YORK – Nothing but pride may have been on the line, but York gave Wells all it could handle Friday night.

The Warriors, guaranteed the No. 2 seed in the Western Class B playoffs, weren’t able to close out their 27-14 win against their rivals until the waning moments.

“We knew they were going to come out playing,” Wells quarterback Paul McDonough said. “They always come out playing. They’re tough. They’re aggressive. They’re one of the most physical teams we played all year, definitely.”

After falling behind in the final seconds of the first quarter, the Warriors (8-1) scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half to take the lead for good.

“It’s definitely a good game for us to play before the playoffs,” McDonough said. “We played through adversity.”

Michael Moats-Carpenter sealed the win when he scored his second touchdown on a 4-yard run with less than two minutes to play.

Wells opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game.

Chad Whitten scored on a 17-yard run to cap a seven-play, 51-yard drive after a punt.

Four minutes later, the Wildcats (3-5), who failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in a decade, grabbed the lead. Donald Goodrich scored on a 24-yard run to finish a 13-play, 85-yard drive. Aaron Prugar rushed for the 2-point conversion to make it 8-7.

Withfive seconds left in the first half, Goodrich ran 9 yards on another sweep to the left for a 14-7 lead. The touchdown was set up by Wesley Warner’s 36-yard pass to Goodrich on the first play following a Wells punt.

“We came right down and scored, and then they came back and scored two, and we were kind of shell-shocked,” Wells Coach Tim Roche said.

McDonough brought Wells to within a point of the lead when he threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Zach Deshaies on a fourth-down play to cap a seven-play, 59-yard drive following the second-half kickoff.

Less than two minutes later, the Warriors took a 19-14 lead when Moats-Carpenter scored on a 13-yard run three plays after a partially blocked punt gave them the ball at the York 36.

The final touchdown of the game came at the end of a nine-play march after Deshaies intercepted a pass on the Wells 35.

“Wells really didn’t have anything to play for tonight, but Tim’s kids played hard,” York Coach Randy Small said. “You don’t like to lose but that was a hard-fought game.”

 

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at: pbetit@pressherald.com