LITTLESTOWN -- The Littlestown cheerleaders at Memorial Field cheered, "our score will be higher!"

Little did they know just how much they were telling about the Thunderbolts' game strategy.

After falling behind 14 points five minutes into the game, Littlestown head coach Mike Lippy told his boys not to worry about the score.

The ploy worked as the Thunderbolts beat visiting York Suburban on Friday with their offense in a 56-42 shootout.

"Tonight was that kind of night. (Quarterback) Jerrod (Reynolds) broke out of his shell in a big way," Lippy said.

Trojans running back Cody Waltimyer had already found paydirt twice, but Littlestown (4-0, 1-0 Division II) battled back, scoring four consecutive touchdowns to take the lead.

York Suburban (2-2, 0-1) scored twice more to knot the score at 28-28 headed into halftime.

Littlestown's air assault chipped away at the Trojans throughout the course of the game.

"Coach Lippy told me we were going to have to throw to win," Reynolds said.

Throw they did. Reynolds finished the night 21 of 33 for 365 yards, four passing touchdowns and a fifth Thunderbolt score on the ground.

At one point, the senior had connected on 10 of 11 passes for 140 yards.

"It is a pretty good feeling," Reynolds said. "We were never undefeated ever since I have played."

Reynolds completed passes to five different receivers, including eight passes to Justin Emig for 136 yards, seven to Matt Koontz


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for 90 yards, and seven more to Ryan Wickline for 88 yards. All three players scored touchdowns in the game.

With eight minutes remaining, Littlestown took the ball from its own 30-yard line and orchestrated an 11-play, 70-yard drive ending in Sean Doherty's touchdown run.

Lippy ordered his offense to go for it on fourth-and-1 on the Littlestown 40 only up a touchdown.

Running back Tyler Fodor took the ball 44 yards deep into York Suburban territory.

"If we had given that ball back right there, you knew (York Suburban) was going to score," Lippy said.

The Bolts went for it again on fourth-and-2 on the York Suburban 6-yard line, and Fodor bulldozed for two more yards, eating more clock and leading to a Doherty touchdown run to seal the victory.

"You have got to give York Suburban credit," Lippy said. "They didn't lie down. They didn't go away. They didn't fold."

When asked how it felt to give up 42 points and escape with a win, Reynolds offered up a candid opinion: "I don't know, I don't play defense."

As for his team's defensive performance, Lippy was not pleased with giving up so many points.

Defense has been a cause of concern for Lippy since the beginning of the season, though his team had not faced as tough an opponent as York Suburban until Friday night.

"We still gave up 42 points, which isn't a good thing," Lippy said, "but when you score 42 and lose by 14, not many people are used to that.

"I thought we played a hell of a game tonight."

 
York Suburban  14  14    7    7 -- 42
Littlestown    7  21  21    7 -- 56

First Quarter
   YS -- Waltimyer 10 run (Gurr kick failed).
   YS -- Waltimyer 4 run (Wagner pass from Sottasante).
   Lt -- Jerrod Reynolds 7 run (Adam Hunt kick).
Second Quarter
   Lt -- Justin Emig 7 pass from Reynolds (Hunt kick).
   Lt -- Ryan Wickline 20 pass from Reynolds (Hunt kick failed).
   Lt -- Sean Doherty 7 rush (Emig pass from Reynolds).
   YS -- Cross 9 run (Gurr kick).
   YS -- Wagner 2 pass from Sottasante (Gurr kick).
Third Quarter
   Lt -- Emig 27 pass from Reynolds (Hunt kick).
   Lt -- Matt Koontz 851 pass from Reynolds (Hunt kick).
   YS -- Cross 18 run (Gurr kick).
   Lt -- Doherty 3 run (Hunt kick).
Fourth Quarter
   YS -- Porcher 13 run (Gurr kick).
   Lt -- Doherty 5 run (Hunt kick).
 
-- YS -- Lt
First downs -- 21 -- 21
Rushes-yards -- 35-178 -- 34-167
Passing -- 16-28-0 -- 22-34-2
Passing yards -- 188 -- 376
Total yards -- 366 -- 543
Punts -- 6-30.9 -- 3-26.3
Fumbles-lost -- 4-2 -- 0-0
Penalties-yards -- 5-45 -- 2-10

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- YS, Cross 11-97, Waltimyer 13-80, Porcher 1-13, Wagner 1-(-3), Sottasante 9-(-9); Lt, Tyler Fodor 8-66, Doherty 14-50, Koontz 2-29, Reynolds 10-22.
   Passing -- YS, Sottasante 15-27-0-172, Porcher 1-1-0-16; Lt, Reynolds 21-33-2-365, Koontz 1-1-0-11.
   Receiving -- YS, Bright 3-65, Wagner 5-48, Cross 5-46, Boyer 1-16, Moats 1-13, Waltimyer 1-12; Lt, Emig 8-136, Koontz 7-90, Wickline 7-88, Kevin Gibson 4-55, Doherty 2-7.