York and Jamestown got into a first-half scoring contest Friday night at Bailey Field.
There were seven touchdowns in the second quarter alone. In the end, the Falcons made their 27-26 halftime lead stand up throughout a scoreless final two periods.
York moved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Bay Rivers District while the Eagles dropped to 1-3 and 1-2.
With 9:54 left in the opening period, York quarterback Austin Norman kept the ball on a 52-yard sprint, scoring on the third play for the Falcons. The Eagles answered with a long drive, reaching the York three-yard line, but losing the ball on a fumble at the 11.
The visiting Eagles scored on a 10-yard, fourth down pass from Tyler Doane to J.J. Boyd, as the second quarter opened. York came right back with a 71-yard run by JoMan Becnel on the first play following the kickoff.
The see-saw battle continued when Jamestown’s Davion Turner went 24 yards up the middle for a touchdown. The Eagles took a 14-13 lead on Turner’s two-point conversion. York regained the lead, scoring on a 19-yard pass from Norman to Tywuan Lewis. Chris Spruill took a short pass for the two points, and it was 21-14, York.
Jamestown scored again when junior Stas Szczepanski bolted 20 yards through the middle of the York defense. The PAT try was stopped. With 28 seconds left before the half, Becnel broke several tackles on a fourth down, 14-yard touchdown run. But the Eagles were not through and scored again on a 60-yard run by Turner with 10 seconds left. With a missed try on the PAT, the wild half ended at 27-26.
The defenses were the show in the second half. After an exchange of punts, the Eagles took over on a fumble recovery, but gave the ball back on an interception. Neither team could move the ball consistently in the third.
The York defense made a stand with 2:32 left in the game, sacking Doane at the 20.
The Jamestown runners piled up 220 yards with Turner and Szczepanski doing most of the damage. Turner had 157 yards on 18 carries. York used seven runners to gain 212 yards.
York coach Doug Pereira praised his defensive coaches for making the halftime adjustments. “No one has run on us like that so far this year,” said Pereira after the game. “We had to stop them. Every time Jamestown plays York, at least for the six years I have been here, it is close.
“Sometimes it is overtime, but always crazy.”
York 27 Jamestown 26
JT-0 26 0 0-26
Y- 6 21 0 0-27
First quarter
York-Norman 52 run (kick blocked)
Second quarter
JT-Boyd 10 pass from Doane (kicked blocked)
York-Becnel 71 run (Strack kick)
JT-Turner 24 run (Turner run)
York-Lewis 19 pass from Norman (Spruill pass from Norman)
JT- Szczepanski 20 run (run failed)
York-Becnel 14 run (kick failed)
JT-Turner 60 run (run failed)
Rushes-yards:
Jamestown:40-220
York: 34-212
Passing (comp-att-yards-int):
Jamestown- 6-18-71-1
York- 6-13-89-0
