Northeastern plows through Central York to remain unbeaten

Click here for more photos from this story.

The Northeastern Bobcats' domination over host Central York Friday night was never more evident than during a late second-quarter drop-back by quarterback Shannon Valenti.

Valenti took the snap at the Northeastern 49 yard line and rolled to his left. He glanced at his flanker streaking along the sideline, then looked short over the middle. Nothing was open.

Valenti looked left again, then jogged nervously to his right. The home crowd was aware by this time.

"We have absolutely no pass rush!" yelled a fan in Panther orange.

Finally, Valenti spotted wide receiver Jordan Zirkle all by himself in the right flat. Zirkle reached high for Valenti's pass, tucked the ball away and rumbled 17 yards for a first down.

The play seemed to break the Central York defense. Junior running back Anu Johnson rushed 11 yards on the next play, and moments later wide receiver David Ankney took a handoff for 22 more.

Then it was Johnson's turn again, and he scored from a yard out to make it 28-0. Northeastern would go on to win handily 42-0.

Northeastern head coach Jon Scepanski praised Valenti after the game, noting the 5-11, 195-pound junior moved into the district over the summer and won the QB job.

"He's learning as we go," Scepanski said. "He took on the responsibility of learning this offense in the offseason. Each week he seems to be getting better and better."

Scepanski's stable of running backs got a workout, as the Bobcats (4-0, 1-0) rushed for 348 yards. Johnson led the way with 110 yards on 14 carries. He took most of the second half off as Chris Whack gained 91 yards on 11 carries.

"It's a good problem to have," Scepanski said. "They all run a little bit different."

Central York (1-3, 0-1) was led by Shyheim Goff, who ran for 106 yards on 17 carries.

Northeastern72177—42Central York0000—0

First Quarter

Ne — Kody Reeser 3-yard run (Artman kick) 1:24

Second Quarter

Ne — Reeser 5-yard run (Artman kick) 7:57

Ne — Shannon Valenti 20-yard run (Artman kick) 5:18

Ne — Anu Johnson 1-yard run (Artman kick) 2:19

Third Quarter

Ne — Jonathan Butler 32-yard pass from Valenti (Artman kick) 5:29

Fourth Quarter

NE — Taemar Willis 11-yard run (Artman kick) 3:16

NECYFirst downs195Rushes-yards43-34824-100Passing3-115-18Passing yards6835Total yards416135Punts3-1106-189Fumbles-lost1-00-0Penalties-yards6-515-23

Individual statistics

Rushing — Ne, Valenti, 7-53, Chris Whack, 11-91, Willis, 2-20, Anu Johnson, 14-110, Kody Reeser, 5-29, David Ankney, 1-22, Wyatt Hughes, 2-6, Alex Seaforth, 1-17. CY, Nik Strine, 3-(-2), Shyheim Goff, 17-106, Elzir Stroman, 1-1, Will Van Dyke, 1-2, Cade Pribula, 2-(-7)

Passing — Ne, Valenti, 3-11-68-0. CY, Strine, 2-10-11-0, Cade Pribula, 3-8-24-0.

Receiving — Ne, Jordan Zirkle, 1-17, Jonathen Butler, 1-32, Dezmend Wigginton, 1-19. CY, Brandon Falkenstein, 2-8, Drew Anderson, 1-18, Shawn Johnston, 2-9.