WALES — It took a while. But the York football team, already in control of its season opener, eventually got it to translate on the scoreboard.
Teagan Hynes threw for 287 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, the York defense shut down the Oak Hill offense and the Wildcats came away with a 29-0 victory over the Raiders Saturday afternoon.
“We’re a young team, and it took them a little bit to get their feet under them,” said coach Matt Nelson, whose team gained 482 yards of total offense. “But the kids fought through it and they stuck with the game plan. … We were able to improve as the game went on.”
Oak Hill held up early, keeping the Wildcats off the board in the first quarter and going into halftime down 16-0, but a defense that spent too much time on the field gave out in the second.
“We had some injuries, and we had to tap into our depth a little,” coach Stacen Doucette said. “I don’t know if we were quite the same team out there after the injuries, but we’ve got to regroup and (it’s) on to Mountain Valley.”
Missed opportunities were a growing storyline early for the Wildcats, who reached the Oak Hill 34 and 5 on their first two drives but saw both end in interceptions by Gavin Rawstron and Ramon Spearman, respectively.
York capped off an 80-yard drive with a 22-yard Aidan Martin field goal with 7:06 left in the first half, however, and after gaining momentum didn’t give it up. A 41-yard rush by Hayden Henriksen (12 carries, 80 yards) led to a 6-yard Henriksen run for a touchdown and a 9-0 lead with 4:34 left, and on the next drive, York executed a textbook two-minute drill. Taking over at its 21 with 1:49 to go, Hynes completed five of six passes to bring the Wildcats all the way down, connecting with Noah Caramihalis, a running back-turned-receiver, on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 55.9 seconds remaining.
The drive was a microcosm of the entire game. The Wildcats attacked the Raiders throughout all four quarters with the horizontal passing game, their quickness proving too much for the Oak Hill defense as one swing pass, screen or quick out after another turned into a big gain.
“We can really throw it down the field, we can run it, we can throw screen passes,” Hynes said. “We were blocking really well, all of our wide receivers were blocking, all of our line were blocking. They really made the game a lot easier.”
York didn’t let up in the second half. The Wildcats went 84 yards for the score on their first drive after the break, with Hynes again connecting with Caramihalis, this time for 28 yards, for the touchdown and a 23-0 lead with 8:21 to go in the third.
“Once we get those stupid, silly mistakes out of the way, we’re going to be a threat to everyone,” said Caramahalis, who led the team with six catches and 111 receiving yards. “I think people saw that today.”
A 5-yard run by Connor Daley with four seconds left in the third rounded out the scoring. Riley Lynn had eight rushes for 80 yards and four catches for 63 yards, Riley Johnston had five catches for 61 yards and Evan Bourgoine caught three passes for 31 yards for the Wildcats.
“You have to worry about everybody on our team,” Hynes said. “There’s nobody on our team that can’t make a play. It helps. It’s all them, really. I give them the ball, they score.”
York’s defense was just as impressive, holding Oak Hill to 127 yards on the ground and Rawstron to 28 yards on 3-for-16 passing. Rawstron led the Raiders with 37 yards on the ground, while Quentin Pelkey ran for 30 and Sam Lindsay ran for 29.
“They’re a good team. Very well-coached,” Doucette said. “Everybody I talked to says they’re probably the third-best team in Class C South. … It’s always good to play good football teams and see what you need to work on.”
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