New Oxford, Dover and East York pick up weather-delayed wins
GameTimePA Week 2 football highlights
Teams from Adams, Franklin, Lebanon and York counties are featured.
Shelly Stallsmith, York Daily Record
Idris Ahmetovic and Brennan Holmes agreed it took a while to get going on Saturday morning.
After all, New Oxford’s quarterback and wide receiver, respectively, were scheduled to face Southwestern on Friday night. But after the Marching Mustang band turned the field over to the players, lightning came, moving the game to Saturday morning.
“Our adrenaline level was really high last night,” Ahmadovic said. “We were all pumped to play and then buzz.”
Holmes said it took a while for the team to wake up at the start of the game. But once they woke up, they took control of the game, winning 41-27 in the final non-section game for both teams. The undefeated Colonials host Dover 2-1 in their Division II opener next week. Southwestern, 2-1, travels to Dallastown, which is winless in Division I play.
After turning the ball over on their first possession, holding the Colonials, the Mustangs calmly marched down the field and hit Jackson Hirsch in the corner of the end zone to give Southwestern its first lead. That lead lasted as long as it took for the Mustangs to pass the point afterward and Holmes went 76 yards on the kickoff return.
“I opened up my middle blockers, and I just made the play,” Holmes said.
That was the start of 35 unanswered points for the Colonials behind touchdowns from Tyler Arrigo (31-yard catch), Clayton Nieves (16-yard catch), Ahmetovic (1-yard keeper) and Derrick Price, who knocked the ball out of the gate. Mustangs hand and carried it 55 yards to the end zone.
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“That comeback was huge,” New Oxford coach Jason Warner said. “Kickoff return, Derrick Price on a fumble return. Our defense forced three fumbles and an interception. We had the ball and kept it out of their hands in the first half and that helped us a lot.”
Warner was pleased with the way his team broke down Southwestern’s defense, knowing that the big offensive play the Colonials used in their first two games wouldn’t work against the Mustangs.
“That’s been our message all week, just stay away,” Warner said. “Even on first-and-2 situations, we were able to make gains of 6 yards and 8 yards, which made third downs easier to control.”
The Colonials mixed up a single and double block on South Western’s Aydan Wysocki in an attempt to shut out one of the best defenders in the league. The double team worked against the bigs, but often made them pay for single coverage.
Sophomore Braeden Bowman handled most of the single-blocking efforts and was joined by junior Dylan Brougher for double teams.
“I think it boosts confidence for these young guys,” Warner said. “I think that gave them a bit of a preview of what’s to come next week against Dover. Wysocki is tough to deal with, and he had an impact on the game, but I think we were able to do enough to keep him at bay.”
Southwest cut New Oxford’s lead with touchdown runs by Ben Cline and Cade Bumgardner to score two scores with more than a quarter remaining. But the Colonials took their time on their first drive of the fourth quarter to stifle the lead when Jarrett Pitzer’s TD made it a three-and-out.
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Week 3 matches are on Saturday
East York 55, Olney 14
Exeter 49, West York 14: The game resumed Saturday morning with the Bulldogs trailing 14-0 with 44 seconds left in the first quarter. An 11-yard run by Jayden Zandier and a 44-yard run by Farrell Caceres did the damage Friday night before the delay. The Eagles added an insurance touchdown on the restart before the Bulldogs found the end zone.
Dover 39, North York 14
Lampeter Strasburg 63, Kennard Dale 0
North Lebanon 25, York County Tech 7: North Lebanon’s Kyle Erdmann threw touchdown passes to Luke Shaffer (2 yards) and Brian Metzl (29 yards) to give his team the points they needed to clinch the win. Moises Gonzalez ran for touchdowns of 5 and 26 yards to provide some insurance. Seth Coldiron hit Ethan Farrell for a 43-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put York Tech on the board.
Matches on Monday
Central York 22, Hempfield 0 in second quarter, at Central York 4 p.m
Hanover 14, Pequia Valley 6 at halftime, at Hanover at 5 p.m
York Suburban 14, York Catholic 0 in first quarter, at York Catholic 6 p.m
James Buchanan 6 Biglerville 0 in the second quarter, at Biglerville, 6 p.m
Red Lion 0, Reading 0 in the first quarter, at Red Lion, 6 p.m
York High at Carlisle, 6 p.m
