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Northern York Rolls Past East Pennsboro 28-2 on Homecoming Weekend @jaketaylor123 @PaFootballNews @EastPennsboroFB @NorthernFootbll

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News

| September 25, 2021

After a fireworks display and homecoming ceremony in which Northern captain Andrew Gingrich was crowned king, football was underway in Dillsburg. Despite giving up a safety to open up the scoring, the Polar Bears did not allow East Pennsboro to find the endzone and tallied the final four scores to win 28-2. Leading the charge for Northern York was junior quarterback Timmy Bonin, who ran one and and tossed one in a commanding performance.

After each of the team’s first drive ended in punts, Northern York had a high snap that couldn’t be corralled by kicker Mason Yohn, which turned a punt into a safety.

The 3-1 East Pennsboro defense was charged up after a hot start and looked to their offense to keep building the momentum. However, following this first score of the game, both offenses trudged with over 7-minute drives to finish the half. The tempo of the game slowed down incredibly as the East Pennsboro Panthers, led by senior running back Sy Burgos and sophomore QB Keith Oates III, held possession from 2:22 in the first quarter to just over 7:00 left in the half. Burgos gave it his all in over 15 rushes throughout the game, but was unable to notch a score against the tough Northern defensive front.

Junior Sam Gunning, and seniors Fred Hunter and AJ Vail held strong on the defensive line for Northern and forced a turnover on downs by the Panthers at the 21 yard line. Vail ended up leaving the game with a knee injury, but already is looking to improve next week. When asked on his outlook for next week, he focuses on the team, saying “We just need to limit the mistakes and keep pushing forward.”

Northern York held possession until the end of the first half. Talon Belluscio rolled forward with nearly 10 rushes in the long drive for Northern, including 4 first downs to his credit. In the end it was Timmy Bonin who stretched outside of the Panther core for the first touchdown of the game, leaving only 14.3 second left in the half.

But Coach Bill Miller wasn’t quite ready to head into the locker room yet. Northern York executed a well placed pooch kick and fell on the ball for a chance to add another score before the half. However, with only 10.8 seconds, the Polar Bears couldn’t connect on a shot to the endzone or the subsequent field goal attempt from Yohn. While this 47 yard kick ended up a bit left and short, junior Mason Yohn showed his value to the special teams unit, notching all 4 of his extra points while generating two touchbacks in the second half.

The Panthers started the second half with the ball, and junior Devin Shepard led the effort with two first down runs to start the drive. Ultimately, the drive stalled out and resulted in a punt. Trenton Peach got into the action with some powerful runs for Northern. The Polar Bear offense utilized jet sweeps well to spread the field for their ballcarriers to find space to maneuver, giving Peach some chances to rush rather than just bring in catches. However, the score for Northern York came on a well run 36 yard pass play from Bonin to Aydan Digrugilliers after a long time searching for an open receiver. Bonin’s escapability makes him a tough player to bring down in the backfield, and he showed his agility on that play with multiple broken tackles to give Aydan time to hit his route. I caught up with him after the game to ask how he plans to keep the team moving forward, and Bonin said simply, “You can always work harder. Work hard to keep getting better.”

Later in the third quarter, East Pennsboro gained some traction again thanks to several big runs from Sy Burgos, moving the ball to the Northern 7 yard line. Unfortunately for Oates, a batted pass right near the endzone was intercepted by senior Andrew Hackart and returned all the way to the Panther 25.

From that point, Cole Bartram recorded a score to extend the lead to 21-2. One more stop by the Polar Bear front included three sacks and all but sealed the victory for Northern. Trenton Peach was able to find a big hole for Northern in the final 2 minutes of the game and he cruised in for a 44-yard touchdown run to close out the action.

After the conclusion of the game, Coach Miller tells him team one thing: “It’s time to validate.” Following this 28-2 victory, the Polar Bears improve to 3-1 on the year and look to do just that in next week’s game against West Perry. East Pennsboro aims to get back on track in their matchup against 0-5 Susquehanna Township next Friday.

-Jake Taylor

@jaketaylor123 @PaFootballNews @EastPennsboroFB @NorthernFootbll

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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