Hornets Fall To Lakeland, 27-6

By: Ed Weaver / August 30, 2026

Wellsboro made the long trek into District II territory to take on perennial Class 2A title contender Lakeland Saturday evening, falling 27-6.

Both teams picked up the game on short notice after Holy Cross withdrew from their contest with the Chiefs and the Hornets struggled to pick up a week one opponent after a schedule change with Northwest Area.

"We had some bodies that got beat up. By the end of the game we were down 5-6 starters sitting on the sidelines, and that hurt," head coach Matt Hildebrand said. "Hopefully we can bounce back, but taking everything into perspective from this past week, we threw a ton at the kids in four days to get to the point. To come out here and battle how they did - it was a one score game most of the game - there are a lot of positives. Lakeland is a really good football team, they were ranked very high in the state in preseason."

The Chiefs controlled the majority of the first quarter, controlling the ball for nearly 8 minutes, while holding the Hornets to just three plays. Jackson Pochas put Lakeland in front with 4:04 remaining in the opening quarter on a 13-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

The score remained 7-0 in favor of the Chiefs until the 5:08 mark of the second when Jacob Passiment caught a pass from Pochas for a 21-yard score. A bad snap forced Pochas to scramble for the two-point try, but Wellsboro's defense kept him out of the end zone to trail 13-0.

Following the Chiefs' second score, the Hornets mounted their best drive of the game and turned it into points. Highlighted by a 31-yard run by junior Griffin Morral, and a few Lakeland penalties, Wellsboro got into the red zone at the Lakeland 11. Back-to-back penalties, however, pushed Wellsboro back to the 19, but Morral connected with sophomore Christian Main on an 18-yard pass to the one with just five seconds remaining and no timeouts. The Hornets got to the line and Morral was able to stop the clock on an incomplete pass before he called his own number and fought his way across the goal line as time expired to cut the Chiefs' lead to 13-6.

Lakeland held onto their seven-point lead until they scored two late touchdowns in the 4th to pull away for the win.

Morral completed 8-of-19 passes for 64 yards and rushed 12 times for 25 yards to go with his touchdown. Senior Max Mascho completed a 17-yard pass on a fake punt and ran three times for 6 yards. Main led the Hornet receiving corps with 43 yards on three grabs, while junior Kody Enck caught 2 passes for 22 yards and freshman Grady Morral caught a pass for 13 yards.

Senior Gideon Lawton added a pair of catches for 2 yards.

Pochas completed 16-of-18 passes for 110 yards and rushed 20 times for 116 yards. Chase Rosenkrans led all receivers with 51 yards on 10 grabs.

Next week the Hornets host Cowanesque Valley for Hall of Fame Night and their home opener.

"We didn't get the 'W' but it was better than not playing a game," continued Hildebrand. "You sign up to play football, you want to play ball, and to come over here, drive three hours, get off the bus and play ball, they did a great job. Lakeland has been first class for us. We were both in the same situation but the kids did a great job digesting all the information we gave them on short notice, so now it's time to bounce back and get back on a regular schedule and get ready for CV."

About the Author

Ed Weaver

Ed Weaver is the founder and owner of Circle W Sports, a Pennsylvania-based digital media and technology company specializing in athletic website development.