Football coaches can always find something their team needs to work on – even after big wins.
While that may be the case after Friday night, Lions coach Jesse Shay didn’t hesitate to say how well his team played at previously unbeaten Central York in the Division I opener.
“Our guys played about as well as they can play in a football game,” he said. “All facets, offense, defense and special teams really did their job … against a very good Central York team.”
The Lions scored eight times in the 56-28 victory, with quarterback Zach Mentzer running for two touchdowns in the first quarter and throwing for two in the second. Tyler Ness added a pair of running touchdowns, and Nic Shultz had a 46-yard scoring scamper.
“We are a team with no superstars. Everyone just knows their role, and everyone accepts that and when it’s their time typically gets the job done. That make my job as coach a whole lot easier,” added Shay. “There’s no egos here, which is remarkable considering they are high school athletes.”
While the Lions offense did its thing, the defense made terrific halftime adjustments, holding the high-powered Panthers to only seven points in the second half. This included keeper University of Delaware-bound Central quarterback Cade Pribula in check.
Red Lion got a huge interception, then a sack cause Pribula to fumble, which Devante Dennis returned 48 yards for the back-breaking touchdown.
“Anytime you play against a young man as good as Cade, you can’t go into it with the mindset that we are going to shut him down because it’s not going to happen,” Shay said. “So, you have to pick your spots. Our defensive coordinator (JD Granger) all game long did a great job mixing it up. Devante Dennis getting that fumble return was huge and it was set up by a blitz from one of our outside backers.”
