West York's Dan Gay, center, and Blaine Fissel, right, take down Kennard-Dale's Ethan Hornbarger during Friday's game at West York. The Bulldogs posted a 53-7 victory over the Rams to take sole possession of the top spot in Division II. (Daily Record/Sunday News - Meghan Gauriloff)

When Kennard-Dale most needed a stop, Brandon Real broke the Rams' spirits and a pair of West York football records at the same time.

The senior running back took the handoff on the first play of the second half with his team leading by 20 points and burst straight up the middle before making a quick cut-back to the right side. Then, like so many other times this season, he was gone.

The 74-yard touchdown run put Real ahead of both the 11-year-old single-game rushing record and the 37-year-old single-season rushing mark, and the senior still wasn't finished. Real finished with 307 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries and threw for another score, as the Bulldogs (7-1, 4-0 Division II) cruised to a 53-7 victory

West York's Brandon Real, left, runs the ball during Friday's game. Real finished with 307 yards on the ground, three rushing TDs and even threw one score in the Bulldogs' 53-7 victory. He broke two school records in the process -- single-game rushing and single-season rushing yards. (Daily Record/Sunday News - Meghan Gauriloff)
over the Rams (4-4, 3-1).

West York is now in sole possession of first place in Division II for the first time this year, controlling its own destiny as it looks to win the title for the second consecutive season.

"I saw it out of the corner of my eyes and knew that was the way I should go," Real said of his record-breaking run. "I saw the end zone and ran straight for it."

In addition to running for 1,353 yards over eight games this season, Real has found the end zone rushing, receiving and returning the ball a total of 31 times.

"Some backs are quick, some backs are fast, and he's both," Kennard-Dale coach Doug Wilkinson said of Real. "They weren't doing anything really special -- all they did was run iso. We knew they were going to do that, and we knew what we wanted to do to stop it, and we just didn't get it done.

"He's a special kid. There's a reason he has all those touchdowns. It's not an accident. I'll be glad when he's gone."

After forcing Kennard-Dale to go three-and-out on the first series, West York handed the ball to Real on its first four plays from scrimmage, the last of which was a 30-yard touchdown run.

"You could tell right from the beginning," West York coach Ron Miller said. "He ran

Kennard-Dale quarterback Duncan Leftridge (2) throws under pressure from West York's defense during Friday's game. Leftridge scored the Rams' lone touchdown in the first quarter to keep the game close before West York broke open the game with two 20-point quarters. (Daily Record/Sunday News - Meghan Gauriloff)
hard tonight. I said to our offensive coordinator (Jeremy Jones), I said 'Jeremy, he's just running hard tonight, let's just feed it to him.' You can tell when Brandon is going hard. He was excited for this game. He knew how big of a game it was."

The Rams kept it close early, tying the game 7-all on a 6-yard scoring run from quarterback Duncan Leftridge that capped a 13-play, 69-yard drive. Kennard-Dale forced a turnover on the next possession and started its next drive on the Bulldogs' 35-yard line, but West York forced the Rams to punt again.

Three plays and a 51-yard TD run from Real later, the Bulldogs had their lead back for good.

Kennard-Dale went for it on fourth-and-1 from the West York 11 on its next drive, but a Duncan Leftridge sneak up the middle was ruled short of the marker. After the Bulldogs failed on their own fourth-and-short in the red zone -- when Real couldn't gain

2 yards at the Kennard-Dale 9 -- West York safety Blaine Fissel scooped up a Leftridge fumble and ran it

15 yards into the end zone with 3:35 left in the first half.

A Kennard-Dale three-and-out opened up another scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs, and on second-and-10 from the 18, Real lined up at quarterback. He threw a screen pass near the right sideline to Corey Harris, who broke several tackles before spinning into the end zone.

West York received the second half kickoff and before the first play from scrimmage Miller told Real: "I don't want you to break the record, I want you to smash it." Real obliged, not just with the 74-yard touchdown run, but his subsequent rushes that led him to a total that bested Seth McLane's single-game mark by 106 yards.

smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045
 

Kennard-Dale  7    0    0    0 --   7
West York  7  20  20    6 -- 53

First Quarter
   WY -- Brandon Real 30 run (Drew Shaffer kick), 8:00.
   KD -- Duncan Leftridge 6 run (Zach Brown kick), 2:29.
Second Quarter
   WY -- Real 51 run (Shaffer kick), 11:38.
   WY -- Blaine Fissel 15 fumble return (Shaffer kick), 3:39.
   WY -- Corey Harris 18 pass from Real (kick failed), 0:44.
Third Quarter
   WY -- Real 74 run (Shaffer kick), 11:40.
   WY -- Nate Jacobs 11 pass from Alex George (run failed), 3:40.
   WY -- Jacobs 56 punt return (Shaffer kick), 1:32.
Fourth Quarter
   WY -- Mark Fox 14 run (kick failed), 9:48.
 
-- KD -- WY
First downs -- 13 -- 13
Rushes-yards -- 49-166 -- 33-380
Passing -- 3-10-1 -- 3-5-0
Passing yards -- 56 -- 34
Total yards -- 222 -- 414
Punts -- 5-31.8 -- 1-26
Fumbles-lost -- 5-3 -- 2-1
Penalties-yards -- 6-70 -- 7-45

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Kennard-Dale, Ethan Hornbarger 15-78, Duncan Leftridge 15-53, Isiah Mullins 7-17, Jordan Senkbeil 8-10, Matt Romoser 3-7, Brad Coder 1-1; West York, Brandon Real 18-307, Zach Trone 2-27, Alex George 2-24, Mark Fox 5-9, Blake Campbell 2-5, Cody Harlacker 2-5, Josh Kukorlo 1-2, Corey Harris 1-1.
   Passing -- Kennard-Dale, Leftridge 3-9-0-56, Coder 0-1-1-0; West York, Alex George 2-4-0-16, Real 1-1-0-18.
   Receiving -- Kennard-Dale, Jordan Shenk 2-43, Senkbeil 1-13; West York, Harris 2-23, Jacobs 1-11.

RECORDS FALL

West York's Brandon Real broke two school records Friday:
 
Single-game rushing yards
   Former record: Set by Seth McLane in 1997 (201)
   Real's record: 307 yards
 
Single-season rushing yards
   Former record: Set by Mike March in 1971 (1,282)
   Real's record: 1,353 and counting