By Mike White | Wednesday, Nov. 4, 10:25 p.m.
Hopewell running back Rushell Shell and Trinity tight end-linebacker Ken Wilkins won't play in Friday night's WPIAL playoff games, but for vastly different reasons.
Shell, a sophomore who led the WPIAL in rushing during the regular season, was suspended by the school for Friday's game against Derry for breaking a school rule. Shell confirmed tonight that he won't play and said in a text message that he was suspended because he had "chew tobacco" on him, which is against school rules. He said someone gave him the chew.
Although Hopewell won't be as strong without Shell, don't expect the Vikings to struggle. Remember, the opponent is Derry. The Trojans are the No. 4 team from the Keystone Conference and Keystone teams are 0-32 in the playoffs the past eight years.
Rushel Shell
Meanwhile, Wilkins, a senior and a University of Michigan recruit, is out for Trinity's game at Mars because he has mononucleosis. This is the second game Wilkins has missed because of mono. He didn't play last week, either.
"It's frustrating, but even moreso because I'm a senior," Wilkins said. "When you're a senior, any game can be your last game. You definitely want to get back and play."
When asked how he thought he has played this year, Wilkins said, "On defense, I wasn’t having as good of a year as I did last year. But I think some of that was due to a lot more people knowing who I was this year, and teams scheming more around me. I'm more involved in the offense this year, though. I was having an OK defensive year."
Posted
Nov 04 2009, 10:20 PM
by
Mike White