Falling in back-to-back games to New Palestine and Delta, Yorktown started Hoosier-Heritage Conference (HHC) play with two straight losses.
“It was just us,” Tigers’ head coach Mike Wilhelm said. “If we’re not smacking each other on the rear end after good plays, that's an issue. We didn't do any of that last week.”
However, they are now taking steps to get out of the rut. The first came with a victory over conference foe New Castle (1-3) 34-28.
The homecoming match started in a way most Yorktown (2-2) fans have witnessed; The Tigers forced the Trojans to go three and out. On the first offensive play for Yorktown, senior quarterback Mason Moulton fired a deep pass for a touchdown.
Following that score, senior Ayden Ewing took off for a 50 yard touchdown run.
All seemed well at Yorktown High School.
Then the Trojans started marching in the right direction. From then on, the game was much closer.
Part of the issue was Yorktown’s game plan, Wilhelm said. Usually a pass heavy offense, Moulton only went 5-for-13 for 96 yards and a touchdown.
“One thing I think our team is really good about is making adjustments, especially [at] halftime,” Moulton said. “Our coaches know what they're doing, and we have full trust in them.”
Adjustments might come as an understatement. Ewing used his legs to pick up where the passing game didn’t, finishing the game with 205 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“It feels like I'm back in my groove and I'm just gonna keep doing what I can to help the team out,” Ewing said.
To Wilhelm, this type of win showed what Yorktown football is made of.
“That's what Yorktown needs to do,” he said. “We need to run the ball so we can pass the ball or we need to pass the ball so we can run the ball.”
Even though the Tigers bested their opposition, there were still many mistakes. In the first half, Yorktown was called for five penalties that went for 55 yards. To Moulton, even despite the technical mishaps, the Tigers looked much better than their previous two outings.
“I feel pretty good overall about how the offense played,” Moulton said.
For Wilhelm, a midweek practice, one he called the best of the season, was the recipe for Yorktown’s success.
“We have a pretty veteran team and the seniors and the juniors responded [to last week’s loss] with a great week,” he said. “That's what we needed because there's no doubt we had a little dip.”
The game itself turned into a great example of Friday night lights, which Wilhelm believes is an example of a normal HHC matchup.
“You can win every game [in the HHC], or you can lose every game,” he said. “Everything's competitive, and that's the way I knew tonight would go.”
Yorktown travels to take on Shelbyville in the Tigers' next conference matchup Friday, Sept. 22.
In other scores around the county, Delta (3-1) fell to Mount Vernon (2-3) 31-20, Muncie Central (0-4) fell to Lafayette Jefferson (3-2) 42-0, and Wes-Del (1-3) was defeated by North White (4-0) 58-26.
Contact Zach Carter with comments at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on X@ZachCarter85.
