Football
Wildcats all over Knights, 42-12
By Stan Ross
The York Wildcats get set on defense in last Friday night's thrashing of Gray-New Gloucester. Shown here are Tony Romano (14), Alex Quinn (33), Gene Jones (73) and Zach Wheeler (32).
Photo by Sherry DaBiere
GRAY - Last Friday night, Sept. 8, the York High School Wildcats (2-0) journeyed to Gray to joust with the Gray-New Gloucester Knights (0-2) and rolled to a 42-12 victory.
One veteran observer commented, paraphrasing the local GNG announcer, "York won despite a plethora of penalties and a multitude of fumbles."
York took the opening kickoff and advanced to the GNG 42 on a pass from sophomore QB Evan Wallace to Alex Blomquist in the flat, but the Wildcats fumbled on fourth and three.
The Knights ground attack was then stopped by the hard tackling of Ryan Vokey and Alex Quinn. The GNG fourth down punt was returned 15 yards by Dan Moran to the York 45. After Zach Pruger gained seven yards on a draw play and another 10 off right tackle, York had a first down on the GNG 40. Wallace gained eight yards on a QB keeper right and then raced 35 more yards on a keeper left but was finally dragged down on the Gray five yard line. On the next play Pruger followed his blockers and dove through a hole off right tackle for the first touchdown. The Wildcat conversion team of kicker Ryan MacGlashing, holder Blomquist and long snapper Vokey split the uprights to give York a 7-0 lead at the 5:53 mark. (York was 6 of 6 on extra points for the night.)
GNG covered MacGlashing's kickoff on their own 39 yard line. Ian Bond and Tony Romano combined on a solid stick before the Knights speedy tailback Shane Beal raced 20 yards and York safety Pruger finally caught him from behind. Then a stop by Tom Ross and another by Eugene Jones was followed by a sack by Vokey. With fourth and five, GNG tried another run but Eugene Jones and Zach Wheeler combined for the stop and York took over on downs. On their next play QB Wallace combined with tight end Romano on a 63-yard touchdown pass and York led 14-0 with 2:09 left in the first quarter.
York got a defensive stick by Jake Moran and a sack by Romano to offset a five yard face mask penalty. Then Dan Moran recovered a GNG fumble and York started a drive from the Knights 37 yard line. A key play was a pass from QB Wallace to Quinn that gave York a first down by inches. The Wildcats stayed on the ground but a "delay of game" penalty set up a fourth and 11 on the Gray 27. Then the Knights interfered on the York fourth down pass intended for Bond and the Wildcats had a first down on the GNG 15. But York fumbled the snap on their second play and the Knights took over at their own nine yard line.
Scott Langenheim and Ross combined on defense to hold Gray at their own 10 yard line and force a fourth down punt. Dan Moran returned it to the 43, but York was penalized for holding. York started on the GNG 44 yard line and Pruger gained 12 yards and then 10 more on a counter play but a York fumble gave Gray the ball on their own 10 yard line. On their first play from scrimmage GNG tailback, Beal found a hole on the left side and outraced the entire York team for a 90-yard TD run. Their conversion pass attempt failed and the score remained York 14-Gray 6.
Quinn returned the short kickoff up the middle to the 48. Then John Jiminez gained 12 yards on one carry and followed with a 39-yard sprint before being caught from behind at the one yard line. Wallace bulled over center for the TD and York led 21-6 with 2:21 left in the half.
Gray attempted three straight running plays but York called time-outs and forced the Knights to punt. Moran returned it to the GNG 43 but fumbled and the Knights took over with just 1:07 left in the half. This time Gray attempted to pass but Pruger intercepted and returned it 20 yards to the 46 with just 11 seconds on the clock. Time for one play and Wallace connected with Romano for a 42-yard TD as the first half ended and York led 28-6.
Gray returned York's short kickoff to their 40 yard line where Greg Lipton made the tackle. After an exchange of punts near midfield Ross recovered a fumble for York on the Gray 40 yard line. York overcame another offside penalty and on a 20-yard pass from Wallace to Bond plus a 20-yard scramble by Wallace, the Wildcats had scored again and led 35-6 at the 3:34 mark.
York Head Coach Randy Small was then able to empty his bench for the rest of the game.
Some key plays included a 52-yard sprint into the end zone by Jiminez that was negated by a holding call and a 21-yard scramble by Quinn as he fought his way for a York first down. Finally, Jiminez scored on a nine-yard TD run that did count to give York a 42-6 lead. Beal ran for another late TD for GNG to make the final score York 42-GNG 12.
Next on the schedule for York is a home game this Friday night, Sept. 15, against Cape Elizabeth at 7 p.m.
