The long-awaited return to the field didn’t work out the way Red Lion planned on Friday night.
However, it seems unlikely that the Lions will face a better team than the Central York squad they saw to open the 2020 season.
“They are the best team I’ve seen down here, including our 2016 undefeated team,” Red Lion coach Jesse Shay said. “They have athletes everywhere. They have great size and strength. I truly can’t tell you what their weaknesses are.”
Central scored the first six times it had the ball and rolled to a 55-0 victory past the Lions.
Panthers’ all-everything quarterback Beau Pribula, a Penn State commit, threw four touchdowns during the blitz, three to Taylor Wright-Rawls.
Turnovers and short fields helped Central, which started four drives inside Lions’ territory in the first half alone, helping the Lions fall behind 41-0 at halftime.
Red Lion has held to only two total yards in the first half, with just one lone first down. Still, Shay took heart that his players kept on competing.
“I’m proud that our boys kept fighting until the end. That showed me a great deal of heart and grit,” he said. “Long after the game was decided our kids were still playing for each other.”
Next week the Lions return to the comfy confines of Horn Field to host South Western in the home opener. No doubt, the team will be looking to avenge last season’s surprising loss to the Mustangs.
“Our job now is to move forward and get better,” said Shay. “We can’t allow one game to ruin our season and knowing the character of our kids, I expect to have a fantastic week of practice.”
