In the first five minutes of the York Catholic-Delone Catholic rematch of last year’s District 3 football final at Sheppard-Myers Stadium in Hanover, all bets seemed in the Squires’ favor to repeat as the Class 1A champions on November 7.
A 53-yard reverse play on the first play from scrimmage – courtesy of running back Elijah Ramseur – sent Delone to the endzone in the first minute of Friday night’s contest, followed by a 10-yard strike by quarterback Parker Hohenstein to Colin Redding – propelling the Squires to a 14-0 lead in a flash.
But York Catholic head coach Brad Hayek – whose team had beaten Delone just two weeks earlier, 19-10, in a regular-season match – regrouped the Irish to respond with fight instead of retreat.
“Coach told us after those early touchdowns that it’s all about defense,” York Catholic quarterback Michael Staub said of what pushed the Irish to a comeback victory, 33-25, and the District 3 title. “We know we can score, we just needed to stop them on the pass because we knew they would come with the passing game.”
York Catholic went to work, with Staub finding Callahan Murphy for a 78-yard catch-and-run to cut Delone’s lead in half. A Squire fumble on the ensuing drive gave York Catholic the ball at midfield and they converted the mishap into their second touchdown to tie the game before the end of the first quarter.
Delone regained the lead on a field goal, but York Catholic responded with its third touchdown to go ahead, 21-17.
Starting the second half with possession, the Irish capitalized again, as Staub threw his fourth and fifth TD passes on the night in the third quarter, pushing the Irish to a 33-17 lead.
Running out of time, the Squires turned to their passing game, with Delone quarterback Hohenstein hitting consecutive passes to set up a one-yard touchdown run for Ryan Smulian and a two-point conversion to cut the score to 33-25 with eight minutes remaining in the game
But York Catholic’s defense answered the bell, holding the Squires on two fourth-down stops to seal the victory.
Celebrating with his teammates after the trophy presentation, Staub told The Witness he didn’t expect such an offensive contest.
“Having played each other two weeks ago, there was a lot of preparation on both sides. I thought this would be a low-scoring game, but it was a dogfight,” he said.
“This is great,” he said of the rain-soaked celebration. “It’s the first championship I’ve had and the best team ever. What a way to celebrate.”
York Catholic will face District 12 champion Belmont Charter from Philadelphia at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
