Central York’s Week 9 game against Archbishop Hoban wasn’t supposed to happen.
Well, not initially. To be fair, it’s an odd matchup on paper. The two schools sit five hours apart, and high school teams from Ohio and Pennsylvania facing off is more likely among teams along the states’ shared border. Out-of-state teams paying visits to York aren’t uncommon these days − the Rose Bowl Kickoff Classic has brought in teams from different states the past two years.
But Central York’s situation is special. It sought out Archbishop Hoban to fill a gap.
“It all came about because we had a Week 9 bye, the way that our league set it up,” Central York coach Gerry Yonchiuk said. “The last time we had a Week 9 bye, we were fortunate to pick up Reading. But we could not find an opponent. We tried for four months to find one.”
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Yonchiuk was apprehensive about a potential furlough so close to the postseason. The Panthers were already anticipating a bye week following the conclusion of the regular season. Two empty weeks in a three-week span doesn’t do any good when trying to keep a team fresh.