Lions top rivals closing season in wild fashion

It took Red Lion coach Jesse Shay only a few words to describe Friday night's wild season-ending game.

"It's Dallastown - Red Lion," he said.

More words were not needed regarding the game in which a combined 105 points were scored in the Lions 56-49 victory.

The Lions were heavy favorites and jumped out to a 22-0 lead, which included scoring on the first play of the game when quarterback Randy Fizer avoided several tackles and took off for an 80-yard touchdown run (video below).

That was only the beginning for Fizer, who ran for five touchdowns and added another passing, capping a brilliant career in which he broke numerous Red Lion career records for touchdowns and points scored.

He and the Lions offense were unstoppable in the first half, taking a 48-14 lead to the intermission.

"It's just an honor to play Red Lion football. It's truly a family atmosphere and we are true brothers," said Fizer.

However, regardless of the big deficit, regardless of their 1-3 record entering the game, the Wildcats kept coming back.

"It's all about rivalries. They don't care about the (win-loss) records. The records don't matter," added Shay. "It's the game. These kid's fathers told them about this game. Their grandfathers told them about this game and we talked about how they are going to tell their kids.

"It's something that binds generations."

Fizer agreed.

"It's Dallastown-Red Lion. It's this way every year," he said. "We had our highs and lows but we finished the game and got that W."

Afterward the celebration and awarding of the Freedom trophy, Shay reflected on another great season with another group of upperclassmen.

"Every one of these senior has left a mark on this program," he said. "Not all of them show up on the stat sheet and do the glamorous sexy thing. They all do their roles."

Considering everything that is going on in the world, Shay is happy to finish the campaign with a 5-2 record.

"In July, in August we didn't even know if we were going to able to play," the coach said. "I don't want to be one of those coachers that says, 'gee, what if.' I got to be with my guys and we got to coach our players for seven more games than I thought I would. That's enough."