Derry bounces back with rout of Yough

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 8, 2017 | 11:00 PM

A week ago, Derry football coach Tim Sweeney wondered how much his players wanted to win. After all, the Trojans still were smarting from a 32-point loss at Elizabeth Forward.

It didn't take Sweeney long to get an answer.

“We had a hard week of practice,” he said. “Probably the collisions on Wednesday were more than we wanted.”

But it seemed to have worked because Derry was back on track Friday night against Yough after having its 12-game regular-season winning streak stopped.

Ryan Polinsky threw two touchdown passes, and Justin Huss scored twice in a span of three minutes in the first quarter as Derry routed visiting Yough, 47-8, in a Class 3A Interstate Conference game.

After Huss scored on runs on 11 and 15 yards, Shawn Broadway added a 36-yard run to give Derry (2-1, 1-1) a 20-0 first-quarter lead.

“We were hoping for a good start. We needed to have a better start,” Sweeney said, remembering Derry's 39-7 loss the previous week.

Broadway, who returned from a leg injury suffered in the Elizabeth Forward game, later was carried off on a stretcher with an unrelated injury.

For Yough (0-3, 0-1), it has been the same story.

“We made way too many mistakes,” Yough coach Scott Wood said. “Too many mistakes, too many missed tackles, too many penalties. We get the ball in good position, and we start driving and we turn it over.”

With Derry leading 27-0, Yough got on the board on Dustin Shoaf's 3-yard touchdown run. The Cougars' Donald Wood recovered an onside kick, and it looked as though they would add on.

But Derry's Justin Flack intercepted a pass, and the Trojans drove 60 yards for another score, Colton Nemcheck covering the final 12 yards on the ground to up the lead to 34-8.

During the drive, Broadway was injured, delaying the game for 10 minutes. The status of his injury was not immediately known.

Polinsky, who had 91 yards passing, threw touchdowns of 15 yards to Will Huss and 58 yards to Justin Flack. Onreey Stewart added a 1-yarder to round out Derry's scoring.

Shoaf gained 161 yards rushing on 31 carries and scored Yough's lone touchdown.

“That kid is the toughest runner we'll see all year,” Sweeney said.

Shoaf, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior with gaining interest from Division I schools, has split time at quarterback and running back. Wood said he has been reluctant to overwork Shoaf, but he knows he can get great production from him.

“We know we can't run him on every play of every game. That's just not fair to him,” Wood said. “But he's so good and such a hard worker. He works hard on the practice field and in the weight room. He's a great kid.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

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