Gary Laucks' 22-yard touchdown reception with 53 seconds left in the game sealed York Catholic's 20-14 win over visiting Bermudian Springs.

Laucks leaped over three Eagles defenders in the end zone to catch Adam Sentz's pass, his third reception on Irish's game-winning drive. The win secured second place in Division III for York Catholic (6-4, 5-1 Division III) and dropped Bermudian (6-4, 4-2) to third place.

"Coach told me if the safety cheats over I've got to go inside and make the play," Laucks said. "Adam (Sentz) put the ball on the money where only I could get it."

The junior receiver had seven catches for 88 yards on the night.

The Irish never trailed in the game but saw momentum swing in favor of the Eagles early in the fourth quarter when Bermudian finished off a 13-play, 72-yard drive

Advertisement
with a Jeisson Lloret touchdown. Lloret finished with 135 yards on 22 carries.

With the score knotted at 14, the York Catholic offense needed to find a way to score without their bruising tailback Nick Full, who suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter.

"When Nick went down," Laucks said, "that was a big loss. Adam put the team on his back with his running, and that opened up the passing game for us at the end."

Sentz kept the drive going with first-down strikes of 15 and 14 yards to Laucks on identical slant routes to the right side. Then, facing a difficult third-and-14 after Sentz was sacked, Irish coach J.D. Martin went back to his playmaking receiver.

"When the ball hits his hands, Gary pulls it in," Martin said. "He has no problem going across the middle."

Laucks' touchdown catch gave him 41 catches and 470 yards for the season.

While Laucks' heroics stole the show late in the game, Bermudian's offensive troubles near halftime made York Catholic's victory possible. With first-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Bermudian failed three times to score, getting stuffed as time expired by York Catholic seniors Jacob Figge and Alec Conlon on senior night.

"That was big for us. That gave us momentum when we held them at the goal line," Martin said.

The second half didn't start off any better for the Eagles. Lloret fumbled on Bermudian's first play, a miscue the Irish capitalized on just seconds later. On first down, quarterback Sentz faked the entire Bermudian defense with an inside handoff and then sprinted 55 yards to put York Catholic up 14-7.

The Eagles threw an interception on the next play, and later in the third quarter saw a promising drive end with a fumble near the red zone. The loss ended Bermudian's Class AA playoff hopes.
 

Bermudian  0    7    0    7 -- 14
York Catholic  7    0    7    6 -- 20

First Quarter
   YC -- Nick Full 2 run (Christian Bohn kick), 3:15
Second Quarter
   BeS -- Austin Brumfield 22 pass from Mike Thoman (Adam Berryman kick), 3:58
Third Quarter
   YC -- Adam Sentz 55 run (Bohn kick), 9:38.
Fourth Quarter
   BeS -- Jeisson Lloret 3 run (Berryman kick), 6:00
   YC -- Gary Laucks 22 pass from Sentz (kick failed), :53.
 
-- BeS -- YC
First downs -- 14 -- 13
Rushes-yards -- 50-228 -- 31-148
Passing -- 4-8-2 -- 12-18-0
Passing yards -- 48 -- 110
Total yards -- 276 -- 258
Punts -- 1-36.0 -- 4-29.0
Fumbles-lost -- 4-2 -- 1-0
Penalties-yards -- 3-20 -- 2-15

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Bermudian Springs, Jeisson Lloret 22-135, Austin Keller 24-108, Mike Thoman 4-(-15); York Catholic, Adam Sentz 13-77, Nick Full 11-42, Christian Bohn 7-29.
   Passing -- Bermudian Springs, Mike Thoman 4-8-2-48; York Catholic, Adam Sentz 12-18-0-110.
   Receiving -- Bermudian Springs, Austin Keller 2-16, Austin Brumfield 1-22, Jeisson Lloret 1-10; York Catholic, Gary Laucks 7-88, Nick Full 3-9, Patrick Montgomery 2-13.

Also of interest

· Sports book focuses on York Catholic Irish girls championship basketball teams.