Red Lion Football
Week 1: Lions fall to Cedar Cliff
Another season opened for the Lions on Friday night, and like recent years, it marked starting another campaign with a victory.
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Red Lion went to Lancaster and topped McCaskey 39-14.
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Despite so many new starters in the lineup and turning the ball over on the first possession of the game, the Lions responded impressively, jumping out to a 39-0 lead.
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"With so many first year starters, you don't know how they are going to respond on a Friday night," said coach Jesse Shay. "After turning the ball over, we went from there. It was kind of a gut-punch and I think our defense responded really well."
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One thing that helped was the level of success the Lions have held the last several year, including in 2018 when the reserves, who are not starters, earned playing time in games.
"The fact that kids got some game experience is a tribute to them and our program," added Shay.
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Week 2: Waynesboro too much for Lions
As Friday night's go, September 3 may go down as a tough one for Red Lion to swallow.
After all, the Lions have had their way with Waynesboro in the past. However, the two-plus hour trek west was not very kind to Red Lion.
The Lions fell behind early and couldn't catch up in a 47-14 defeat.
Quarterback Riley Knaub ran for 84 yards and threw for both Red Lion touchdowns, one to Chase Evans and the other to Garrett Coppersmith.
Week 3: Better BUT STILL WORK TO DO
The Lions looked much better on Friday night in their annual non-league match-up with Chambersburg.
In fact, Red Lion was ready to go after its long bus ride to take on the Trojans.
Unfortunately, while the defense looked much better, the Lions would only score once in a 21-7 loss.
Chase Evans ran for a 27-yard touchdown and the extra point cut Chambersburg's lead to 14-7 in the second quarter.
However, moments later the Trojans romped for a 68-yard touchdown run.
"It was (a back-breaker)," coach Jesse Shay said. "It grabbed momentum back for them. especially with how long our drives had to be, its tough to have them score so quickly."
Shay agreed that the defense was improved from the previous games.
"They played much better assignment football especially in the 2nd half," he said.
Still, there were positives for Red Lioin.
"With the sheer number of starters who were out or were playing "dinged up", I was pleased with how well we played in the 2nd half," said Shay. "Still too many mistakes but we probably had five or six players out there either getting their first varsity start, first "real" playing time or players who we had to move to new positions. I cannot fault their effort."
Week 4: Game cancelled
Unfortunately, the Lions game against Central York was cancelled because of COVID.
Week 6; Back in the Win Column
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While it's been a tough run so far for the Lions, it was only a matter of time until their game came around.
In an impressive win that should help the team over the second half of the season, Red Lion thumped Northeastern, 34-7.
"If nothing else, we are playing better football," said Lions coach Jesse Shay. "It started the week before against South Western. Even though we lost that game, we were playing better. I am pleased with the improvement we are showing."
Although the Bobcats scored first in the opening quarter, the Lions responded immediately when Riley Knaub hit Jeff Nyamekye on a 92-yard passing play, part of 34 unanswered points.
The speedy Nyamekye, who was part of Red Lion's PIAA championship 4x100 relay, is an ultimate playmaker.
On Friday he caught 14 passes for a school record 290 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, the senior has 42 receptions for 664 yards.
"It's nice for a coach but it's also nice for a quarterback and Riley knows that," Shay said of Nyamekye. "A lot of his catches were on 50-50 balls."
Red Lion added two more touchdowns in the first half, while shutting out Northeastern over the final 42 minutes.
Week 7: York as good as advertised
York High jumped on the Lions early and didn't let up in a 64-14 win against Red Lion.
The Lions found themselves down 24-7 after the first quarter and a 28-point second-quarter blitz by Bearcats put the game out of reach at the half.
Red Lion had a glimmer of hope early when after York took a two-score lead, Ryley Knaub hit Jeff Nyamekye for a 62-yard touchdown pass that made it 14-7.
Later, Knaub connected with Dakarai Dennis on a 7-ard scoring strike that cut York's lead to 24-14.
However, the Bearcats finished by scoring 40 unanswered points, 28 in the second quarter.
Week 8: Great win for homecoming
Friday was a night of celebration for Red Lion as not only did it kick off homecoming weekend but the Lions posted a solid win against a pesky Dover squad, 43-27.
Senior quarterback Riley Knaub had a huge night, completing 20-of-25 passes with four touchdowns.
Three of those scoring strikes went to Jeff Nyamekye, who also returned a punt for a touchdown. The senior receiver made 11 catches for 160 yards.
For the season, Nyamekye has caught 63 passes for a whopping 953 yards and eight touchdowns. Knaub has completed 63 percent of his throws.
The Lions jumped out to a 14-0 lead against the Eagles, courtesy of Reid Anderson's 51-yard TD pass from Knaub and Nyameyke's 89-yard punt return.
However, Dover kept coming back, even after Red Lion opened leads of 28-7 and 35-14. Suddenly in the fourth quarter, the Lions were clinging to a 35-27 edge before putting the game away.
Defensively, Damian Stafford and Chase Grimes made nine and eight tackles respectively. Both Dakarai Dennis and Tyree Spence intercepted passes.
Week 9: Rockets Run Away
It's safe to say things have improved at Spring Grove.
Once one of the YAIAA Division I's rebuilding teams, the Rockets are now near the top of the division and their improvement showed against Red Lion during Friday night's 42-13 Spring Grove win.
The Rockets came out firing, opening up a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter.
Although the Lions cut that deficit, Spring Grove scored twice more in the second quarter for a 28-6 halftime lead.
A 14-point third quarter put the Rockets up 42-6 after three until Red Lion scored late in the game.
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Week 10: RIVALS Get US
The records rarely seem to matter when Red Lion and Dallastown square off on the gridiron - and most other sports.
However, the 2021 season was a challenging one for the Lions and it ended with a 41-14 loss to the rival Wildcats.
Dallastown opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and despite the Lions cutting the margin to 14-8 early in the second, the Wildcats scored twice more to take a 27-8 lead to halftime.
The Wildcats controlled the ball, rushing 52 times for 318 yards and five touchdowns.
Senior Ryley Knaub closed his career by going a solid 14-of-19 and receiver Jeff Nyamekye ended his prolific season - and high school career - with five catches.
For the season, Nyamekye hauled in 78 passes for 1,010 yards and eight touchdowns.
Still, Red Lion coach Jesse Shay knows that despite a tough season, the memories the Class of 2022 made on the football field will last a lifetime.