One week after suffering a disappointing road loss in the final seconds, the Yorktown Patriots responded in their next high-school football game with a thrilling walkoff home victory.
The Patriots defeated the Langley Saxons, 31-28, in that seesaw Liberty District Oct. 13 clash on a game-winning 35-yard field goal by Max Yoon on the final play with no time remaining.
The Patriots improved to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the district.
Yorktown head coach Bruce Hanson called the triumph a “season-saving win” as far as keeping Yorktown in the slim hunt for potentially sharing a district title and a better chance of earning a 6D North Region tournament playoff berth.
“When a season is about to be lost, to win like that is big,” Hanson said. “We beat a good team. That was a such a huge win for us.”
Langley (5-3) entered the game leading the district with a 3-0 record.
“They are a good tough team. They have good players, speed and their offense keeps you guessing,” Hanson said.
Yorktown now has to win its final two games and receive significant help in the standings to tie for a district crown.
Yorktown’s winning drive began on its 20-yard line with 1:07 left to play in regulation after Langley scored the tying seven points. Rotating quarterbacks Hudson Greene and Drew Morgan each had key runs on the drive, and there was a 16-yard pass to Owen Woodward to advance the ball to the Langley 19-yard line.
On the winning field goal, Yoon split the uprights, after receiving a good snap from Brady Owens and a sound hold from Pierce Laughlin.
A week earlier, Yoon scored the game’s initial points early in the contest with a field goal in Yorktown’s 7-3 road loss to the McLean Highlanders.
Yoon also made four extra points in the win over Langley. Yorktown had 7-0, 14-7 and 28-21 leads in the win. Langley’s lone lead was 21-14.
In order, the Patriots’ touchdowns came on a 52-yard pass from Drew Morgan to Finn Luca, a 21-yard Morgan to Michael Merritt pass, a 24-yard run by Coby Casalengo and a 20-yard pass from Hudson Greene to Adam Rafi.
Yorktown passed more than it had in recent games, and with success. The Patriots had 223 yards in the air. Greene was 8 of 17 for 65 yards and Morgan 9 of 11 for 158.
“We threw more out of spread sets like we have in past seasons,” Hanson said.
Rafi caught six passes for 54 yards, Luca five for 86, Merritt four for 47 and Woodward two for 32.
On the ground, Casalengo ran for 79 yards, Greene for 75 and Woodward for 11.
On defense for Yorktown, Kidus Yinus had an interception, Van Tranfa had a sack along with tackles for losses and Jackson Freemon-Moore also had tackles for losses.
NOTE: When the week began, four teams in the Liberty District were tied for first with one loss each and Yorktown had two losses.
