West York's Hail Mary burns Susquehannock
Twice, all Susquehannock had to do to win was to knock down a jump ball thrown by West York quarterback Corey Wise.
Instead, twice Wise's prayers were answered.
That second jump ball, a 34-yard Hail Mary touchdown to Joe King on the final play of the game, set up a 2-point conversion that allowed West York to nab a 29-28 homecoming win against the Warriors on Friday night.
Andrew Lamanna caught the winning conversion pass from Wise, whose earlier desperation fourth-down completion to Jamal Anderson had kept the drive going.
"I can't be more proud of the boys," West York head coach Jeremy Jones said. "This is the first game that we've fought back. It's a credit to the kids."
The teams combined for 36 points in a wild fourth quarter in which Susquehannock twice held a 14-point lead. Wise narrowed the gap to 21-14 with his 1-yard run, then finished the rally by rolling left and flinging the ball up for grabs as time expired. King came down with the ball at the goal line, and after a short conference, the referees signaled touchdown to make the score 28-27.
"It was an ace-right — everybody does a vertical run," King said of the Hail Mary. "What happened was, I cut inside, saw the ball go in, jumped up and it was in my hands."
Twenty seconds earlier, Anderson had been the clutch leaper, coming down with a 21-yard reception to convert a fourth-and-8. Lamanna finished the rally with his leaping 2-point catch of Wise's rollout throw.
"I told my quarterback that his first read was Anderson in the flat, but if they overpursue, we've got a tall receiver coming across the back end-line. ... Just give him a chance," Jones said.
Jack Allred scored three touchdowns on the ground for Susquehannock and racked up 188 yards, but West York held him to 3 yards total on his final three carries to get the ball back for the game-winning drive. The Warriors had earlier booted a 53-yard punt, but their final one went just 19 yards to give West York good field position.
West York and Susquehannock are both 2-6 overall. The Bulldogs move to 2-2 in YAIAA Division II play, and the Warriors fall to 1-3.
Susquehannock_7_7_0_14_—_28
West York_7_0_0_22_—_29
First Quarter
SUS -- Jack Allred 3 run (Adam Hedgeland kick), 6:59
WY -- Ay'juan Marshall 23 run (Evan Keim kick), :09
Second Quarter
SUS -- Allred 11 run (Hedgeland kick), 5:00
Fourth Quarter
SUS -- Allred 38 run (Hedgeland kick), 11:03
WY -- Corey Wise 1 run (Keim kick), 9:23
SUS -- Kyle Orndorff 22 run (Hedgeland kick), 5:07
WY -- Cadence Thomas 7 run (Keim kick), 3:11
WY -- Joe King 34 pass from Wise (Andrew Lamanna pass from Wise), :00
Team statistics
_SUS_ WY
First downs_13_11
Rushes-Yards_43-226_30-58
Passing_6-15_10-21
Passing Yards_63_223
Total Yards_289_281
Punts_5-30.0_5-34.2
Fumbles-Lost_0-0_3-2
Penalties-Yards_3-25_4-25
Individual statistics
Rushing — SUS, Jack Allred 31-188, Kyle Orndorff 2-27, Ben Trego 6-21, Alec Kramer 1-2, Chase Summers 3-(-12). WY, Cadence Thomas 15-56, Ay'juan Marshall 6-33, Nick Spadafora 1-0, Corey Wise 7-(-14), Ethan Sloat 1-(-17).
Passing — SUS, Summers 6-15-0-63. WY, Wise 10-21-0-223.
Receiving — SUS, Trego 1-27, Ethan Schammel 2-16, Orndorff 1-14, Allred 1-5, Chris Norris 1-1. WY, Joe King 3-106, Andrew Lamanna 3-33, Justin Wetzel 1-30, Marshall 1-23, Jamal Anderson 1-21, Thomas 1-10.