POLAND – The York Wildcats can spend a little more time tinkering on their outside rushing attack in practice this week.

They’ve already had plenty of repetitions running the ball in the interior of a defense after Saturday’s season-opener – a 47-13 football victory over Poland.

Senior tailback Zachary Pruger had a productive day as the Wildcats kept it between the tackles, racking up 234 yards on the ground. Pruger also slashed the Knights’ defense for three touchdowns, taking off on scoring runs of 15, 30, and 40 yards.

“They were giving it to us between the tackles,” said Wildcat coach Randy Small. “They pinched up on us early, and we found room off tackle. You take what they’ll give you.”

“The holes were there for us all day today,” said Kruger of his big game. “The offensive line did a great job of opening it up anywhere that we wanted to go.”

Quarterback Joe Douglass accounted for 88 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 46 yards through the air for Poland (0-1), while Tyler Merchant ground out 57 yards rushing. Flanker Ben Piper (two receptions, 41 yards) took a short pass in and turned it up the field for a 36-yard gain in the third quarter, setting up the Douglass’ 5-yard scamper for the Knights’ first touchdown.

Douglass forced and recovered a fumble by Pruger at the 1-yard line to negate a scoring threat with a minute remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats had five fumbles in the game, but recovered four.

Alexander Quinn contributed 89 yards for York (1-0), and scored on a 1-yard plunge in the third quarter. Jonathan Jiminez added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, taking the ball 13 yards to paydirt and hawking Adam Hill’s only pass of the game for the Knights on the next series, returning the interception 50 yards.

Poland came out of the half with a sustained drive culminating in Douglass’ touchdown to make it 21-7. But the relentless Wildcat running attack pushed the deficit back to four scores, beginning with Pruger’s 30-yard touchdown one play after Wallace converted on 4th-and-inches deep in Knight territory.

“We play a lot of younger kids, and sometimes they carry some baggage from one series to another, or from offense to defense. We have to learn how to get rid of that,” said Poland coach Rick Kramer. “We definitely understand the way you need to play football in Western Maine. The big thing is to be physical, and just keep doing your job. If everyone does their jobs, we’ll be fine.”