Cougars host Trojans in region headliner
The York Comprehensive High School football team, 5-1 on the season, will host the Northwestern Trojans Friday.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Cougars defeated the Rock Hill Bearcats 31-12 last week and the Trojans won 56-6 against Fort Mill.
“They’ve got a great football team,” head coach Bobby Carroll said about Northwestern. “They were down a couple years when coach (Moose) Wallace got out of it. It didn’t take long for the Trojans to get back to championship form.”
Added Carroll: “They are extremely well coached. They don’t turn the ball over. They don’t make mistakes. We’ll have our hands full Friday night.”
After falling behind 12-10 in a rainy first half, the Cougars scored 21 unanswered points against the Bearcats to seal the win.
The Cougars moved the football on the game’s opening possession but were forced to punt.
Junior Myles Prosser’s punt rolled dead at the Bearcat 1-yard line, setting the stage for a safety when the Cougar defense corralled Rock Hill quarterback Dre Robinson in the end zone on the Bearcat’s initial possession of the game.
Bearcat placekicker Zhenya Deller booted a 22-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the first quarter, staking Rock Hill to a baseball score-like 3-2 lead.
Cougar quarterback Wally Wilmore answered with a 49-yard touchdown with 11:41 left in the second quarter. Wilmore found teammate Shandon Cobb open for the two-point conversion and a 10-3 York lead.
Later in the quarter, the Bearcats tied the score at 10-all on a 20-yard touchdown toss from Robinson to John McCullough. A safety at the 3:35 mark of the second quarter gave Rock Hill a 12-10 halftime lead.
In the second half, Wilmore had a 12-yard scoring run before completing an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ketrael Lytle and a 39-yard touchdown toss to Paul Moore.
“I thought we played great defense in the first half,” said Carroll. “We gave up one touchdown on a blown coverage. The problem in the first half, we turned the ball over twice. They got great field position. We got great field position one time.”
Added Carroll regarding the first-half woes, “We had seven, eight, nine penalties in the first half.”
Carroll is aware of the rivalry when the Cougars and Bearcats play.
“It’s the proximity of Rock Hill and York,” he said. “These kids know each other through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. They trash all week, then go out there face-to-face.”
He added: “I am proud of our players. Our coaches worked their rear end off. I am really proud of our defense. They played extremely well.”
Carroll spoke positively about Wilmore’s play.
“Wally broke it out in the second half,” he said. “He just put it on his shoulders and went with it the whole night. We changed up on offense. Credit goes to the offensive coaches.”
Junior offensive lineman Danny Warren returned from a lingering early-season injury.
“It’s great to be back from the injury and to be able to play with the team,” Warren said. “It’s great that we came out with a victory. I’ve had a lot of comebacks and it’s made me stronger every time.”
Warren said he feels good about the team’s potential this season.
“Maybe we’ll get to go back to the state this year, now that we know what it feels like,” he said. “It will push us a whole lot harder.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Cougars host Trojans in region headliner."