Central York struggles, can't catch up in loss to Manheim Township

MANHEIM TOWNSHIP − Losses don't often come Central York's way. Last year, the Panthers stuck out the entire regular season before falling in the postseason. Before Thursday, they'd gone on a 19-game winning streak through the regular season stretching back two years.

Enter Manheim Township. Two teams went into Kruis Field, and the Panthers went out with a 28-10 loss to the Blue Streaks − their first loss in the regular season since 2022.

"We didn't play well enough to win," Central York coach Gerry Yonchiuk said. "We made a lot of mistakes. It starts with coaches, we'll take ownership on that ... This is about learning to grow as a football team. They're very talented. Got beat by the better team tonight."

Cross country runners to watch: Defending league, district champs highlight 88 cross country runners to watch this season

GALLERY: Central York falters against Manheim Township 28-10

The Panthers couldn't match the Blue Streaks early. Manheim Township relied on the strength of its running back Declan Clancy and rushed out to an 11-point lead come halftime. Clancy rushed for 245 yards by the end of the game and put up two of the Blue Streaks' three rushing touchdowns.

Legend Johnson put up his own response for the Panthers. The sophomore slipped through the Blue Streaks line and broke out for four runs for 10 yards or more throughout the game. Brooklyn Nace, under constant pressure, shoveled out passes and pushed the Panthers into the red zone twice in the second half.

"Legend's a strong kid," Yonchiuk said. "He's a young player, and he's getting better and better and better with every snap. I was real proud of him, and then I loved what Cameron Diehl did when he came in to help."

Diehl capitalized on Johnson's runs late in the fourth quarter. The senior busted out 14 yards to put up Central York's first touchdown of the night. Before that, their only points came off after Matthew Parker aced a 49-yard field goal in the first quarter.

It wasn't enough. Manheim Township stole the lead after its second drive and held it until the clock ran out.

"You probably learn a lot more about yourself this week than we did last week," Yonchiuk said. "Last week we hold them to negative yardage. This week, they ground pound and they physically got on us, wore us down. But we also know we've got to be smarter with our game plan, attacking them and relying on the run a little bit more because it was there."

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Central York struggles, can't catch up in loss to Manheim Township