Bulldogs bend but don’t break in containing star Bearcats back

By Mike Drago Last updated Nov 8, 2025

Wilson's Chase Herb moves in for tackle on York's Shavane Anderson Jr. Friday. (Joe Mays photo)

2025 Berks football coverage presented by

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By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor

Wilson linebacker Ethan Harding took a long, wistful look back at Gurski Stadium Friday night, the playing surface now empty but for the thousands of tiny raindrops pelting the turf.

“We left it all on the field,” the senior said after playing his final home game, “no regrets. It felt good to play on this field all my life.”

Final
Wilson	28
York	14

Harding’s last memory of his home field will be a good one as he and his defensive teammates prevented Syracuse recruit Shavane Anderson Jr. from raining on their parade.

They effectively kept York High’s big tailback under wraps in winning their District 3 Class 6A quarterfinal 28-14 and advancing to play at top-seeded Central York next week.

Anderson Jr. finished with 247 rushing yards, a fat number by any account, but it came at a high cost: 40 carries, only one of which went for longer than 16 yards.

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (9-2) accomplished their goal, which was not to let the game-breaking Anderson Jr. dominate them or bring their season to a premature end.

“We kept saying: ‘Be patient, make him earn every yard he gets,’ ” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms.

The Bulldogs did that. They gang-tackled the 6-1, 200-pound speedster, cut off his outside lanes, and made sure not to let him get past the second level of their defense.

“All 11 hats to the ball,” said Harding, who had seven solo tackles, almost all of them on Anderson Jr.

He was taken down for losses three times; 15 of his carries resulted in gains of 3 yards or less.

“We were trying to stop him as fast as we could,” said hard-hitting senior safety Chase Herb, who had 10 tackles and forced a fumble. “We knew he was the real deal, so we started buckling down and tightening up our defense.”

Anderson Jr. ran free once all night, a dazzling 54-yard highlight-reel run early in the second quarter to the Wilson 15 that saw him cut back and slip through half-a-dozen tackles. Three plays later junior linebacker EJ Brownback took down quarterback Najee Still for a 12-yard loss, setting up fourth-down turnover on downs.

Wilson defenders close in on York tailback Shavane Anderson Jr. Friday at Gurski Stadium. (Joe Mays photo)

Anderson Jr. found the end zone once, on a 16-yard run with 5 ½ minutes left, but by that time the Bulldogs were up 28-8 and had the game well in hand.

“He is a stud,” said Dahms. “He’s quick, he plants, he turns (and goes). We said: ‘Don’t give him any big runs.’ Now, he had a couple 10- or 15-yard runs but for the most part they held him in check. They made some plays when we had to.”

As did the offense, senior quarterback Mason Young in particular. He threw three touchdown passes and saw a potential fourth dropped. He completed 10-of-15 passes for 174 yards and ended the night with 1,984 passing yards in 11 games.

“Mason played a much better game (tonight),” Dahms said. “He was throwing the ball on time, hit some receivers. I thought he managed the game tonight. He needs to do that.”

Young found Monty Greer for a 12-yard touchdown pass after Correll Akings opened the game with a 54-yard kickoff return to York High 35.

He found All-State tight end Michael Glover for a 21-yard score with 2:31 left in the second quarter, giving Wilson the lead for good at 14-8. Glover made a nice play at the goal line, reaching up over a defender to pull in the pass.

The Bulldogs struck quickly coming out of halftime, scoring on their first offensive snap when speedy Jaiden Carpenter got a step on a defender and pulled in a beautifully thrown deep ball by Young that covered 76 yards and made it 22-8.

Young needs 16 yards next week to become the eighth passer in program history to top 2,000 yards, joining Kerry Collins (1989), Chad Henne (2022), and Madyx Gruber (2024), among others. Zach Zweizig set the record of 2,326 in 2009.

Young’s 26 TD passes are second-most in program history, just behind the 30 Jake Templin threw in 2014.

“Mason’s had a good year for us so far,” said Dahms, “(let’s) hope it just keeps going.”

It was defense, though, that won the night. Wilson was third in the Lancaster-Lebanon League this season against the rush, allowing 103 yards per game. Anderson Jr. went well past that before halftime. For the night the Bearcats (6-4) nearly doubled the Bulldogs in time of possession and outgained them by almost 50 yards.

Didn’t matter. Anderson Jr. moved the chains but he didn’t break them. His team, which averaged nearly 40 points per game this year, was held to a season-low point total.

The Bearcats, coincidentally, were also held to 14 points in their regular season finale by Central York, Wilson’s next opponent.

“Our defense comes out every week in practice, pumped up, ready to go, and it just transfers into the game,” Herb said. “We tried our best and we came out with a good outcome.”

“He’s a Syracuse running back,” Harding said of Anderson Jr., “he’s legit. Eleven guys with no offers shut him down; we’ve gotta be happy.”

Bulldogs’ Michael Glover reaches for first-half touchdown catch. (Joe Mays photo)

	1	2	3	4	Final
York High	0	8	0	6	14
Wilson	7	7	14	0	28

Scoring summary

1	Wilson	M. Greer, 12 pass from Young (Oxenreider kick)	10:34
2	York	Matte, 19 pass from Still (Manning, pass from Still)	3:07
2	Wilson	Glover, 21 pass from Young (Oxenreider kick)	2:31
3	Wilson	Carpenter, 76 pass from Young (M. Greer run)	9:41
3	Wilson	Glover, 21 run (run failed)	0:37
4	York	Anderson, 16 run (pass failed)	5:28

Team statistics

	YORK HIGH	WILSON
First downs	18	14
Rushes-yards	46-257	27-127
Passing yards	90	174
Total yards	347	301
Passes	7-15-1	10-15-0
Fumbles-lost	3-1	0-0
Punts-average	3-31.0	6-37.0
Penalties-yards	4-40	10-94