Brownsville suffers crushing defeat at Yough
HERMINIE – Once again the Falcons finished their Friday night in a hurry as they lost at Yough, 65-6. A contender for the Interstate Conference title, Yough (5-1, 5-1) made short work of Brownsville (0-5, 0-6) after taking a 30-0 lead with 2:48 left in the first quarter.
Last week, Brownsville was beaten by Washington, 67-7, and Yough approached that margin of victory by halftime Friday night.
Brownsville’s play was so bad in all three facets of the game that after Yough’s 11th offensive snap, a 21-yard touchdown run by the fullback, the score was 37-0.
Yough’s 12th offensive play, a handoff up the middle to the tailback, was a 27-yard touchdown run, and with 9:53 left in the second quarter Yough led 44-0. But the mercy clock could not start until the second half. By then Yough led 58-0.
Is there a mercy clock for the season? Brownsville isn’t sure, but it plans to show up next week anyhow.
“It’s not easy. I don’t know what else to say. I’m really at a loss for words,” said Brownsville coach Andy Assad. “We’re still practicing hard but obviously it’s not transferring to the field. We’re not blocking real well and we’re not tackling.”
Yough scored on its fourth play from scrimmage and added two points when the Brownsville center sailed a snap over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a 32-yard loss and a safety. Yough took the ensuing punt and scored three plays later.
Brownsville, trailing 16-0, panicked and handed Yough two more quick touchdowns before the end of the quarter. Yough’s Tom Burkett returned a punt 66 yards for one of the scores and Cody Wilson returned a fumble 56 yards for the next one.
Yough scored on its next possession, and Brownsville answered by fumbling the kickoff to set Yough up for its sixth touchdown on the next snap.
Yough scored two more touchdowns in the half – the last with its second string – and scored again on its first possession of the second half for a 65-0 lead. Brownsville’s touchdown was scored by Mike Bennett on a one-yard run late in the third quarter.
“Yough’s a very good football team,” Assad said. “We had some opportunities but we didn’t cash in on them. We couldn’t stay in this game. The turnovers hurt and you can’t turn the ball over against a good football team.”
Yough outgained Brownsville in the first half, 206 to negative 11 yards, and the Cougars did it in only 20 snaps. Yough’s second team entered the game with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
“We’re going back to basic stuff: blocking and tackling,” Assad said. “We’ll work on the fundamentals and try to get better. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what happened. I thought we turned the corner last year but we took a step back. We have a couple young kids, some injuries, some other things. It’s just a mess.”