On senior night, most teams honor their senior players at their game or match. For Yorktown football, it’s a little different. Besides the football players, cheerleaders, and dancers, all of the seniors from other fall sports were celebrated before Yorktown’s game against Hoosier-Heritage Conference opponent Greenfield-Central.
“It’s a great group of seniors and they've been through it all with us,” Yorktown head coach Mike Wilhelm said. “When [guys] were announced, a lot of them are four-year players...So they devoted themselves to this program and helped us change the culture.”
Though the special evening saw the Tigers take on the No.7 ranked 4A Cougars in a contested battle, the result did not go in Yorktown’s favor as they fell 35-30.
The game started with Greenfield-Central scoring on a 14-yard touchdown pass. The Yorktown (4-3, 2-3 HHC) crowd started to go quiet. But a few drives later, the Tigers responded when senior quarterback Mason Moulton found senior Ayden Ewing for a touchdown.
Moulton’s night was just beginning. The 6’3 field general finished the game going 12-for-19 with 233 passing yards and three touchdown passes. He also found the promised land on a quarterback sneak.
“I really just tried to relax and just let the game come to me,” Moulton said. “In previous games, I’ve really tried to get amped up before the game, but tonight, I just tried to relax.”
Moulton’s target of choice during the high-scoring affair was senior Quinton Williams. He led the Tigers with 133 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. His first scoring catch was a 31-yard play while his second score was a 51-yard reception.
“It's our senior night and we got to do our part,” Williams said. “Us seniors got to lead so that’s what we tried to do.”
While the offense was clicking, the Tiger defense was on the opposite side of the spectrum. Even with big plays like the recovered fumble in the early minutes of the fourth quarter or the sack to end the first half, the Cougars (6-1, 4-1 HHC) were too strong.
However, the offense also made some crucial mistakes which included two fumbles in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
“There are some things we need to clean up with some little mistakes,” Moulton said. “We're just kind of ten and one players during some plays.”
The Tigers have lost three HHC games this season. Wilhelm believes this one is a bit different than the ones in the past.
“I can't even say I'm super disappointed in this loss,” he said. “I hate to lose, but games like this are how you win championships. This is how Yorktown wins championships with tough 48-minute games, and I thought we played that way.”
Even with the outcome not being in his favor, Moulton still thinks it was a special night for the 13 seniors on the team.
“It was a super great night,” he said. “We can't hang our heads about it. It was great to experience [the pregame ceremony] with my fellow seniors.”
Yorktown will try to get back in the win column as they face Pendleton Heights on Friday, Oct. 6 at 7:00 p.m.
In other scores around Delaware County, Delta (5-2, 3-2 HHC) fell to Pendleton Heights (5-2, 3-2 HHC) 28-23 and Muncie Central (2-5, 2-3 North Central (NC) ) captured their second victory of the season as they defeated Marion (2-5, 1-4 NC) 46-36 on the road.
Contact Zach Carter with comments at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on X @ZachCarter85.
