York overcomes night of massive penalties in physical game against Indian Land
York outscored Indian Land 21-6 in the second half to secure a 28-20 comeback win over the Indian Land Friday night. The Cougars generated over 350 yards of total offense.
However, probably the bigger story is how Cougar penalties. They were a big obstacle for both teams. There was a combined 30 penalties for more than 300 yards.
“(Penalties) caused all kinds of difficulty because we played behind the chains the whole night,” York head coach Dean Boyd said. “Every time, we’d have a big play, we had a penalty.
“I told them at halftime that we got to quit reacting to anything that happens. Then, we come back out (in the second half), and we do the same thing again. So I’m thinking, ‘OK, we’re not going to win this game’ because we’re not composed enough to win it. But they found some composure at the end of the game. They were able to scratch and claw and get it done, and I’m just super, super proud of our football team.”
One of the best illustrations of their struggles came in the first half. Heading into halftime down 14-7, York running back Javarus Guthrie had put up a stellar 110 yards on the ground with just eight carries. However, that production was offset by the 110 penalty yards against York.
Even the penalty yards don’t do justice just how much the team was hindered.
The Cougars had a long screen pass in the first half that completely flipped the field and put them in Indian Land territory, but the play got called back due to a holding penalty. In the scorebook, it only goes down as a 10-yard penalty, but to Boyd, it was an 80-yard penalty that took away an explosive play.
“It was a game of a lot of penalties and a lot of different things going,” Boyd said. “So that wasn’t good. But it’s two teams that really get after each other, and it’s developed into a good little rivalry. They got us last year; we came back and got them this year.”
York running back Javarus Guthrie picked up 175 scrimmage yards and a touchdown on 21 touches, while sophomore quarterback Tashon Freeman threw for 163 yards and a touchdown.
Junior safety Johnathan Tobias caught a 58-yard touchdown and the game-sealing interception with 35 seconds left.
Indian Land ‘kids care so much’
Indian Land head coach Adam Hastings said he wasn’t upset with his team’s effort.
The game was physical, with both teams matching each other’s intensity. However, just like York, the penalties stacked up for Indian Land; 141 penalty yards to be exact.
Those were mistakes that Hastings said his team can’t continue to make.
“I didn’t think we were playing into it until that second drive of the third quarter,” he said. “I thought our guys did a really good job of not getting pulled into all of that for three quarters, and then at the very end we get pulled in to those issues. I’m just disappointed. We made some selfish mistakes. I say ‘selfish’, but the reality is these kids care so much.”
It wasn’t all bad for Indian Land.
Senior linebacker Chase Jones made an incredible one-handed interception at the line of scrimmage to keep York from capitalizing on an Indian Land fumble.
Wide receiver Omarion Davis caught and ran for a touchdown while freshman Sequel Patterson picked up 74 yards and a score on the ground. Senior quarterback Jaxon Scheidt shook off a first-half shoulder injury to complete 10 of his 13 passes for 69 yards and the touchdown to Davis.
“Jaxon’s a warrior,” Hastings said. “Everything that you want in a player, he’s everything that you want in a leader. You don’t know he’s hurt; he wants the ball in his hands. If it’s not in his hands, he wants to support other players. I can’t explain how much I appreciate Jaxon Scheidt for the player that he is, and he’s just a gritty, tough player. And he showed that.”
However, the second half was where things began to unravel for the Warriors.
Indian Land had six offensive drives. They scored on only one of them. Two turnovers, a missed field goal and two punts kept points off the board.
The last time Indian Land lost, the team went on a four-game winning streak. Hastings is hoping his team can replicate more of that grit.
“We’ll find out Monday,” he said. “We’re a young team. We got nine, 10 freshmen and sophomores that start and contribute a lot. A lot of it is going to be on our older guys to be able to just continue to lead the right way and take us in the right direction.”
Late game play is crucial
In the preseason, Boyd said one thing he was looking for his team to improve was its play late in close games. He said last year’s team lost too many games due to its inability to perform late.
Up 21-20 with just under four minutes left Friday night, the York offense marched down the field with former-quarterback-turned-wide-receiver Ayden Davis taking the snaps. Davis scored from four yards out with 1:19 left in the game to make the game 28-20.
“They did a great job with it,” Boyd said. “Moving Ayden Davis to quarterback right there at the end I think kind of threw them off a little bit. His play was excellent. He gamed like always, and we ran the four-minute offense to perfection.”
Boyd said the game opened up late with York’s ability to pick up yards on the ground. The Cougars’ final scoring drive consisted of all run plays.
“We’re a running football team,” Boyd said. “We’re an air raid offense, but we want to run the football first, and we were able to do that, especially late in the game.
“I think (Indian Land’s defense) got tired, to be honest, but they’re so much bigger than us, I felt like if we could keep the game close in the fourth quarter, we’d have a chance.... With our conditioning that we have in the summer and we have a running day on Wednesdays where we push them real hard, and I think it showed up late in the game, but hats off to Indian Land.”
Looking ahead
This win pushes York to 5-1, as the Cougars will welcome Catawba Ridge to its home field next week.
Meanwhile, the loss snaps Indian Land’s four-game winning streak as the Warriors fall to 4-2 and will travel to District Three Stadium next week to face Northwestern. Both games are scheduled to kickoff on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
