Penalties and the struggle to keep momentum going hurt the Nation Ford Falcons as they fell to the York Cougars in Region 3-4A action.
York played a consistent brand of football, scoring a touchdown in all four quarters to get the 28-19 win over the Falcons. Nation Ford dropped to 1-8 overall and 1-4 in region play.
Nation Ford had 12 penalties for 100 yards unofficially that hurt them throughout the game. There were no turnovers in the game for either team.
“We have worked hard week after week to try and clean it up, but we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Nation Ford assistant coach Tyler Klipa, filling in for head coach Jake Bentley, who was out for personal reasons. “The guys are continuing to work hard. We have to put that work on display and not let our emotions get the best of us sometimes.”
Nation Ford finishes the season in two weeks on Oct. 30 hosting Indian Land.
“We have to focus on us,” Klipa said. “We have to put the best 11 out there that is going to execute. Our kids are not giving up. This has been a really hard season, but we are working to get the job done.”
The Falcons didn’t waste any time as Logan Thames returned the opening kick 95 yards to put Nation Ford on the board in just 11 seconds into the game.
York took a little longer putting together an 11-play drive to score on a 6-yard run with 6:53 left in the first quarter.
Nation Ford put together a decent drive on their first series, but two negative plays forced them to punt.
In the second quarter, the Falcons became offensively sound in the period. They were able to put together a good drive resulting in a 30-yard field goal by Micah Enns giving them a 10-7 lead with about five minutes left in the first half.
The Cougars came right back to work quickly and regain the lead on a 10-yard touchdown run capping off an eight play drive with about 95 seconds left in the half.
Right before the half, Nation Ford closed the gap with 10 seconds left as Enns hit a 45-yard field goal to cut the York lead to one.
York took the second half kick and kept the ball on the ground for most of their first series. The one pass on the drive resulted in a 28-yard pick up getting the Cougars to the 4-yard line. York scored on the next play to extend their lead.
Nation Ford struggled on its first offensive series to get past midfield and was forced to punt. The Falcons finally put together their best drive of the game and was able to score in four plays as Ben Falkner hit Graham Lee wide open in the middle of the field for a 46-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed as Nation Ford pulled within two.
As the game moved into the fourth quarter, the Falcons continued to struggle defensively in stopping the Cougars run game.
Nation Ford had a 49-yard touchdown called back for an unsportsmanlike penalty, which helped to eventually stall the Falcons’ drive. The touchdown would have given them the lead with about five minutes left in the game.
York took over after a Falcons’ punt and was able to go 92-yards on nine plays, most of them on the ground to come away with a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:15 left in the game.
Falkner finished the game going 17-of-27 passing for 155 yards and one touchdown. Asher Beck was his main target, catching seven passes for 70 yards. Falkner also led the rushing attack for the Falcons running for 78 yards on 10 carries.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
