Bartlett Yancey falls to Western Guilford

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Bartlett Yancey Buccaneers played stellar defense but succumbed to the Hornets of Western Guilford 14-6 Friday night.
If not for a 63-yard scoring strike and a fumble on a punt return, the Bucs could have won the game or at least played the Hornets to a 0-0 tie. They held Western to only nine first downs and less than 100 yards rushing.

Quarterback Cory McKenna connected with wide receiver Jabri Ridenhour for a 63-yard touchdown pass with 9:52 remaining in the second quarter to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead. McKenna came into the game with some impressive stats, but he was only able to complete 7-of-21 passes for 118 yards and threw two interceptions.

Although the Bartlett Yancey defense was smoking hot, the offense could not get anything going. Brandon Thompson started the game at QB, but he also was the punter, punt returner and he played wide receiver.

He finished the night with three catches for 52 yards, he also had an impressive punt return and kickoff return that were called back due to penalties. But it was his decision to try to pick up a punt that he didn’t commit to early enough that gave the Hornets the opportunity to put the winning touchdown on the board.

After the Thompson miscue, the Hornets drove 66 yards in six plays, a drive that was capped off by another McKenna 37-yard scoring strike to Ridenhour to give them a lead of 14-0.

On Western Guilford’s next possession after a BY turnover, McKenna threw over the middle and was picked off by Tommy Ray, who returned the interception 53-yards to paydirt to put the Bucs back in the game at 14-6.

However, the onside kick attempt failed and Western ran off some clock, before giving the Bucs one last chance. Quarterback Kendall Cobb hit Thompson across the middle for a 25-yard gain which put the ball on the Hornets 43-yard line with 36 seconds to play, but the Bucs could move no closer to the end zone.

“Other than those two plays that hurt us, we were right in the game and could have won,” BY coach Jason Phelps said. “They had no offense other than two plays. I am proud of my defense and my team, we will go back to practice this week.”