YAIAA football scores Week 8: Central York, York High get a scare

York Daily Record

01 January 0001

YAIAA football scores Week 8: Central York, York High get a scare

It was only fitting that a full slate of high school football played on Friday the 13th would produce some crazy games.

Spring Grove, coming off a three-game winning streak where it averaged 61 points a game, held a 14-point lead against York High early before the Bearcats came barreling back for a 30-point victory. The two teams combined for 102 points.

Red Lion came close to ending Central York's winning streak against YAIAA opponents, but ultimately fell short on a night where Central RB Juelz Goff broke the school's rushing record.

Bermudian Springs held off Delone to stay undefeated in Division III. And Eastern beat Susquehannock to secure its first winning record since 2014.

Here's how Week 8 unfolded:

Week 8 YAIAA scores

York High 66, Spring Grove 36: There were 102 combined points scored and about 815 offensive yards gained, but the play that flipped the game came on a kick.

Spring Grove led by one with a few seconds left in a back-and-forth first half with York High. Stymied at the 1-yard line, the Rockets decided to try a short field goal to extend their lead before halftime.

But the Bearcats blocked Claire Elliott’s kick, and James Abney returned the ball the length of the field for a go-ahead touchdown. While it is legal to return blocked field goals, there appeared to be an inadvertent whistle from a referee, and Spring Grove’s players initially froze while the ball was on the ground.

Regardless, the play stood and York High went into halftime up seven instead of down a couple points. And a 15-yard penalty on Spring Grove after the play was tacked on the opening kick of the third quarter.

The Bearcats used that opening drive to score another touchdown and never looked back in a 30-point home win.

“I do think (the game) would’ve been different,” Spring Grove coach Tom Trone said about the ramifications of the blocked kick. “They got the momentum going into the half after our kids played our hearts out in the first half.”

“That’s backbreaking,” York High’s Russ Stoner said about the play. “We knew we were going to score right away to start the second half. Great teams take advantage of those opportunities.”

Another thing Trone and Stoner agreed on: Spring Grove played hard but couldn’t slow down the Bearcats passing attack.

York High sophomore quarterback Najee Still went 22-of-32 for 335 yards and five touchdowns. Wa’Nieq Scott caught nine passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns while David Warde caught seven for 125 and two scores.

Still has taken a backseat most of this season to fellow sophomore Shavane Anderson – who rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries Friday – but he has stabilized the quarterback position since taking over midway through Week 2 against Hempfield.

The brother of last year’s Central York starting quarterback Nasir Still, Najee said he’s learned from his brother’s experiences in his first season at York High.

“He was an underdog his entire career because he was sitting behind Beau (Pribula),” Still said. “He told me to stay patient and my time would come. When I came to York High everyone meshed around me. I just want to put my team in a position to win.”

The Bearcats didn’t look like they were in position to win early Friday. Rockets quarterback Cowan Ruhland gave York High fits with his versatile skillset within Spring Grove’s RPO offense. He led two quick scoring drives to give the Rockets a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

He added a 73-yard rushing score later in the first half and finished the game with 182 passing yards, 161 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Stoner chalked up York High’s early defensive struggles to a “not great” week of practice, something he hopes will improve with tough games against South Western (5-3) and Central York (8-0) coming up. Spring Grove finishes with an improving Dallastown squad (3-5) and then South Western.

While Friday’s game was hoped to be a matchup of two future University of Maryland linemen, York High’s Michael McMonigle dressed but ultimately sat out with an ankle injury sustained last week. Spring Grove’s Michael Hershey had a standout game in defeat.

“We’ve got young guys playing defensive backs. We’re getting better but (the Bearcats) killed us in the second half,” Trone said. “Our kids know we can compete the next two weeks. They will be ready to play. I’ll make sure of that.”

Bermudian Springs 28, Delone Catholic 20: Bermudian Springs marched into McSherrystown and took control of York-Adams Div. III. The Eagles came out flying and built a 21-6 first half lead on the strength of two touchdown runs by Eddie Sebright.

Bermudian quarterback Tyson Carpenter also threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Staub in the second quarter.

Carpenter was part of the strong defensive effort that protected the lead in the second half.

Delone's Brady Dettinburn scored before the break to make it 21-13, but Carpenter turned back two dangerous scoring opportunities with interceptions of Denver Ostrum.

The first pick came at the goal line with Delone trying to tie the game midway through the third quarter. Eddie Sebright scored his third touchdown of the night less than two minutes later to make it 28-13.

Carpenter's second pick came with the Eagles reeling after fumbling away a kickoff in the fourth quarter.

Div. III remains a three-team race between Bermudian Springs, Littlestown, and Delone.

Bermudian and Littlestown meet in the final week of the season.

Central York 35, Red Lion 27: The Lions showed from the start that they weren't going to roll over for the undefeated Panthers.

Central muffed the opening kickoff and Red Lion fell on the ball. The drive ended on the 2-yard-line after the Panthers' defense held tough, including a crushing tackle of Red Lion quarterback Chris Price on a fourth-down keeper.

Juelz Goff, who needed 157 yards to break the school's rushing record, put the Panthers on the scoreboard with a 1-yard plunge to finish a 98-yard drive. It was the first of his four touchdowns. He also scored on runs of 2, 34 and 38 yards.

Price pulled the Lions even early in the second quarter with a 10-yard keeper and hit Jayden Zielinski for a 2-yard score to end the quarter. In between, Dain Strausbaugh ran 44 yards for a touchdown to keep the Lions within two points of the Panthers at halftime.

Goff broke the Central York rushing record with a 6-yard run up the gut. It must have been bittersweet, because the Panthers trailed 27-22 thanks to a 1-yard keeper by Price.

The Panthers scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to jump back on top. The first was a 10-yard pass from Brooklyn Nace to Carter Vaughn and the second was a 34-yard run by Goff.

Hanover 28, Biglerville 13: The Nighthawks didn't waste any time Friday. Joey Wilkinson took the opening kick back 90 yards for a touchdown. Wilkinson also picked off a pass and caught a touchdown from Gavin Trish in the first half. The game remained close throughout the first half, but a scoring pass from Trish to Sage Hartlaub gave the Nighthawks a nine-point lead at halftime. Jayden Stanfield rushed for over 250 yards and scored the lone touchdown in the second half.

Eastern York 26, Susquehannock 13: The Golden Knights jumped out to an early lead on a touchdown run by Nuh’si Valenti. Quinn Bramble added a touchdown pass later in the second quarter. Susquehannock got on the board before halftime with a short touchdown run by Michael Fox. Eastern started the second half by recovering a squib kick, and Valenti added his second touchdown. Susquehannock answered with a long drive, but Fox was stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the 2. Levi Ayala punctuated Eastern's win with a 46-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Eastern York is guaranteed a winning season for the first time since 2014.

York Suburban 31, Kennard-Dale 13: The Trojans jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead on a touchdown runs by C.J. Rissmiller and Taza Sweeney. Kennard-Dale cut the deficit to a touchdown at halftime on a scoring run by Hayden Klimm and nearly tied the game on a touchdown run by Desmond Warne early in the third. But Suburban controlled the rest of the game with Damien Yepez hitting a 28-yard field goal and Rissmiller adding two more touchdowns.

South Western 60, Northeastern 0: The Mustangs racked up 344 total yards as they led 33-0 at halftime and 60-0 at the end of the third quarter. The Mustangs improved to 5-3 with their third straight win while Northeastern fell to 0-8.

Dallastown 51, Dover 13: After two straight tough losses to Central York and York High, the Wildcats cruised to an impressive homecoming win over an Eagles team with a winning record.

New Oxford 41, West York 7: The Colonials improved to 8-0 while West York fell to 0-8.

Littlestown 42, York Catholic 7: The Bolts (6-2) kept their playoff chances alive in Class 3A. They are now tied for second place in YAIAA Division III with Delone Catholic and can earn a share of the title with a Week 10 victory over rival Bermudian Springs.