Scott Co. Blanks YAI 36-0

For the second time in as many weeks, the York Dragons fell to a more seasoned and experienced team, as they fell to a solid Scott Co. Highlander team by the score of 36-0.

With a seasoned quarterback, receivers and backfield, and a strong defense that stifled York’s offensive efforts all night, the Highlanders scored on their first possession of the night to take a 7-0 lead and never looked back, as they rolled up 21 first half points, and added a touchdown in each of the third and fourth periods to post the shutout.

After picking up a quick first down on their initial possession the Highlanders found themselves facing a 3rd and 22 at their 47 yard line before Jacob Sexton, Scott County’s talented quarterback went into a passing formation, but broke loose for a 37-yard gain to the Dragon 16 for a first down, and three  plays later, took it in from a yard out for the score, with Sam Cross booting the conversion.

Sexton accounted for 275 yards of his team’s total offense, rushing for 87 yards and completing 14 of 22 passes for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Jacob Butts led the  Scott Co. rushing attack with  117 yards on 19 carries.

York then went 3 and out, only able to gain one yard, and punted, with Scott County taking possession at their 29 on Drew Starr’s 34-yard punt.

This time, the Dragon defense held and forced a punt, taking possession at the York 34, but again, could not pick up a first down and were forced to punt again.

Again, the Dragon defense held after allowing the High-landers 29 yards in 6 plays, but finding themselves in the shadow of their goalpost at the 3 on Sam Cross’s 41-yard punt.

Scott County got great field position after York was only able to gain a yard in three plays, and this time Sexton went to the air, hitting Eric Blakley for 13 yards to the York 20, then connecting with Arvis Blakley for another 13 yards to the 7, then finding Daniel Goad in the end zone for a 7-yard strike for the Highlander’s second score of the night.

York’s next offensive possession resulted in a minus 3 yards, and again punted, with Starr’s 40-yard punt putting Scott County back at their 27.

This time, Sexton engineered an 8-play scoring drive which was capped by an 11-yard TD pass to Arvis Blakley.  Sexton’s passing accounted for 69 of the  73 yards in the drive.

Although Scott County managed to score another touchdown in the third period, which came on a 6-yard run by Jacob Butts, the Dragon defensive unit was credited with two red zone stops, holding the Highlanders at the 17 on one, and at the 7 on another drive.

In the final period, York senior quarterback Tyler Stephens came in and engineered an 11-play, 59-yard drive, picking up four of the Dragons’ six first downs in the game.

During this drive, Stephens hit Jonrick Bishop for two passes for 14 yards and completed another to Drew Starr for 11 yards.

This potential scoring drive, however, ended at the Scott Co. 5 yard line when Treye Stephens picked off a Tyler Stephens pass in the end zone.

For the second game in as many weeks, the York offense failed to gain 100 yards, as they only managed 29 yards rushing for a 1.1 yard average, and 53 yards passing for 82 total yards of offense.

On the other side of the ball, the Highlanders rushed for 206 yards and passed for another 188, for a total of 394 yards.

Coach Dickie Brown was obviously not pleased with his team’s performance, and following the game commented:

“We just didn’t execute, so obviously neither myself nor my coaching staff are  doing our job.  I know that we’re young and inexperienced, but we can’t continue to use that excuse.  I thought we had a good game plan, and at times it worked, but we’re not consistent.  We’re going to have to make some changes if we’re going to dig ourselves out of this hole we’ve gotten ourselves into.  If we let ourselves get to 0-3, we’re putting our playoff hopes in serious jeopardy, because this year, they’re basing it on the top two finishers in the district.  After that, it’s going to be best overall record.  We’ve already lost 2 non-district games.  Last year, the non-district wins was what got us into the playoffs to make the run we made.  Now we’re in the position that we have to win the district games.  If we can beat Upperman, Cannon County, and DeKalb County, we can still get in.  It’s certainly still out there for us.  The things that we’re trying to accomplish as a team are still out there for us.  Our feelings are hurt, but we’ll re-group, and if we can do the things we need to do, we’re certainly capable of climbing right back in.”

This week, the Dragons will see their first District action as they host Upperman, who opened the season with a 61-0 win over Pickett County, but fell to Class A Monterey last week by the score of 21-12.

In other games of local interest last week, DeKalb County defeated Oneida 25-13, Stone Memorial pulled out a 13-10 win over Livingston, Smith County defeated Gordonsville 20-0, Jackson County defeated Union 41-6,  and Cumberland County trounced Meigs County 41-0. Full stats in this weeks Fentress Courier.