Gurley’s big game bolsters Heritage
YORK — Heritage and Grafton had one thing in common going into their Class 3 Region A quarterfinal Friday night at Bailey Field. Their most recent postseason win came in the 2016 playoffs.
No. 5 seed Heritage broke its drought behind senior quarterback Derrick Gurley Jr., beating No. 4 Grafton 44-14. The Hurricanes (6-5) will play at No. 1 Hopewell next week in the semifinals.
The Hurricanes’ margin of victory was a surprise considering how tightly contested the first half was. The Clippers led into the second quarter after driving 62 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown to start the game. They grabbed a 6-0 lead on Owen Seaford’s 4-yard touchdown two plays after Jaden Brown’s 29-yard catch-and-run of Luke Bryant’s screen pass.
Gurley took over in the second quarter. His 39-yard keeper set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Tyree Wilson, and the Canes led 7-6 with 9:15 to play in the first half following Wesley Dominguez-Espinal’s point-after.
Gurley’s 34-yard keeper ignited an 80-yard touchdown drive later in the quarter. He followed by connecting with Sterling Anderson on a pass of 28 yards, then kept the ball on a 12-yard run. Rayshawn PierceMalone went 2 yards for a score on the next play, and the Hurricanes led 13-6 with 33 seconds left in the first half.
Spearheaded by Gurley’s play on both sides of the ball, the Hurricanes turned the game into a rout after halftime. He passed to Zachary Ray along the right sideline for 37 yards on the second play of the third quarter, then ran 10 yards for a touchdown a play later to make it 20-6.
On the Clippers’ first series of the second half, Gurley followed two tackles for loss with a sack of Bryant for 12 yards. An exchange of punts pushed Grafton back to its 2-yard line, where Derek Brooks’ tackle of a Grafton ball-carrier in the end zone for a safety made it 22-6 midway through the third quarter.
After Gurley broke up a pass on third down on the Clippers’ next possession, Anderson returned a punt 37 yards to the Grafton 3. Wilson ran in from the 2 for the second of his three touchdowns, and Heritage’s lead ballooned to 30-6 by the end of the third quarter.
Wilson ran 25 yards for a touchdown to make it 37-6 early in the fourth quarter. Gurley (89 yards rushing, 97 yards passing) completed a 28-yard pass to Anderson to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Jordan Cunningham, stretching the Hurricanes’ margin to 44-6.
Seaford’s 60-yard return for a score on the ensuing kickoff provided little consolation for the Clippers in the wake of the evenly played first half.