York hangs early, but Northwestern pulls away to stay perfect in region play

York could almost sense it.

The Cougars had just surrendered a game-tying touchdown to Northwestern on a quick Trojans drive. A big play could seize back control for the Cougars — an important outcome since Northwestern would get the ball to start the second half.

York took a chance on that big play, tossing a deep pass down the left sideline. One problem: Northwestern’s C.J. Broughton was there waiting to make a play. Broughton stepped in front of the throw, recording his second forced turnover of the first half.

Nine plays later, it was Broughton’s Trojans that made the big play. Finley Polk called his own number on the final four plays of the drive, eventually plunging in from a yard away and putting Northwestern ahead 21-14 with 34 seconds to play before halftime.

The Trojans never looked back from there, outscoring York 24-3 in the second half and claiming a 45-17 victory Friday night over the visiting Cougars at District 3 Stadium.

“It was a back-and-forth game,” Northwestern coach Page Wofford said of Broughton’s interception and the time at which it occurred. “To give us the ability to get the ball back and go in and score and go up another score, that changes the complexion of the game. That means we can do some things, take a few more gambles defensively, and do some things we wanted to do and just weren’t able to do because of how the game was.

“It was a great play and a good job as a free safety to go over and make that play, and we’re happy he did it.”

Northwestern (7-1, 3-0 Region 3-4A) continued its string of balanced offensive games. The Trojans ran for 253 yards and threw for 257, tallying three scores through the air and three on the ground. Zilon Arnold contributed two of the rushing touchdowns, accompanied by Turbo Richard’s 153 yards on 20 carries. Polk collected three scoring tosses.

York (4-4, 0-3) stayed even with the Trojans for much of the first half, unveiling some things Northwestern didn’t expect.

“They played very hard. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a team coached by Dean Boyd,” Wofford said. “They ran formations they hadn’t run before, ran plays they hadn’t run before. (York quarterback Ayden) Davis threw some balls he hasn’t thrown before. They made some plays they haven’t made before.”

The Cougars fell to 0-3 in the region, but Boyd after the game preached that the result should show his team they can play with anyone.

“We’ve got two games left. We’ve gotta win them both,” Boyd said. “We threw the ball well, I thought. Ayden Davis finally set his feet and threw the ball like he can. I think he gained confidence from that.

“That was the number two or three team in the state, and we played with them. I know people will look at the score and say we’re blowing smoke, but we played with them. Anything can happen on any given night. I’m proud of my football team because they didn’t give up. They fought the whole time. We just made too many mistakes. We’ve gotta correct those things if we want to get in the playoffs.”

Davis threw for 162 yards for York and added 97 rushing. Javarus Guthrie tallied 111 rushing yards for the Cougars.

Northwestern will travel to District 3 South Stadium to take on cross-town rival South Pointe in region play next Friday.

“We’re gonna celebrate tonight and we’ll start watching film and see if we can get a few first downs and make them punt a few times. We’ll see what happens,” Wofford said. “Our kids work hard and their kids work hard. Hopefully it’ll be a good football game.”

York will stay on the road for another region game against the Lancaster Bruins. Both games are slated for a 7:30 kickoff.

Northwestern-York box score

York 0-14-3-0—17

Northwestern 7-14-10-14—45

——SCORING SUMMARY——

First quarter

N – Jalen Logan 18 pass from Finley Polk (Matthew Fish kick) 4:05

Second quarter

Y – Ayden Davis 12 run (Zane Beardsly kick) 10:26

Y – Davis 3 run (Beardsly kick) 5:52

N – Greer Hopkins 29 pass from Polk (Fish kick) 4:18

N – Polk 1 run (Fish kick) :34

Third quarter

N – Fish 32 field goal 7:05

Y – Beardsly 21 field goal 3:36

N – Zilon Arnold 2 run (Fish kick) 1:09

Fourth quarter

N – Elijah Caldwell 41 pass from Polk (Fish kick) 6:32

N – Zilon Arnold 24 run (Fish kick) 3:50