Redhawks fade in second half

YORK – The Westwood Redhawks went on the road to face the York Cougars in a pivotal region 3-4A matchup with the winner taking possession of the second spot in the region. Westwood kept pace with the Cougars in the early going, but eventually York pulled away for a 45-17 win.

Westwood, 4-4 and 1-2 inside the region, dropped to a third place tie with Lancaster and Ridgeview in the region standings. York opened the scoring up after a Westwood punt on the game’s opening drive.

Tanner McKinney dialed up La’darius Allison for a 54-yard touchdown just a minute into the game, and went up 7-0 after a successful Beck Johnston point after attempt. The Redhawk offense stalled out until the tail end of the first quarter, when Elijah Heatley came through with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Montre Miller.

Heatley and the Redhawks found themselves marching down the field again with the first quarter winding down. They charged down to the Cougars’ 15-yard line after a pair of long plays from scrimmage.

Despite giving up the two big chunk plays, the York defense stood pat and held Westwood to a field goal on the long drive. David Strother nailed the 25-yard field goal to put the Redhawks up 10-7.

La’darius Allison, the dangerous Cougar receiver, nearly took the ensuing kickoff to house but was stopped short at the ten-yard line. Joe’terrious Wade capitalized on the shortened field and punched the ball in for a ten-yard rushing score.

The score remained 14-10 in favor of York until Westwood came up with an interception and seized possession at their own 39. A long rushing score on the first play of the drive was negated by a holding call, but Heatley came right back with a big pass to land them inside York territory.

Westwood powered their way inside the 20, and Heatley gave the Redhawks their lead back with a 17-yard pass to Cortes Braham. York held the ball on the Westwood 35-yard line with about two minutes remaining in the half.

Joe’terrious Wade finished the drive off with second touchdown of the night, this time a score from 12 yards out. Another Beck Johnston PAT gave York the 21-17 lead at halftime, and there was no looking back for the Cougars.

York recovered a fumble on Westwood’s opening drive of the half, and Tanner McKinney notched his second passing touchdown with a 22-yard strike to JT Sanders a few plays later. The Redhawks faked a punt on the next drive but the attempt was stuffed by the Cougars.

McKinney flexed his arm again on the following play with a long pass to Stephen Oglesby. That landed the Cougars deep in Westwood territory, and Oglesby eventually capped off the drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown.

Westwood, down 35-17, had their first positive drive of the half rolling, and they worked the ball inside the York 20. Cougar defensive back Max Necklen put a rest to the comeback by picking off a Heatley pass.

The Cougars tacked on a 32-yard Alejandro Ruiz field goal and a 43-yard JT Sander touchdown to finish things off in the fourth quarter. Westwood closes out the season with two more region match-ups.

Next, they face Ridge View at Spirit Communications Park, and then close the season in a home contest against Richland Northeast.

SCORING

YHS – 7-14-14-10–45

WHS – 10-7-0-0-17

First Quarter

YHS – La’darius Allison 54 pass from Tanner McKinney (Beck Johnston kick). 10:45.

WHS – Montre Miller 54 pass from Elijah Heatley (David Strother III kick). 4:41.

WHS – David Strother III 25 field goal. :01.

Second Quarter

YHS – Joe’terrious Wade 10 run (B.Johnston kick). 11:49.

WHS – Cortes Braham 17 pass from E.Heatley (D.Strother kick). 7:23.

YHS – Joe’Terrious Wade 12 run (B.Johnston kick). :29.

Third Quarter

YHS – JT Sanders 22 pass from T.McKinney (B.Johnston kick).7:48.

YHS – Stephen Oglesby 1 run (B.Johnston kick). 2:59.

Fourth Quarter

YHS – Alejandro Ruiz 32 field goal. 9:55.

YHS – JT Sander 43 run (B.Johnston kick).3:20.

TEAM STATS             WHS                       YHS

First Downs                14                          19

Rushes/Yards             21-94                    42-221

Passing Yards             207                       166

C-A-I-TD                     13-31-1-2            11-20-1-2

Fumbles/ Lost           4/2                         2/0

Penalties/Yards         5-60                      6-45

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING:  WHS – Jaylon Riley 19-82, Joshua Heyward 3-1, Elijah Heatley 2- (-24), Deshawn Boyd 1-1. YHS – Joe Wade 20-94, Stephen Oglesby 18-61, La’Darius Allison 3-23, JT Sander 1-43.

PASSING:  WHS – Elijah Heatley 14-30 210 yards two touchdowns, one interception; Ahmon Green 0-4; Cam Atkins 0-2. YHS – Tanner McKinney 11-20 166 yards, two touchdowns, one interception.

RECEIVING: WHS – Montre Miller 5-58, Cortes Braham 3-64, Jaylon Riley 1-5, Cam Atkins 1-10, Christian Horn 6-73.  YHS – La’darius Allison 4-98, Ethan Mitchell 3-19, Stephen Oglesby 1-17, Zion Walker 2-10, JT Sander 1-22.

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