program in 1977.

As his District 10 opponents run gun-and-shoot offenses and spread the field, Verrelli’s game plan, playbook and mindset haven’t changed 32 years later.

“The reason we run the offense we do is that it’s deceptive,” Verrelli said. “When you have the three (running) backs that we have, it allows them to all get the ball.”

Using three running backs – Jack Patton, Cameron Marett and Verelli’s grandson, Bryson Verrelli – is how the District 10 Champion will look to stay undefeated when it plays Washington (13-0) in a PIAA Class 2A semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday at Slippery Rock University.

And the biggest difference that sets Wilmington apart from the successful Verrelli-coached groups of years past: not having a superstar.

“Even though we’ve had a bunch of team reach the western finals (the semifinals of the PIAA playoffs), they’ve all been a little bit different,” Verrelli said. “There is no superstar on this team. It’s just a team that plays extremely well together. They don’t make big mistakes. They play together as a group. Those three running backs could each have 2,000 yards if they were the only one.”

Patton leads the group with 1,112 yards, while Bryson Verrelli has 996 and Marett sits at 887 for the season.

What has helped the offense click for more than 41 points per game is a defense that thrives on turnovers and getting after the quarterback.

Wilmington (13-0) has 20 interceptions, 22 sacks and eight fumble recoveries. It hasn’t allowed a team to score more than 14 points in a single game during a season in which it also has six shutouts.

“Defense is the key to any playoff team,” Verrelli said. “We’ve played very well defensively throughout the entire year. You don’t make it this far if you can’t play defense. Washington is going to be our toughest test of the year. Being that this is the game to reach the state title, it should be the biggest test.”

It’s a test the Greyhounds are used to facing.

Wilmington is making its sixth semifinal appearance in the last 12 seasons. The Greyhounds lost in this same round of the PIAA playoffs last year to Steel Valley, 49-13.

Wilmington won a PIAA title in 2008.

“We’ve been in the playoffs a lot lately,” Verrelli said. “You know that you are going to get a great team out of the WPIAL. We played Jeannette twice when they had Terelle Pryor, and I’ve never seen a team like Steel Valley had last year. But we’ve done alright.”