West York wears down rival Dover 39-14

West York brought a simple gameplan to its matchup with longtime rival Dover on Friday night: Run, run, run, repeat. Simple, yet efficient.

The Bulldogs' running attack racked up 325 yards on 45 carries, good enough for a 7.2 yards per carry average, and wore down an undermanned Dover squad, 39-14.

"Our goal is 200 (rushing yards) a week," West York head coach Jeremy Jones said. "I figure if you can do that, you'll have always have a chance. We always try to find what we can get. And tonight, once we found that (running game), we attacked."

The Bulldogs (4-5, 4-1 YAIAA Division II) got 225 combined yards from their freshman-sophomore backfield duo of Ay'Jaun Marshall and Anthony Kahley, who each added a touchdown as well.

Five Dover turnovers also crippled the Eagles (4-5, 3-2), who dressed only 22 players for Friday's game, in part because of suspensions following a homecoming party two weeks ago when 22 people -- including 12 Dover student-athletes, six of whom were football players -- were charged with underage drinking. The Eagles, who typically dress 40 players on gameday, have also dealt with their fair share of injuries in the second half of the season, contributing to their lack of manpower Friday.

"Turnovers killed us," Dover head coach Wayne Snelbaker said. "We just came in a little undermanned, but we're doing the best we can. I'm proud of them and the way they fight with everything that has been going on. I feel sorry for these kids because they don't deserve it."

A sloppy first half came down to who made fewer mistakes. Dover put together long drives but came up empty thanks to five fumbles (three lost) and an interception. West York countered with two fumbles of its own. At one point, the teams exchanged giveaways on four consecutive possessions.

But the Bulldogs took advantage of Dover's miscues. In the first quarter, two runs for a combined 60 yards by Marshall set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Tyler Folk.

"We've been trying to pepper him in more at running back, and right now he's hitting his stride," Jones said of Marshall. "The first few games he was running like a freshman, kind of scared. But now, he's making big-time runs."

Then, on a fourth down and long, Folk's pass was tipped by an Eagles defensive back but fell right into the hands of West York's top receiver Terry Cains for an 18-yard score. Mason Bercik pushed the lead to 19-0 before the end of the half with a three-yard run.

Dover's Durran Ledbetter, who ran for 152 yards on 17 carries, found the end zone twice for Dover in the second half, but Kahley and Marshall countered with touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

"Our kids have battled, and I wish we were in a better position in the division, but we had our chance to take care of our end of things and we didn't," Jones said. "But we're going to finish this thing out and see what happens."

First Quarter

WY — Tyler Folk 1 run (missed kick), 7:28.

Second Quarter

WY — Terry Cains 18 pass from Tyler Folk (Evan Keim kick), 11:10.

WY — Mason Bercik 3 run (kick missed), 1:32.

Third Quarter

Do — Durran Ledbetter 4 run (Josh Bradley kick), 7:14.

WY — Anthony Kahley 11 run (pass failed), 5:07.

WY — Ay'Jaun Marshall 32 run (Keim kick). 1:17.

Fourth Quarter

WY — Allen Stauffer 2 run (Keim kick), 10:32.

DO — Ledbetter 48 run (Bradley kick), 4:14.

WYDOFirst downs177Rushes-Yards45-32534-160Passing5-165-15-2Passing Yards9270Total Yards417230Punts4-395-43Fumbles-Lost3-35-3Penalties-Yards7-502-15

Individual Statistics

Rushing — WY, Ryan Narber 4-35, Nick Spadafora 2-6, Ay'Jaun Marshall 10-115, Tyler Folk 9-26, Anthony Kahley 10-105, Mason Bercik 1-3, Allen Stauffer 1-2, Terry Cains 1-(-1), Anton Johnson 7-34. DO, Durran Ledbetter 17-152, Tad Pequignot 15-(-1), Cole Jesmer 2-9.

Passing — WY, Folk 5-15-92, Johnson 0-1-0-0. Do, Pequignot 5-15-70-2.

Receiving — WY, Cains 2-27, Dante Dorm 2-43, Anthony Kahley 1-22. Do, Caden Snyder 4-72, Ledbetter 1-(-2).