Flack scores 8 touchdowns to lead Derry past Yough in Big East Conference

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 12, 2018 | 10:39 PM

In a game featuring the WPIAL’s leading rusher, it was his backfield counterpart that stole the show on the ground and in all facets of the game Friday night.

Derry’s Justin Flack scored eight touchdowns — six rushing, one on special teams and one on defense, as Derry trounced Yough, 63-20, in a Class 3A Big East game at Cougar Mountain Stadium in Herminie.

The win puts No. 2-ranked Derry (7-1, 5-1) in a three-way tie for first place in the conference after North Catholic and Elizabeth Forward also won Friday night, 70-0 over Uniontown and 55-13 over Mt. Pleasant, respectively.

Flack ran for 159 yards on 11 carries and finished with 299 all-purpose yards, which included an 88-yard kickoff return and 52-yard interception return.

Yough’s Dustin Shoaf entered the game with 1,439 rushing yards as the centerpiece of a Cougars’ attack.

“We needed to be physical tonight; Yough is a well-coached team, and just play our game and not panic,” Derry coach Tim Sweeney said.

And early on, it looked as though Shoaf was going to put Derry in panic mode and and give the Trojans all they could handle.

But the Trojans, led by Flack, weathered an early storm en route to victory.

Shoaf ran for 7 yards on the first play of the game, and rumbled was 67 yards on the next play to give Yough an early 6-0 lead after a missed extra point, but that’s the last time the Cougars led.

Flack answered with his first score to give Derry a 7-6 lead it would never relinquish.

On Yough’s next offensive possession, the Cougars were forced to punt. A high snap forced Reno Ustazewski to kick into a flurry of Derry defenders, and the Trojans came through with a block and recovering to take over at the 12-yard line.

Flack scored on a 12-yard run up the middle, a common sight all night, to give Derry a 14-6 lead. He added a third touchdown run from 46 yards to give Derry a 20-6 lead after a missed extra point.

But Shoaf wasn’t ready to let the game get too far out of hand as he answered on Yough’s next offensive series with a 65-yard run to pull the Cougars to within 20-12.

Hunter Hebenthal pushed Derry back up to a double-digit lead with a 46-yard touchdown run to give the Trojans a 28-12 advantage, but Yough again clawed back into the game after a crucial fourth-down stop.

Derry, leading 28-12, had a fourth down from the Yough 13 as the second half was winding down, when Cougars’ cornerback Gamal Marballie knocked down a pass intended for Jason Geary, allowing Yough to take over on downs.

On the ensuring play for Yough’s offense, Shoaf rumbled 92 yards and put the Cougars to within one score at 28-20 after the two-point attempt was good.

Flack took over again, and this time put Yough away for good just before halftime.

Flack returned the kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to give Derry a 35-20 lead.

Yough (3-5, 3-3) had a chance to come up with a big fourth-down stop after Derry got the ball back, but with under a minute left before halftime, on fourth-and-1 from the 9-yard line, Flack scored his fifth touchdown to put Derry up 42-20.

Derry tacked on three more touchdowns in the second half, all coming from Flack, on third-quarter runs of 2 and 48 yards. He capped off the scoring with a 52-yard interception return.

Shoaf finished with 289 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, which puts him 187 yards away from 5,000 yards for his career. Shoaf had 264 at halftime, so Derry adjusted in the second half and held the WPIAL’s leading rusher to 23 yards in the second half.

Yough, still vying for the final playoff spot in the conference, has its final two games on the road, drawing North Catholic next Friday, and Elizabeth Forward on Oct. 26.

Rennie Detore is a freelance writer.

Tags: Derry Area, Yough