Statement made.

And you can bet the rest of the state heard it loud and clear all the way from York on Friday night as the Cougars defeated the South Pointe Stallions 48-7. The Stallions scored easily on their first drive in just three minutes but York ran off 48 unanswered points after that, something that has never been done against South Pointe.

“It’s nice to beat a national powerhouse,” York coach Bobby Carroll said. “This is an emotional game for me. That’s where I cut my teeth as a head coach. I’ve got a lot of good friends that are still coaching over there.”

The Stallions took the opening kickoff and went quickly down the field in eight plays, scoring on Greg Ruff’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Josh Wilkes at the 8:58 mark. Ruff got the start after relieving Zaylin Burris in last week’s game with Rock Hill when he sustained a concussion. Ruff also started in Week Zero.

Deshaw Andrews did not start at quarterback for York and the Cougars went three-and-out on their first possession. After York forced South Pointe to punt on what had looked like another promising drive, Andrews entered the game and drove the Cougars to the tying score. Andrews completed eight of his first nine and it would have been more if not for some drops. He finished 20-for-33 for 262 yards, two touchdowns passing and one running. After the Stallions gave York a first down on an unsportsmanlike penalty before what would have been fourth and four, new running back Brandon Garvin broke several tackles on a 15-yard touchdown run. Garvin had two touchdowns.

York forced another punt and drove to score on Andrews’ 37-yard pass to Wally Wilmore, who started at quarterback. On the first play of the Stallions’ next possession, Mitchell Trotter made a leaping interception, his first of two on the night. The Cougars made several big plays on special teams and defense, a staple of Carroll coached teams that he wanted to get back to.

“That’s our forte man,” Carroll said. “Let’s score any way possible.”

After the Stallions jumped offsides on fourth and one from the four, Garvin went two yards to make it 24-7 and York never looked back.