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York Catholic appeared to win, but a pass interference penalty gave Holy Name a first down on the Irish 20-yard line and an additional play with no time left on the clock.
The Blue Jays lined up for a game-winning field goal and kicker Peter Gass drilled it plenty long enough.
But, York Catholic exhaled as the kick went wide left, giving the Irish a hard-fought 23-22 victory.
Up next for York Catholic (7-4) is Upper Dauphin, which earned a first-round bye courtesy of being the top
Irish defensive back Luke Johnson, who knocked down two key passes in the game -- including one on the final drive -- was dismayed when the penalty flag flew.
"It was like, 'Oh no, here we go,'" Johnson said of the moment that went from sour to sweet. "The kicker, you feel bad for him, but thank you that he missed."
Pinpoint passing by quarterback Brian Eline got the Blue Jays down the field in less than a minute with no timeouts on the final drive.
The junior completed five straight before Johnson, who never considered going for the interception, swatted a pass away at the Irish 15, something he also did earlier in the fourth quarter.
"(We are) taught to knock it away," Johnson said. "(Receivers/defensive backs) coach (Matt) Sentz teaches us to get that ball down. Make a play, not a big play."
Another completion put the ball at the York Catholic 32 with 7.9 second left. An incompletion preceded the interference call.
"They were a really tough team. We knew they were going to come back," Irish quarterback/defensive back Adam Sentz said. "We just had to keep playing hard for 48 minutes and we did."
"To win a district game has got to be big. More important, it's big for the kids," York Catholic coach J.D. Martin said.
Nearly every time Holy Name forged a lead, the Irish scored on their next possession.
This included when the Jays went for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 19 and Fred Caruso (192 yards rushing) took it 81 yards for a touchdown 12 seconds into the final quarter.
"We kept yelling for them to stay together and make plays," Martin said. "We did a horrible job tackling and that guy ran that long touchdown 80-some yards, that hurt."
But York Catholic answered with a six-play, 62-yard drive of its own, capped by Sentz's 5-yard touchdown run that gave the Irish the lead for good with 9:30 remaining.
It was the second time York Catholic turned the game around. Two plays after the Blue Jays took a 14-9 lead on a 21-yard run by Caruso, Sentz hit Gary Laucks on a slant pass that turned into a 58-yard scoring play.
"It brought our momentum right back up and football is a game of momentum. Gary is a great receiver, I just threw it," Sentz said of Laucks, who caught six passes for 135 yards.
snavaroli@ydr.com; 771-2060
York Catholic 0 9 7 7 -- 23
Holy Name 0 7 7 8 -- 22
Second Quarter
YC -- Nick Full 1 run (kick blocked), 10:47
HN -- Brian Eliff 1 run (Peter Gass kick), 3:52
YC -- Brett Moore 36 FG, :10
Third Quarter
HN -- Fred Caruso 21 run (Gass kick), 8:32
YC -- Gary Laucks 58 pass from Adam Sentz (Moore kick), 7:44
Fourth Quarter
HN -- Caruso 81 run (Caruso pass from Eliff), 11:47
YC -- Sentz 5 run (Moore kick), 9:37
-- YC -- HN
First downs -- 12 -- 20
Rushes-yards -- 38-165 -- 42-296
Passing -- 7-11-0 -- 13-23-0
Passing yards -- 152 -- 127
Total yards -- 317 -- 423
Punts -- 2-25.5 -- 4-20.7
Fumbles-lost -- 0-0 -- 1-0
Penalties-yards -- 3-33 -- 7-59
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- York Catholic, Nick Full 14-61, Adam Sentz 12-55, Christian Bohn 9-38, Gary Laucks 3-11; Reading Holy Name, Fred Caruso 22-192, Dan Christian 7-54, Jeremy Figura 11-39, Collin Hecker 1-10, Brian Eliff 1-1.
Passing -- York Catholic, Adam Sentz 7-12-1-152; Reading Holy Name, Brian Eliff 13-23-0-127.
Receiving -- York Catholic, Gary Laucks 6-135, Ethan Urey 1-17; Reading Holy Name, Fred Caruso 4-29, David Waligurski 3-41, Peter Rowan 2-25, Collin Hecker 2-20, Jeremy Figura 1-7, Dan Christian 1-5.
