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Dover cashes in as Eastern's late scoring chance slips away


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Dover's Derek Breneman and coach Wayne Snelbaker had the exact same thought when they saw the snap roll towards Eastern York holder Isaiah King.

"Just get the ball. Get the ball and secure it for the win," Breneman said.

The Eagles led by one with a little more than three minutes left in the fourth quarter. However the Golden Knights drove the field, getting inside the Dover 10-yard line.

Unfortunately for Eastern, Logan Kline was injured on his 26th carry. The sophomore, who ran for 138 yards on the rainy, windy night, was shaken up on that play.

Three plays later, Bobby Lecates was sent in to try a 22-yard field goal, but never got the chance as the wet ball caused a bad snap and King was tackled, clinching Dover's 7-6 victory.

Click here to watch the full-game video replay

Kline found the end zone on the Knights' second possession of the game, when he capped a seven-play, 76-yard drive, in which he accumulated 75 of those yards. He bowled up the middle from 2-yards out with 3:33 left in the first quarter.

Neither team moved the ball much the rest of the half, but Dover, which improved to 2-0 in the league and 3-2 overall, came out of the intermission ready.

The Eagles marched 50 yards on eight plays, and in his first start at quarterback, Tad Pequignot snuck in from a yard out. Josh Bradley's extra point capped the scoring less than four minutes into the third quarter.

"That's what we talked about at halftime," Snelbaker said. "The kids were saying all the right things and I asked them, 'Do you believe in what you are saying?' We get the ball, set the tone first and let's go do it."

The senior Pequignot, listed as a wide receiver on the Eagles' roster, changed positions after starter Tyler Blazosky was injured in last week's win vs. Gettysburg.

"We knew it would be a struggle," Snelbaker said. "It was his first official start. We will watch film and show him, 'Here is what we've got to do.' What a better way to learn."

Still, Eastern (0-2, 2-3) responded with a 17-play drive that ended when Rahmeire Bradshaw sacked Knights' quarterback Ryan Kalke on fourth down after a pair of penalties set Eastern back.

"I can't say enough for our defense," added Snelbaker. "We put some adjustments in at halftime, they drove the ball, but when it mattered most, we came up and stood."

"The offense came alive a bit tonight. We had some young guys in there. They got great experience, but we should be winning these games," said Knights coach Dave Kemmick. "We (would) run down the field and get a penalty. Every drive was killed by a penalty."

Eastern's next drive would be its final one.

"I think we just ran our game plan tonight and it worked holding them to six points and two goal-line stops," Breneman said.

The teams completed only one pass on the night, when Breneman caught a 5-yard screen.

Dover 7, Eastern York 6

Eastern York6000—6Dover0070—7

First Quarter

EY — Logan Kline 2 run (kick blocked), 3:33.

Third Quarter

Do — Tad Pequignot 1 run (Josh Bradley kick), 8:08.

EYDoFirst Downs 11 6 Rushes-yards 58-20231-136 Passing 0-3-0 1-9-0Passing yards 0 5Total yards 202 141Punts 3-26.0 4-34.5Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-01Penalty yards 8-45 10-76
Individual statistics

Rushing — EY, Logan Kline 26-138, Brennen Shenk 12-37, Sam Pollock 8-31, Ryan Kalke 9-29, Jimmy Kurnik 1-4, Team 2-(-37). Do, Durran Ledbetter 9-48, Tad Pequignot 11-48, Brett Mohn 10-45, Joey Zuttel 1-(-5).

Passing — EY, Kalke 0-3-0-0. Do, Pequignot 1-9-5-0.

Receiving — Do, Derek Breneman 1-5.