YORK – York beat Marshwood 26-0 in the schools’ first matchup since 1988.

The teams haven’t faced each other since the Hawks moved to Class A in 1989, but this season Marshwood returned to the Class B Campbell Conference and the rivalry was renewed.

York used a balanced running attack to build its lead and stingy defense to shut out Marshwood.

The Wildcats scored 20 points off three of the Hawks’ five turnovers.

“Our kids hit, and when you’re physical good things happen,” said York Coach Randy Small. “We’re not very big, we’re not very deep and we’re young, but we love to hit.”

After jumping out to a 20-0 halftime lead the Wildcats put the game out of reach with 5:42 to go in the third with the final score of the game.

Marshwood looked threatening on its first possession of the second half when 245-pound sophomore Beau Blanchette began to run over York’s defense.

But after crossing into Wildcat territory, he lost the ball and York recovered on its own 42.

After gains of 15 and 12 yards by speedster Jared Petruzella, the Wildcats were at the Marshwood 20. On the next play, sophomore Ryan Miller took a handoff from quarterback Wesley Warner and ran untouched through the middle of the Marshwood defense and into the end zone.

It was this running game that allowed York to dominate possession and the game itself. Small called on running backs, senior Aaron Prugar and sophomore Sean Kelley, as well as quarterback keepers from Warner early and often. But after Prugar was carried off the field due to injury, Petruzella took over. Small gave most of the credit to the offensive line.

Marshwood received the ball to start the game and after two first downs the Hawks fumbled on an attempted reverse. Wildcat sophomore Ethan McDonough jumped on the loose ball and gave team a first down from the Marshwood 40.

Several running plays from Prugar and Kelley and a costly fourth-down, offsides penalty on Marshwood got the Wildcats down to the 3-yard line, where Warner was called on to sneak it in.

He fumbled but the ball ended up in the end zone and was recovered by Kelly, giving the Wildcats an early 7-0 lead after the successful extra point.

After a Marshwood drive stalled, York took over at its own 31. The Wildcats continued to pound the ball up the middle before Petruzella took a handoff, broke one tackle and raced up the left side of the field for a gain of 32. On the next play he caught a screen pass and ran into the end zone for a 16-yard score.

On the next possession the Wildcats caused a fumbled snap on the Hawks’ attempted punt, putting them at the Marshwood 20. Two plays later Prugar ran it up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown run to make it 20-0 with 9:45 to play in the second quarter.