YAIAA Week 2 highlights: Offense is the name of the game in high-scoring victories

A couple of instant classics didn't go in favor of YAIAA teams Friday.

York High lost a heartbreaker for the second week in a row. After coming one yard short against Woodland Hills last week, the Bearcats gave up the winning touchdown pass to Hempfield with 12 seconds to play Friday.

Central York's furious comeback against Cumberland Valley and old friend Josh Oswalt came up just short.

YAIAA Division I teams Spring Grove, Red Lion and South Western remain unbeaten. New Oxford continues to look like the class of YAIAA Division II with an impressive victory over now non-league rival Gettysburg.

YAIAA Division III teams are 0-7 this week with York County Tech playing Saturday.

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Friday's YAIAA scores

Cumberland Valley 35, Central York 33: Every time Central York gained momentum in the first half, Cumberland Valley took it right back.

That trend hurt Central York in the long run Friday.

The Panthers lost to Cumberland Valley, 35-33, at home Friday to even their record at 1-1. It was Central York’s first regular season loss since Week 2 in 2019 – a 13-12 heartbreaker to Cumberland Valley.

But Friday’s game wasn’t a back-and-forth affair. The Panthers trailed 35-14 at halftime before outscoring the Eagles 19-0 in the second half.

A late touchdown run by star running back Juelz Goff cut Central York’s deficit to two points with 2:26 to play. But the Eagles recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.

“We’re completely outplayed in the first half, no question. But on the flip side, we completely outplayed them in the second half,” Central York coach Gerry Yonchiuk said. “That’s a turning point. We challenged (our players) at halftime: ‘What are we? Are you going to feel sorry for yourself or come out and play hard?’ And we came out and played our butts off.”

Central was struggled to stop Cumberland Valley dual-threat quarterback Isaac Sines and bruising running back Bryce Staretz ― who Yonchiuk said reminded him of NFL Hall of Famer John Riggins ― in the first half. Staretz rushed 21 times 115 yards and two scores while Sines rushed for 95 yards, threw for 112 and scored three total touchdowns.

But the key moment came in the final minute of the second quarter.

A touchdown pass from Nasir Still to Parker Hines cut Central York’s deficit to 28-14. But the Panthers gave up a long kick return and Sines completed a 27-yard pass before rushing for a two-yard touchdown.

The Panthers gave up just one first down in the second half, but three touchdowns after halftime weren’t enough to tie the score. A missed extra point and missed two-point conversion after the first two didn’t help.

Still went 19 of 28 for 230 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions – though two came in the second half as the Panthers were desperately trying to making something happen. Hines caught eight passes for 110 yards and three scores.

Central York star center-defensive tackle Danny Pham exited midway through the game with an injury.

“He probably forced some balls when guys were on him, but that (fourth quarter) throw to Nigier Dewitt down the sideline was a dime,” Yonchiuk said about Still. “He competed and played hard.

“I feel good about how we came back. You can’t feel good about the loss, but this is two even football teams. If they’re upper-echelon Mid-Penn, that’s good. That was the plan with playing Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley and Hempfield, to see where we’re at when we get to the postseason.”

Cumberland Valley coach Josh Oswalt was the head coach at Central York from 2016 to 2019. This was his first victory over his former team after a 21-3 loss last season.

Cumberland Valley is 2-0 after going 5-5 last season.

“This shows the fruits of our labor,” Oswalt said. “We’re trying to build a program here like we did at Central. And that’s something we’re doing. We’re really excited about where this program is at. And tonight is evidence of that.”

— Matt Allibone

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South Western 41, Dover 13: Robbie Sterner picked off Dover’s Aric Campbell on a fourth-and-9 play in the first series of the second quarter, giving the Mustangs the spark they needed to fire up their offense. Two plays and an offsides call later, South Western found the end zone.

It was the first of three turnovers the Mustangs turned into touchdowns.

Cohen Bull put the first points on the board with a 45-yard run. The Mustangs recovered a fumble on Dover’s next possession, and that led to a touchdown on a 24-yard keeper by Max Wisensale.

The senior quarterback picked off his Dover counterpart in the third quarter in the last turnover the Mustangs turned into points. Sophomore Tanner Truelove found Damon Ogden Jr. in the end zone to give South Western a 34-7 lead, shortly after Thomas Smyser returned the second-half opening kickoff for Dover’s first score.

“We didn’t take advantage when we had the chance,” Dover coach Wayne Snelbaker said. “What was good for us against Northeastern wasn’t there tonight. We would get them in third-and-long, but couldn’t get them off the field.”

Wisensale, who finished with four touchdown passes in addition to his rushing touchdown, said it took a quarter for the offense to click.

“We struggled in the beginning, so Bryce (Graham) and Tanner came in and ran some plays,” Wisensale said. It gave him a chance to watch from the sideline, and make some changes.

A heavy dose of running by Bull, who finished with over 100 yards, and steady completions by Wisensale fueled South Western’s offense. Matt Benzing, who handled all of the kicking duties for the Mustangs, also scored the team’s final touchdown when he hauled in an 11-yard pass from Wisensale.

“Our defense really played well,” Wisensale said. “They gave us great field position for most of the game.”

Dover never found their offensive groove.

South Western's defense didn't allow big plays, so Campbell went with short passes and his receivers didn't have room to run after making the catches.

Gavin Mullins handled most of the ground game for the Eagles until he went out with an injury in the third quarter. Snelbaker didn’t elaborate on Mullins’ injury, but expects him to be ready for Northern next week.

Bryce Mathison and Garon Quillen took over the rushing duties after Mullins went out. Mathison scored the final touchdown of the game on a 4-yard carry in the last minute.

– Shelly Stallsmith

Hempfield 35, York High 32: The Bearcats just needed to prevent Hempfield from going 81 yards in 51 seconds with no timeouts. But the Black Knights quarterback Jackson Landis found Micah Gates for a 29-yard score with 12 seconds left.

Hempfield threatened to run away with the game early until Bearcat sophomore David Warde intercepted a Landis pass and took it from end zone to end zone early in the second quarter to even the game at 6.

York High trailed by one at halftime and for much of the game before trading leads in the fourth quarter. Jahiem White caught a 77-yard touchdown from Sam Stoner to give the Bearcats the lead with 3:31 to play before the dramatic ending.

Warde hauled in two other touchdowns from QB Sam Stoner. He ended with seven catches for 77 yards. Stoner was 13-of 19 for 212 yards.

Hempfield’s offense was led by Landis who threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another two. Senior Grant Hoover paced the Black Knights on the ground with 163 yards and caught a touchdown as well.

-- Leif Johnson

Boiling Springs 44, Bermudian Springs 7: The Bubblers led just 10-0 after the first quarter before breaking the game open in the second. Matt McNair had two touchdown runs longer than 40 yards for the Bubblers. Carter Storm scored the lone touchdown for Bermudian.

Camp Hill 20, York Catholic 17: The Lions outlasted the Irish in an overtime battle. York Catholic led 14-7 in the second half but couldn't hang on. The Irish are 0-2 for the first time since 2019.

New Oxford 28, Gettysburg 14: The two Adams County rivals were tied 8-8 at halftime before the Colonials broke the game open. Jett Moore threw for two touchdowns and scoring runs from Brittyn Eakins and Clayton Nieves in the fourth quarter put the game away.

Columbia 30, Hanover 7: The Nighthawks trailed 12-0 at halftime and cut the deficit in the third quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Chase Roberts to Joey Wilkinson. Columbia quarterback Daezjon Giles rushed for a touchdown and threw for another to put the game away.

Manheim Township 40, Dallastown 0: The Wildcats trailed 28-0 at halftime and never got anything going offensively as they fell to 0-2. Nick Good scored three touchdowns in the first half for the Blue Streaks, including two scoring receptions from quarterback Hayden Johnson.

Red Lion 45, West York 32: The Lions have already matched last season's win total two weeks into the season. West York is still looking for first win since 2020. Senior Garrett Coppersmith set a school record with a 51-yard field goal.

Eastern York 24, Fairfield 7: Fairfield scored first but the Golden Knights led the Green Knights, 18-7, at halftime. Eastern's Austin Billet threw three touchdowns passes in the game to Jiovanni Vega, Talen Knaub and Ethan Sgrignoli. It was Eastern York's first home win in nearly five years — since Sept. 8, 2017 over York County Tech.

Susquehannock 10, Littlestown 7: The Warriors grinded out a win over Littlestown for the second straight season. It was Joe Sorice's first win as head coach. Ryleigh Marks' field goal was the difference for the Warriors.

Northeastern 18, Red Land 10: The Bobcats sacked Quinlin Shearer four times, twice for safeties in the fourth quarter, to give Kirby Brubaker his first win as Northeastern's head coach. Konnor Reeser threw for one touchdown, a 10-yard pass to Owen Wilhide, and ran for another to lead the Bobcats. Wilhide and Houston Mordor recorded the sacks that forced the two safeties. Adrian Castano led Northeastern's ground attack with 73 yards on 15 carries.

Spring Grove 33, Kennard-Dale 28: The Rockets led 27-7 at one point before needing to hold off a late Rams rally. Andrew Osmun threw two long touchdowns and rushed for a score in the first half.

Susquenita 42, Biglerville 0: The Canners trailed 21-0 after the first quarter and never closed the gap. Bryce McKee rushed for over 200 yards and three scores for Susquenita.

York Suburban 41, Donegal 18: It was the Mikey Bentivegna show. The dynamic Suburban senior rushed 28 times for 257 yards and three scores. He also tossed a 36-yard touchdown pass to Alex Kefauver. And he caught three passes for 51 yards and made three tackles on defense.

Thursday's game

Lancaster Catholic 33, Delone Catholic 21: Two Lancaster Catholic touchdowns in a 24-second span to begin the second half proved to be the difference in an otherwise even and relatively high-scoring game

The Crusaders (2-0) left J.T. Flaherty Field with a 33-21 victory against Delone Catholic on Thursday night.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, R.J. Gonzalez broke away from a tackle in the middle of the field and raced 87 yards for a Lancaster Catholic touchdown, the last 50 of it uncontested.

After Delone (0-2) pulled to within one score on a 22-yard Brady Noel receiving touchdown late in the first half, the second half could not have started in more disastrous fashion.

Two plays later, Josh Acker snatched a tipped ball on a short Delone pass and made his own journey to the end zone from 40 yards out to give Lancaster Catholic a 26-7 lead, which proved to be all the space the Crusaders needed.

Noel caught 8 passes for 117 yards and two scores, while Lancaster Catholic's Elijah Cunningham carried the ball 13 times for 137 yards and two scores of his own.

-- George Marinos

Saturday's game

Kutztown at York County Tech, 1 p.m.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: YAIAA football scores: See which teams won in Week 2