A scary injury sandwiched between two late first-half touchdowns by Phoebus took the wind out of York’s sails late in the first half.
The tough sequence stalled what was otherwise a successful first half by the Falcons and helped Phoebus pull away in the second half for a 33-6 win in the second round of the Group 3A state tournament.
“For the first half, we were 100 percent toe-to-toe with those guys,” York Coach Doug Pereira said.
After a scoreless first quarter, York got on the board first when running back Devin Campbell took a handoff for a 2-yard touchdown that put the Falcons on top 6-0 late in the second quarter.
On Phoebus’ next drive, the Phantoms got a big touchdown as Elijah Nelson hauled in a 23-yard pass from Justin Wright that put his team up 7-6.
With roughly 15 seconds left in the first half, Phoebus executed a surprise onside kick and recovered it with nine seconds left on the clock.
Aside from giving up the recovery, the play was doubly unfortunate for York. During the play, York’s Kemont Lipscomb suffered an apparent neck injury while attempting to recover the kick.
After a long delay in play, Lipscomb was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital by ambulance. Pereira said Lipscomb was allowed to leave the hospital around 8 p.m. Saturday and did not appear to suffer a serious injury.
The damage kept piling on for York before the end of the half. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Phoebus managed to put together a touchdown drive that ended when Wright completed a 40-yard pass to Andre Jackson with no time left on the clock.
“That turned the tide a bit,” Periera said of the late first-half sequence.
Phoebus’ late scores gave the Phantoms a 13-6 halftime lead, which grew in the second half.
Running back Jomari Becnel gave Phoebus points on its first drive of the second half, finding the end zone from five yards out to put the Phantoms up 20-6.
A pair of fourth quarter touchdowns – a 1-run touchdown run by Jaylen Holloway and a 1-yard run by Daniel Wright – put the game well out of reach as the Phantoms cruised to a 33-6 victory and ended York’s season.
Despite the loss, Periera said he was happy of the season his Falcons (7-5) were able to put together.
“It was a good season for us,” Periera said. “We had some opportunities this season to get some wins and put ourselves in a good position in the playoffs. We squandered those, but ultimately it was a good season for us.”
Individual statistics were not reported for this game.
York: 0 6 0 0 — 6
Phoebus: 0 13 7 13 — 33
Second Quarter
Y: Campbell 5 run (kick missed), 6-0
P: Nelson 25 pass from J. Wright (Tonkins kick), 7-6
P: Jackson 40 pass from J. Wright (kick missed), 13-6
Third Quarter
P: Becnel 5 run (Tonkins kick), 20-6
Fourth Quarter
P: Holloway 1 run (pass failed), 26-6
P: D. Wright 1 run (Tonkins kick), 33-6
