The Eastern York Golden Knights found themselves ahead of West York late in the first quarter Friday night.

Then things got a little more Real for the Bulldogs.

Brandon Real burned his opponents -- this time with his return game setting up two touchdowns -- in leading West York to a 54-17 romp in their YAIAA Division II clash.

The Bulldogs got off to a sloppy start, fumbling the ball away on the game's second play from scrimmage.

Eastern took advantage of the short field when Jared Smeltzer scored from 16 yards out to put the Knights ahead quickly. However, three plays into West York's possession, Real found the end zone from 53 yards out, tying the score.

"I was a little disappointed with the way we were preparing pregame; I could just tell we were a little flat," said West York coach Ron Miller.

"If we want to get to be the type of team we want to be, we've got to be better than what we were early. Luckily today we were a veteran team, and the kids responded extremely really well."

On the next possession it looked like Eastern's fleet-footed duo of Smeltzer and Andy Siple were poised to put the Knights ahead again.

The two saw the bulk of the work, carrying the ball a combined six times, moving the ball into a first-and-10 situation from the Bulldog 14.

"They do a lot of good things," said Miller. "There's a lot of misdirection in the backfield, and if you're not assignment-sound, you're going to get burnt. Once our guys got adjusted, we were fine."

The Knights suddenly opted to try passing plays on two of their next their three plays, finding no success and abandoning what had gotten them there. They settled for Erik Moore's 33-yard field goal.

Eastern held a 10-7 lead with 2:36 left in the opening quarter. Little did they know, they would only maintain that lead for 22 more seconds.

Real took the ensuing kickoff deep into Golden Knight territory, down to the 21-yard line. Corey Harris would be the beneficiary of Real's efforts, scoring on the very next play.

"As a returner he is just as dangerous as he is an offensive player," Miller said. "And that's a huge weapon for us."

The Bulldogs held Eastern on their next two possessions, the first stand giving way to a 15-yard touchdown run by Bulldog quarterback Alex George.

After the second stand, Real gave a mirror image performance of his earlier devastating return, again taking the ball to the Eastern 21.

West York scored on the very next play as George found Nate Jacobs in the corner of the end zone. Real and Jacobs would each find the end zone one more time before the end of the half. The Bulldogs took a 41-10 lead into the intermission.

George started to put the outcome away on the first possession of the second half. Keeping the ball on the option, George turned up-field and broke numerous tackles on his way to a 60-yard score.

A last gasp possession saw the Golden Knights turn to the air on the ensuing possession.

But three plays in, West York's Brandon Romeo found himself in the right place to receive a tip-drill interception, and the defensive lineman returned it to Golden Knight seven. Real, who had 144 on 14 carries, then got his third score 2 yards.

 

West York  13  28  10    0 -- 54
Eastern York  10    0    0    7 -- 17

First Quarter
   EY -- Jared Smeltzer 16 run (Erik Moore kick), 9:20
   WY -- Brandon Real 53 run (Drew Shaffer kick), 7:53
   EY -- Moore 33 FG, 2:36
   WY -- Corey Harris 21 run (kick blocked), 2:14
Second Quarter
   WY -- Alex George 15 run (Shaffer kick), 10:45
   WY -- Nate Jacobs 21 pass from George (Shaffer), 8:00
   WY -- Real 35 run (Shaffer kick), 3:28
   WY -- Jacobs 12 pass from George (Shaffer kick), :25
Third Quarter
   WY -- George 60 run (Shaffer kick), 8:09
   WY -- Real 2 run (kick failed), 4:12
Fourth Quarter
   EY -- Andrew Blessing 53 punt return (Moore kick), 3:54
 
-- WY -- EY
First downs -- 11 -- 9
Rushes-yards -- 27-270 -- 36-127
Passing -- 4-8-0 -- 4-12-1
Passing yards -- 70 -- 37
Total yards -- 340 -- 164
Punts -- 1-33 -- 5-32
Fumbles-lost -- 2-2 -- 1-0
Penalties-yards -- 6-55 -- 3-25

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- West York, Real 14-144, George 5-90, Harris 2-41, Zach Trone 5-5, Mark Fox 1- (-10); Eastern York, Smeltzer 14-89, Andy Siple 14-47, Blessing 2-10, Ryan Yohe 1-4, Mark Holloway 5- (-23).
   Passing -- West York, George 4-6-0-70, Fox 0-2-0-0; Eastern York, Holloway 4-12-1-37.
   Receiving -- West York, Jacobs 3-70, Real 1-0; Eastern York, Siple 2-9, Alex Seitz 1-18, Yohe 1-10.