MERCERSBURG — It wasn’t a textbook win, but the James Buchanan Rocket football team will take it.

The Rockets scored four touchdowns in four different ways, and the defense was solid in an opening season 32-8 non-league win over the York Vo-Tech Spartans.

The victory was the first for rookie head coach David Miller, who was happy with the win, but said there’s still lots of room for improvement.

“We left a lot of points on the field, but it’s a win,” Miller said. “I was pleased with the outcome, but we’re obviously not at mid-season form. We made a lot of mistakes that we will have to get fixed before next Friday.”

It’s hard not to be happy with a 24-point victory, but JB could’ve easily inflicted the mercy rule (35-point difference) in this game.

The Rockets constantly moved the ball up and down the field (332 total yards), but they turned the ball over 4 times (2 fumbles, 2 interceptions), were flagged 6 times for 40 yards and had a 32-yard field goal by Alec Truett wiped off the scoreboard because of a penalty.

Good news though, when things were clicking, JB was on target.

Special teams got the Rockets on the scoreboard first in the opening quarter when Owen Stoner returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown. One series later QB Sebastian Wise, who passed for 198 yards, hooked up with Brady Bigler for a 69-yard scoring strike.

Running back Cormac Houpt extended JB’s lead to 21-0 in the second quarter when he capped off a 6-play, 46-yard drive with a 5-yard TD run. Houpt, who only played 3 1/2 games last season because of a knee injury, finished the game with 98 yards and 2 QB sacks.

The Rocket defense, which collected 7 sacks (led by Caleb Wise’s 2.5) in the game, increased the lead to 23-0 with 1 minute before halftime when Scott Seburn and Caleb Wise stuffed Spartan running back Michael Rodriguez Cortes in the end zone for a safety.

“The defense played really well,” Miller said. “With that 3-3 (defense) we can be aggressive and attack. The linemen occupied the gaps and we challenge our linebackers to be aggressive, which they were.”

JB put up 9 more points in the third quarter to finish out its scoring. Erik Pedersen booted a 22-yard field goal and Bigler stepped in front of an errant pass and returned in 61 yards for a touchdown.

“This was a nice first win for the players,” Miller said. “It only gets tougher from here on out.”

The Rockets travel to Big Spring next Friday, 7 p.m.

James Buchanan 32, York Vo-Tech 8
York Vo-Tech 0 0 0 8 – 8
James Buchanan 14 9 9 0 – 32
FIRST QUARTER
JB – Owen Stoner 72 punt return (Alec Truett kick), 6:32
JB – Brady Bigler 69 pass from Sebastian Wise (Truett kick), 4:07
SECOND QUARTER
JB – Cormac Houpt 5 run (Truett kick), 7:07
JB – Michael Rodriguez Cortes tackled in end zone for safety, :59
THIRD QUARTER
JB – Erik Pedersen 22 FG, 7:21
JB – Bigler 61 interception return (PAT blocked), 2:32
FOURTH QUARTER
YVT – Cado Israel 28 pass from Dazhaun Celony-Johnson (De’Kzeon Wyche run), 2:23
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – YVT 12; JB 13
Rushing – YVT 44-106; JB 22-134
Passing – YVT 8-2-21-188; JB 8-2-17-198
Penalties – YVT 8-55; JB 6-40
Turnovers – YVT 2; JB 4
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – YVT – Wyche 18-64, Celony-Johnson 10-57, Terence Romey 2-10, Daulton Fetrow 1-5, Rodriguez Cortes 1(-4), Ryan Gibson 12(-26); JB – Houpt 11-98, S.Wise 5-22, Dawson Lushbaugh 4-12, Caleb Wise 1-6, Sawyer Egolf 1(-4).
Passing – YVT – Gibson 3-11-1-66, Celony Johnson 5-10-1-122; JB – S.Wise 8-17-2-198; Egolf 0-1-0-0.
Receiving – YVT – Romey 6-130, Samuel Peters 1-30, Capo 1-28; JB – Bigler 3-91, Caden Stoner 3-45, O.Stoner 1-40, Grant Ellis 1-22.
Interceptions – YVT – Issace Morales, Esteban Rosado; JB – Bigler, Logan Miller.