Football
Wildcats football swamps Lakers,
37-6
By Stan Ross
York trounced Lake Region in its most recent game. Pictured here are Alex Quinn (33), Sunny Sala (27), Tom Ross (70), Jon Jiminez (9), Zach Wheeler (32) and Scott Langenheim (35) and first half play and Dan Petruzella (15), Joey Hampton (44), Langenheim, Pat Graham (80), Steve Buoncristiano (42) and Cam Rodrigues (34) in the second half.
Photos by SherryDaBiere
YORK - Last Saturday, Sept. 30, the York Wildcats (4-1) completely dominated the Lake Region Lakers (0-5) by the final score of 37-6.
York surprised the Laker defense by opening the game with a middle screen pass by sophomore quarterback Evan Wallace to fullback Alex Quinn for a gain of 30 yards to the Laker 42 yard line. Wallace led York on a seven-play drive paced by the ball carrying of Jon Jiminez. Jiminez picked up 30 yards on five carries and Wallace powered over left guard for a TD at the 7:43 mark. The conversion team of long snapper Ryan Vokey, holder Alex Bloomquist and kicker Ryan MacGlashing made their first of eight points on the day, five points after and one field goal.
The Lakers were stopped on their first possession by the tackling of Scott Langenheim and Quinn, and were forced to punt on fourth down. Dan Moran signaled for a fair catch and York took over on their own 41. Then Zack Pruger sprinted 14 yards for a first down to the Laker 45, and then added another 14 yard gain to the Laker 31. Quinn bowled his way for another five yards and Pruger sped around left end for an 11-yard gain. Then quarterback Wallace swept left end to pickup 11 more yards to the Laker four yard line. Nate Willette and Tom Ross opened a huge hole that Wallace could walk through to score his second TD with 2:24 left in the quarter and York led 14-0.
MacGlashing kicked off to the Lake Region 25 and Pat Graham made an open field tackle. Three plays later, the Lakers fumbled, and Sunny Sala recovered for York on the Lake Region 45 yard line. Four plays later, York turned the ball over on downs. Lake Region started from their own 25 yard line and moved the ball for nine plays to the York 40 before turning the ball over on downs. Then Pruger picked up 25 yards in a sweep around right end and Jiminez shook off tacklers as he sprinted 38 yards in the end zone for a touchdown. The point after was blocked, but York led 20-0 at the end of the 7:11 mark of the second quarter.
Then MacGlashing boomed a kickoff to the Lake Region 5 yard line and the York defense led by Sala, Zachary Wheeler and Buddy Gauthier forced the Lakers to punt from their own 16. York pressured the punter and the ball went out of bounds on the Lakers 30 yard line. The Laker defense stiffened and York was faced with a fourth and 6 with only 53 seconds left in the quarter and called a time-out. Then MacGlashing split the upright with a 32-yard field goal and York now led 23 -0. Wheeler blocked a Laker pass and Lake Region was forced to punt again as the first half ended.
York kicked off to open the third quarter and Graham made the tackle on the Lake Region 23. York gave ground grudgingly, and the Lakers recovered their own fumbles twice before being forced to punt from midfield. York safety Moran signaled for a fair catch, but was drilled by a Laker defender. The officials ruled that the fair catch signal was too late, and York started form their own 22 yard line with a first and 10. Jiminez picked up 11 yards for one first down through the middle, and then Wallace ran a sweep for nine more yards. Jiminez had two more short gains before Quinn and Sala led Pruger for a 16-yard gain to the Lakers 38 yard line. Pruger ran a sweep left for 21 more yards and followed Sala around the right side for another 12 yards, forcing the Lakers to call time. Then Quinn plunged over the middle for a touchdown, and York led 30-0 with 3:38 left in the quarter.
On MacGlashing's kickoff, James Pidgeon made an open field tackle and the Lakers put the ball in play at their own 31 yard line. They were pushed back by an illegal procedure penalty and a bad snap left them with a third down and 30. After taking a time-out, they quick kicked on third down and the ball rolled dead on the York 36 yard line. Jiminez started the York drive with four straight carries, good for 31 yards, before Pruger behind the blocking of Tim Jones and Quinn raced 20 yards for another TD. York now led 37-0 at the 11:06 mark of the fourth quarter.
York Head Coach Randy Small was able to play most of his reserves during the rest of the game. The Lakers did not want to be shut out, and senior half-back Dan Rembert ran a cut-back for a touchdown. The York line buried Rembert and the Lakers missed the conversion. The score remained 37-6 with 7:02 left to play.
Some key plays in the remainder of the game included a stick by Steve Buoncristiano and a sack for a 15-yard loss by Gauthier. York took over on downs and freshmen Jared Pruger broke several tackles as he picked up a 28-yard gain. York was content to take a knee and run out the clock with a final score of 37-6.
Next on the schedule is a home game this Friday night, Oct. 6, against undefeated Mountain Valley at 7 p.m.
