York excels in all phases of game to hold off Indian Land’s late comeback attempt
Coaches always preach the importance of all three phases of the game, and never was that more true than Friday night for the York Cougars at Indian Land High School.
In the first half alone, the visitors from York came up with an interception, two fumble recoveries, two field goals, a blocked punt and an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
All this led to a 19-7 halftime lead, and the Cougars held off a frantic fourth-quarter comeback attempt to hand the Warriors their first loss at the new Reservation and their first loss of the season 19-13.
“They were an undefeated team, and it’s hard to come into a place and play an undefeated team when they haven’t lost on this field yet,” York coach Dean Boyd said. “Our special teams and our defense really played tonight. We’re just going to get these guys on the bus and celebrate on the way home. It means a lot to get the first region win.”
York has won three straight road games and also now sits at 4-1 as they welcome Catawba Ridge next week.
Indian Land cut the lead to 19-13 with 5:58 left on a 6-yard run by Myles Stinson, who carried four straight times on the drive for 63 yards, including a 38-yard run on fourth-and-2.
The Warriors got the ball back with under a minute to play and 73 yards to go to win the game. An interference penalty and a 32-yard pass immediately got the Warriors into scoring position at the York 26.
Indian Land threw incomplete on first down, completed an 8-yard pass on second down, and took a sack on third down. With the clock ticking under 20 seconds and no timeouts remaining, the Warriors lost track of what down it was and Blake Goode spiked the ball to stop the clock.
Unfortunately for the home team, it was fourth down and that ended the game.
R.J. Glassgow came up with an interception for the Cougars on the first possession of the game to set up a 28-yard field goal by Zayne Beardsley.
On the next Indian Land possession, the Warriors were forced to punt and, after a high snap, the punt was blocked by Javarus Guthrie. After an open touchdown was dropped in the end zone, Beardsley booted another field goal, this time from 26 yards, to make it 6-0.
Indian Land took its only lead with 5:33 left in the first half when Goode hit Drew Hardin in stride down the home sideline for a 58-yard touchdown pass. Hardin had five catches for 96 yards for the Warriors.
The lead was short-lived as Zy Brown took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to put York back up 12-7 after a failed two-point conversion. On the next kickoff, the Warriors fumbled and the Cougars converted that into a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ayden Davis for the halftime advantage.
Jaden Peoples had an interception for Indian Land in the third quarter.
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 11:34 PM.