Falcons Take Big Step Toward Title
After their fans celebrated one of the biggest wins in school history Friday night (below), Ben Edwards and the rest of York (above) breathed a sigh of satisfied relief after finishing an 18-12 defeat of Poquoson. The win moved the Falcons to 4-0 in the Bay Rivers District. Photos by Jason Norman
Before they even set foot on Poquoson Middle School's turf on Friday evening, the York Falcons were already tired.
They were tired of watching opponent after opponent sneak off with the Bay Rivers District title, just as Poquoson did last season. They were tired of those whispers throughout the season that luck had played a bigger part in their 4-0 record than skill; having won three games on the last play, York could have been on the other side of the standings without the help of fate.
"We've been hearing it for two years," said coach Doug Pereira, "about close games, all this luck, and this and that; they're tired of it. They decided in their heart that they're going to win, and they did."
Indeed - after the Islanders stole the momentum and, eventually, the lead in the second and third quarters of Friday's contest, Ben Edwards scored a touchdown with just over three minutes left and then yanked down an interception to give York (5-0, 4-0) an 18-12 victory and near stranglehold on its first district title in years.
"Ben didn't practice all week," Pereira said of his quarterback, who's battled ankle and wrist injuries over the past few weeks. "We went with Ben because of dimensions he gave us. We weren't planning on playing him at all, but he's so dynamic."
York stopped the Islanders (3-2, 3-1) on the game's opening drive and went straight to work, as Alex Johnston tossed a 20-yard pass to Charlie Rogerson to get his squad into position, then hit Tre Thomas from seven yards out for a 7-0 lead. Another defensive stand gave York back the ball quickly, and Johnnie Howell upped the lead to 10-0 with a field goal.
Poquoson finally got rolling in the second quarter, moving slowly to midfield. Cody Hutchison carried far into Falcon territory, but Thomas broke through the line to drop Tee McConnell for a nine-yard loss, giving the Islanders a fourth down at the Falcon 33.
Deciding to go for it, McConnell started toward the left sideline, then rolled to the right. Under a rush of tacklers, he lobbed a pass down the line to Evan Lemon, who snared it over his shoulder and bolted all the way to the endzone. McConnell overthrew Dylan Hill on the conversion try, leaving the score at 10-6.
Michael Garcia recovered an Islander onside kick attempt at midfield, but Chad Pinder picked Johnston off at the Poquoson 22, and the Islander offense went back into action. Hutchison ran 14 yards to the 37, and McConnell found his way through a blitzing line to make it to the 48. Hutchinson then got down to the York 43, and McConnell hit Luke Hill at the 24.
Pinder soon caught at 13-yard strike at the Falcon eight, but the Islander offense could muster just three yards over the next three plays, settling for a Michael Lutz field goal and 10-9 deficit. Edwards returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the Islander 48 and made it to the 32 on the next play, but Howell's field goal attempt just went wide right, leaving the Falcons ahead by one at halftime.
Edwards opened the second half with a 27-yard run into Poquoson territory, but J.R. Riddick fumbled and Ben Fletcher recovered for Poquoson. Andrew Watt ended Poquoson's next drive with an interception inside his team's 10, but the Islander defense bottled Edwards up, forcing him to punt to midfield with three minutes left in the third period.
McConnell rushed to the Falcon 35, and Poquoson moved to the York 14 as the final quarter began. On third-and-eight, a diving Luke appeared to catch a touchdown pass, but the officials ruled that the ball had hit the ground, again leaving the Islanders to kick a field goal and go up, 12-10.
That's when the York offense, which had had just one first down in the third quarter, got rolling just in time. Denard Ashby opened the drive with a 17-yard rush to the Islander 44, and he and Edwards carried on the next seven plays for a first down at the seven.
Ashby rushed to the two on first down, but he was knocked back a yard on second. Edwards made it to the one, and York called timeout to decide what to do.
Pereira decided it was worth a shot.
"Johnnie is an awesome kicker," he said, "but being that closer, you have to score then. I figured if it put us up by six, they'd have to score a touchdown to at least tie us." The field goal unit on the sideline, the Falcons headed out for the play of the game, and even the season.
Edwards took the handoff and crashed into the right side of the line. With white and red jerseys slamming around, he kept churning all the way to pay dirt. Thomas barged in for the two-pointer, giving the Falcons an 18-12 advantage.
"I wasn't surprised at all," Edwards said of the play call. "That's how much confidence we have in our offensive line."
With just over three minutes to work with, the Islanders went into a no-huddle offense. McConnell and Hutchison rushed for 12 yards to Poquoson 32, and William Haskins caught a screen pass at the 43. Hutchison bolted down to the York 38, but Garcia and Mike Dayton sacked McConnell at the 45.
McConnell ran 14 yards to the 31 on second down, but a false start penalty pushed Poquoson back five yards, and McConnell fumbled on third down. Haskins fell on the ball, but lost a yard, leaving the Islanders with a fourth-and-nine at the 36 with just under a minute to play.
McConnell took the snap and pitched to Luke on the right side. Luke faded back to pass, but York's defense was in full cover down the right side. With two defenders coming at him, Luke gunned a strike down the middle of the field to McConnell, but a streaking Edwards snared it, downed the ball at the 30, and finished out his team's victory.
"We knew exactly what they were going to do," Edwards said. "We've been watching tape all week. It was an easy read. This was a great team win. We struggled with adversity throughout the second and third quarters, but we did it in the third quarter."
