Red Lion runs over Northeastern, moves to 5-0
All day long, Dylan Gurreri kept looking out the windows to check on the weather.
The thought of last year's game against Northeastern remained fresh in the Red Lion senior's mind, both the monsoon-type weather and the result: a one-point loss.
As he saw rain sprinkle down throughout the day, he just hoped Friday night's game against the Bobcats would be different than last year's. It sure was, as the rain held off and the Lions ran away with a 35-14 victory to remain undefeated.
Gurreri played a big part in the win, rushing for 163 yards on 20 carries, including a 66-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that seemed to put the game away for good. Red Lion amassed 314 yards on the ground, to just 18 yards in the air. Gurreri caught 16 of those passing yards on a first-half touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Emig.
“Every team has a strength and obviously our strength is up front," Red Lion coach Jesse Shay said. "We like to pound the ball. We’ll take the proverbial 3 yards and a cloud of dust. The first half we tried to get it established, and the second half I thought we were a little bit stronger. I thought we took it to them.”
Patrick Daugherty, who has started on defense all season but has seen very few touches on offense, stepped in to share the rushing load with Gurreri. Daugherty ran for 20 yards, including a 2-yard score early in the third quarter that put Red Lion ahead for the first time.
On the next defensive possession, Daugherty leaped to intercept a pass. That turnover, the only one of the game by either team, set up one of Emig's two touchdown runs.
“I just jumped as high as I could," Daugherty said of the interception. "I didn’t think I could jump that high to be honest with you. The ball ended up in the right place, and from then on it was our game.”
The win gives Red Lion a perfect 5-0 record on the year, with a big game coming up next weekend at South Western. The Mustangs are coming off a win at Central York.
“We were underestimated a lot," Gurreri said. "I feel like we have not gotten the respect that we deserve, but I feel like tonight gave us that respect. People are gonna start noticing now that we’re not someone you can push over, we’re here to fight.”
Northeastern, meanwhile, drops to 0-2 in YAIAA Division I play. Next week, the Bobcats host Dallastown — one of three undefeated teams in Division I, along with Red Lion and South Western.
“We’ve got to come back Monday refocused and ready to go,” Northeastern coach Jon Scepanski said. “I think we’ve got to come together and start playing as a team. Once we’ve got that straightened out, we’ll go from there.”
Northeastern_0_7_0_7_—_14
Red Lion_0_7_21_7_—_35
Second Quarter
N -- Coby Motley 6 pass from Shannon Valenti (Hayden Seifert kick), 9:34.
RL -- Dylan Gurreri 16 pass from Sam Emig (Emig kick), 1:35
Third Quarter
RL -- Patrick Daugherty 2 run (Emig kick), 5:56.
RL -- Emig 13 run (Emig kick), 3:11.
RL -- Gurreri 66 run (Emig kick), 1:13.
Fourth Quarter
RL -- Emig 9 run (Emig kick), 5:42.
N -- Chris Whack 11 run (Seifert kick), 2:04.
_N_ RL
First downs_9_18
Rushes-Yards_27-107_45-314
Passing_9-18-1_2-5-0
Passing Yards_117_18
Total Yards_224_332
Punts_3-31.67_2-35
Fumbles-Lost_3-0_1-1
Penalties-Yards_7-55_6-50
Rushing — N, Frank Brown 4-6, Shannon Valenti 3-0, Chris Whack 15-85, Taemar Willis 2-6, Mike Cooper 3-10. RL, Sam Emig 13-86, Dylan Gurreri 20-163, Paul Jones 4-25, Patrick Daugherty 6-20, Zach Crossland 2-20.
Passing — N, Valenti 8-15-108-1, Zech Sanderson 1-3-9-0. RL, Emig 2-5-18-0.
Receiving — N, Johnathen Butler 4-72, Coby Motley 4-36, Fred Mulbah 1-9. RL, Gurreri 1-16, Taylor Uberti 1-2.