Wiesbaden's Daniel Harris, right, straight arms Vilseck's Darius Whitehead on his way to a big gain in a Division I -South match up in Wiesbaden, on Saturday. Harris scored two touchdowns in the Warriors' 34-7 win over the Falcons. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany — Wiesbaden junior Daniel Harris showed why he was selected All-Europe running back, leading the Warriors to a 34-7 victory Saturday over visiting Division-I South rival Vilseck.
Harris finished the day with a pair of touchdown runs and 165 yards on 22 carries, including a 50-yard romp on the play following a successful onside kick.
“The offensive line handled their business. My job was easy after that,” Harris said.
Both offenses struggled to get momentum early and the first quarter ended scoreless, but things changed quickly.
Wiesbaden junior quarterback Ryan Reagin lit a spark in the offense by connecting on a 54-yard pass to senior receiver Erik Stouter on the first play of the second quarter. Kenyatta Hill followed with a 10-yard TD and the Warriors were off and running.
Harris’s two TD runs and a 75-yard touchdown pass from Reagin to senior Antonio Trawick finished off a productive second quarter for the Warriors.
Although Reagin only threw the ball three times, he totaled 119 yards in the air, highlighted by the TD hookup with Trawick.
“I think it opened the game up, because we get a big pass like that and then the defense has to play back and it opens the run back up,” Trawick said.
Despite being down 27-0, Vilseck quarterback Moritz Lubczyk told his team at halftime that they had to believe in themselves.
“We gotta restart from the beginning and go from there … the score shouldn’t be like this,” Lubczyk said.
A couple of costly turnovers quickly ended any comeback hopes the Falcons had. Wiesbaden scored again, on a TD run by Tevin Teal, before Damon Ellison ran the ball in for Vilseck’s lone score.
“I thought we were better prepared for this team than we played,” Vilseck head coach Jim Hall said.
The win improved Wiesbaden’s record to 2-1 and moved the Warriors ahead of Vilseck (1-2) for one of two playoff spots in Division-I South.
Wiesbaden head coach Steven Jewell told his players after the game that they just sent a huge message to conference leader Heidelberg (3-0), whom the Warriors will face next week at home in a rematch of their season-opener.
“We executed at 100 percent and they just didn’t. That’s hard to overcome at times,” said Jewell. “They’re a well-coached football team… we got a couple of breaks.”
Shawn Peebles led the Falcons on both sides of the ball. Peebles rushed for 92 yards on 10 carries and also led the defensive effort with six tackles. Troy Kander also had a sack and five tackles.
Stouter led the Wiesbaden defense with 10 tackles.
“It was a confidence builder,” Harris said of the victory. “Last year they beat us 21-18, so we wanted this one.”