POTTSVILLE- The Harrisburg Cougars have some unfinished business this football sason. Friday night they made a clear statement that last years run to the State Championship game was no fluke. The Cougars handed the host Crimson Tide a demoralizing defeat by a score of 45-0 before a packed house at Veterans’s Memorial Stadium in Pottsvile.
The visitors took the opening kickoff and drove the ball 75 yards in eight plays capped off with a 15-yard pass from QB Yamir Wilkenson to Jamir Plant with 4:53 gone off the clock for 7-0 lead. Pottsville managed to drive down into the red zone but an interception by Shaquon Anderson-Butts stopped the momentum at the Cougar 13 with 5:35 left in the opening quarter.
Wilkenson connected with Plant covering 36 yards on the first play of the second quarter to make the score 13-0. Again the Tide drove the ball deep in Cougar territory only to have Anderson-Butts pick off a pass in the end zone ending the threat. Wilkenson then used Anderson-Butts on the offensive side of the ball, hitting him in stride with a deep bomb down the sideline and the Penn State recruit completed the 67 yard score to make the score 20-0 with 2:39 before halftime.
With the passing game working to perfection as Wilkenson connected on his first eight passes, you cannot fall asleep on the rushing attack led by Micah Parsons. Parson scored his first TD of the contest with a three yard run making the score 27-0 at intermission.
“Yamir does an excellent job of leading our offense. He is the catalyst. I can’t say enough about his motor and leadership,” Harrisburg coach Calvin Everett stated.
Parsons found the end zone again with 6:48 left in the third quarter, ripping off a 39-yard jaunt to make the score 33-0. After a Pottsville punt and a penalty set the ball back on the Cougar 33, Parsons only needed one play to find paydirt for a 39-0 lead with 21:53 left in the quarter putting the game into the mercy rule.
Harrisburg completed the scoring with a six-yard run by Isiah Sawyers with 8:07 left in the contest. Wilkenson finished the night completing 11 of 15 passes for 210 yards and three scores. Parsons added 142 yards on the ground on 12 carries. He also had a 94-yard run for a score called back due to a penalty.
Next week, 3-0 Harrisburg will be at home with Central Dauphin East (3-0) a 39-16 winner against Susquehanna Twp. at 1pm on Saturday. Pottsville 2-2 will be home with another cross-district opponent in Crestwood 2-2 out of District 2, who lost to Berwick 56-0 Friday night.
