By Michael Lindsay
A physical run game powered the York Institute Dragons to a 27-point victory over the Grace Christian Academy Rams Saturday evening, 41-14.
The Dragons racked up 470 yards of offense including 338 on the ground. Logan Pannell rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns along with Riylin Miller posting 122 rushing yards and a score.
York Institute’s offensive outburst came despite the loss of starting quarterback Myles Leffew midway through the second period due to injury.
“The score’s not indicative of the game; it was a closer game than that,” said Dragon head coach Derwin Wright. “I’m really proud of our kids; we overcame some adversity in the game.”
York Institute held the traditionally pass-happy Grace Christian offense to only 76 passing yards as GCA went 6-27 through the air.
“I feel like to start the game, the secondary was great,” Wright said. “They broke on the football and as soon as their receivers were getting their hands on it, they were getting hit. They made them start taking their eyes off the football. Michael Wall was back there in that guy’s face all night long and he got a few pressures.”
You Institute opened the contest by forcing a 3-and-out before driving 71 yards on their first possession capped off by a Leffew 3-yard touchdown run. The Dragons held a 6-0 advantage with 5:45 remaining in the first period.
York struck through the air midway through the second period as Leffew hit tight end Bryson Bilbrey in the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown pass. Leffew rushed in the 2-point conversion around the left side to give the Dragons a 14-0 lead with 6:12 remaining until halftime.
Following a strip sack and recovery by the Dragon defense, York found the end zone through the air again with 1:15 remaining in the half as backup quarterback Riylin Miller hit Bilbrey in the end zone for another 26-yard touchdown pass, making the score 21-0 York.
“Bryson made three incredible catches tonight and two were for touchdowns,” Wright said. “Those guys stepped up and did what they had to do.”
Grace Christian avoided the first-half shutout as the Rams connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 22 seconds left in the half to make the score 21-6 at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Dragons closed the fourth quarter strong as they outscored Grace Christian 20-6 in the period.
Pannell rushed in a 12-yard touchdown with 6:39 remaining to put the Dragons up 28-6, but the Rams answered immediately as they took the ensuing kick off 90 yards for a Grace Christian touchdown to make the score 28-14 with 6:23 left.
York Institute found the end zone two times in the final 5 minutes as Pannell rushed in his second touchdown of the quarter from 12 yards out with 4:42 remaining to put the Dragons up 34-14.
The final touchdown of the night came on the first play after a Grace Christian turnover-on-downs as Miller broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown run with 3:12 remaining to make the final score 41-14.
York Institute improves to 2-0 with the victory with an average margin of victory of 26.5 points.
“You love being 2-0, but we’ve got to clean up a few things,” Wright said. “We stopped ourselves with some silly things. You expect that right now, but it’s time to fix it.”
The Dragons have week 3 off and will travel to Bledsoe County on Friday, Sept. 8 for their next game.
