Roses: American Football

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Photos: Jack Western

York’s Centurions, unable to tackle the problem of Lancaster’s superior team, fumble an early lead to touch down with a 20-43 loss.

The first half began with a spurt of energy from York, no doubt spurred on by Fred Isaac’s pep talk just moments before, and within five minutes Archie Vickers had run 22 yards for a touchdown.  York were up 6-0 after an unsuccessful two-point conversion.

Lancaster quickly responded and pulled ahead in less than ten minutes, scoring a touchdown and following it up with a successful placekick.  After this, though, the two teams reached a 20-minute stalemate where neither side made any significant gains.

Despite an impressive 30-yard dash from York, a fourth down fumble cost them their possession.  Similarly, Lancaster could not advance the ball, being forced to punt it after York left them in a pitiable 4^th and 20 position with 78 yards to go.  Both teams became proficient at forcing fourth downs on their opponents.

This back and fourth finally ended when Lancaster, yet again on its fourth down, broke apart the Centurion defense and ran an astounding 60 yards for a touchdown.  But, going out of their way to prove that so far everything seemed to happen in pairs, York’s Seb Booth immediately, in the very next possession, caught a 60-yard kick in the end zone.  Sam Park’s successful two-point conversion after the touchdown put York up 14-13.

And their momentum continued.  Taking advantage of a Lancaster fumble right after Park’s two-point conversion, James Speck took control of the ball and steadily moved York’s line of scrimmage up the field.  Nathan Blackmore finished the job with a 15-yard dash into the end zone, giving them a 20-13 lead right before halftime.

York appeared to be on fire.  They were outpacing Lancaster on offense and exploiting their turnovers.  Unfortunately, they did not score even once in the second half.

Going into the third quarter, Lancaster pulled off an impressive comeback, scoring a touchdown, intercepting York’s kick, and scoring a second touchdown.  Following yet another turnover, the Bombers once again scored, putting themselves in a commanding 31-20 lead.

York’s woes came down to Lancaster’s newfound defensive superiority.  It was obvious from the first half that York could easily outrun them on offense.  This became impossible in the second half, though, when the Bombers’ aggressive defense refused to let them run a single yard.

The Centurions tried changing their strategy, opting to throw the ball after the snap, but this did not work, either.  Each pass was either incomplete or intercepted, and Lancaster marched on to a 43-20 victory with little resistance.  It was a shame considering the fantastic start for York, but it is difficult to fault Lancaster’s prowess in this scrimmage.