HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Wynford coach Gabe Helbert said it best when he said that Friday night’s Wynford-Pleasant game was “a game between two teams trying to gain some confidence.”

But he quickly added, “I am glad we came out on the top end of the score.”

Neither team moved the ball consistently. In fact, the Royals barely broke 100 yards for the game, rushing 25 times for 25 yards.

But Wynford’s special teams were very special.

The Royals scored 16 of their 23 points on a combination of Wynford plays and Pleasant miscues in a 23-6 win.

Wynford took advantage of four Pleasant fumbles and a holding call on a Spartan touchdown pass en route to the win.

“It’s critical,” Helbert said of his team’s special teams play. “We made huge plays in special teams. Obviously, the kickoff return to start the second half was huge, James made a big play. Fortunately, they made some mistakes on punts that were really self-inflicted.”

The game didn’t start out that way as the Spartans took the opening kickoff and marched 77 yards in 13 plays. Fullback Jonah Bibler bulled over from the one and Pleasant had a 6-0 lead.

From that point on, however, the Wynford defense stiffened, recovering four Pleasant fumbles and adding one interception from Kohen Keith.

Pleasant coach Kevin Kline said that the effort just didn’t overcome the mistakes.

“We knew this was going to be a pretty competitive game between us and Wynford, we knew they had some athletes, and we knew it was going to be a tough game,” Kline said.  “You just can’t have that many miscues and that’s what we did. We had too many fumbles. We gave up 16 points on special teams and that will kill you every time.”

Wynford got on the board early in the second period when a snap on a Pleasant punt sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone, cutting the lead to 6-2.

A fumble at the Pleasant 28 gave the Royals the ball back midway through the period, and Wynford cashed in. At the one, quarterback Cobey Allen rammed the ball across the goal line, giving the Royals a 9-7 lead at the half.

The biggest play of the game came on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Wynford’s James Schiefer took the kick at the Wynford 15, found a hole in the middle of the field, and raced 85 yards for the touchdown.

Wynford held a 16-6 lead and, the way things were going, that lead was quite overwhelming.

Pleasant outgained Wynford, 180-104, on the night. But neither team ran the ball well. Pleasant finished the night with 98 yards on 47 carries.

“We capitalized on their mistakes and the defense made plays when they had to,” Helbert said.

“It was just a sloppy game,” he added. “How many times was the ball on the floor for them and how many times did we make mistakes. It was week two and we’re happy to leave here 23-6 because it could have gone the other way.”

Kline said that his team played well defensively, and, in fact, their effort was an improvement over week one.

“We made some progress from last week,” Kline said. “We just made too many mistakes in key situations. We like how our kids competed, but we still have a way to go with things. Hopefully, we start putting things together.

“We played hard,” he added. “I think our defense played really well, compared to a week ago. People always talk about special teams, but you saw tonight, those are big momentum swings. We have to get our kicking game figured out.”

Wynford 23, Pleasant 6

Score by quarters

Pleasant          6         0          0          0   — 6

Wynford         0         9           7          7   — 23

 Scoring summary

First quarter

P — Jonah Bibler 1 run (kick failed), 5:54.

Second quarter

W — Punt snapped out of end zone, 11:24.

W — Cobey Allen 1 run (Leyton Appleby kick), 4:37.

Third quarter

W — James Schiefer 85 kickoff return (Appleby kick), 11:48.

Fourth quarter

W — Blake Beckley recovered fumbled punt in end zone (Appleby kick), 7:31.

Individual statistics

Passing

Pleasant: Grant Kantzer 7-19-1 74, Devon Hom 1-1-0 8. Wynford: Cobey Allen 10-17-0 79.

Rushing

Pleasant: Spencer Steed 12-42, Aden Casperon 6-29, Grant Kantzer 17-(-4), Jonah Bibler 11-23, C.J. Smith 1-8. Wynford: Kendall Blair 8-22, Kaiden Blair 6-11, James Schifer 1-(-1), Cobey Allen 10-(-7).

Receiving

Pleasant: C.J. Smith 3-44, Cadence Vamer 3-17, Aden Casperon 1-21, Jakob Williams 1-0. Wynford: N/A.

Team statistics

P              W

First downs                 17               7

Rushing                    42-98       25-25

Passes                        8-20-1      10-17-0

Yards passing              82             79

Total yards                  180           104

Fumbles-lost               8-4            4-0

Penalties                      7-47          8-75