Sunday, July 29, 2007
EFL Post Game Press Coverage July 29
R&B's Miller delivers victory
By MATT CORDOVA
TIMES SPORTSWRITER
Sunday, July 29, 2007
It took a long time for Ernie Miller to make up for a second-quarter miscue.
But that was the plan.
The Watertown Red and Black running back scored a touchdown, and gained 101 yards on 18 carries Saturday night during an Empire Football League game at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, as
Then, at game's end, he delivered a "thank you" message to his offensive linemen.
In addition to earning the team's first 100-yard rushing performance of the season, Miller also showed he knows a lot about one of life's important virtues — responsibility. He knows who to place it upon, and when to take it himself.
"It's something I should always do, because they do such a great job. I was 3 or 4 yards downfield before anyone was even touched me," Miller said. "I think I got caught in the backfield once."
But he also took responsibility for running the wrong play in the second quarter, which led to an interception and an
In the second half,
Two
Two fourth-down conversions, however, by quarterback Todd Kiechle sealed
"We introduced
Lester Cole caught a 31-yard touchdown, and Kiechle rushed 11 yards for a score to give the Red and Black (5-1 overall, 3-0 EFL) the early advantage. But three first half interceptions helped the Deacon Demons (2-1) fight back.
Dan Lariviere returned a pick 39 yards for a score with 19 seconds left in the second quarter. The play brought
"The interception for a touchdown was my fault. I ran the wrong play," he admitted. "I took off running and Kiechle threw it to me, but I wasn't there. At halftime I was upset with myself, and said I'd make it up. I think I did. I hope I did."
Special teams — mainly punter Mike Dumaw — also helped
In the second quarter, Dumaw threaded a pass between three defenders to Keith Jones for a 19-yard gain on a fake punt.
"We played the ball control game well," head coach George Ashcraft said. "It's what this offense is designed to do. I can't complain."
Sadly, injuries gave the Deacon Demons a break more than anything in the second half, as several of them were helped off the field by a trainer. The Deacon Demons' chances for a comeback weren't good, as they ran only eight plays for two yards after the break.
"They really pounded us down,"
"The coaches said 'can you guys put a drive together?' Kiechle just said OK," Miller said. "Even when they lined up in the gaps we were running in, our guys blew them up. After 13 minutes, their defense just got exhausted."
NOTES : DB Truth Napier scored for
The Eagles took a 14-0 halftime lead and beat the Trailblazers (0-3) in an EFL game at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback Ted Wallingford threw a pair of second-quarter touchdowns passes for
St. Lawrence Valley's lone touchdown came in the third quarter on a 52-yard pass from quarterback Joe Hutchison to Buddy Compeau. Compeau caught all nine of Hutchison's completions for 101 yards. Hutchison was 9-for-14 in the air with one interception.
Ricky Delaney led the Trailblazers defense with 13 tackles, while Cheyenne Dashnaw finished with nine tackles.
Copyright 2007. Watertown Daily Times, Inc.,
Eagles grab first win
STAFF REPORT
Ted Wallingford hit Louis Verdetto with a pair of second quarter touchdowns and Tim Pazienza ran for 80 yards and a score as the Scranton Eagles picked up their first win of the season, a 28-7 victory over the St. Lawrence Valley Trailblazers in a Empire Football League battle at
After a scoreless first quarter, the Wallingford-Verdetto combination struck 54 seconds into the second as they connected on a 30-yard scoring pass. The extra point was missed and the Eagles took a 6-0 lead.
With 3:24 left in the first half,
The Trailblazers scored on the first drive of the second half when Joseph Hutchinson found James Compeau on a 60-yard scoring strike to cut the Eagles lead in half.
The Eagles scored on the first play of the fourth quarter when Pazienza on a one yard run. Williams hauled in a
Phil Ross completed the scoring for the Eagles as he bolted over from the one-yard line as time expired.
Offensively,
On the defensive side, veteran George Romiti led the Eagles with 14 tackles and Nick Parlanti added nine.
The Eagles (1-2) hit the road for three consecutive weeks as they travel to Montreal next Saturday as they battle the Chateauguay Titans.
07/29/2007
STAFF REPORT
Ted Wallingford hit Louis Verdetto with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns and Tim Pazienza ran for 80 yards and a score as the
On the defensive side, veteran George Romiti led the Eagles with 14 tackles.
Ice Storm rolls over Lake City
— COLCHESTER,
Brad Ruderman tossed for three touchdown passes and the Ice Storm scored five times in the second quarter to knock off
The Stars drove the ball the length of the field and ate up a chunk of clock during their first possession in the first quarter, but came away empty handed.
On their second possession, Vermont marched to the Lake City 10-yard line and Ruderman hooked up with Austin Partain to give the Ice Storm a 7-0 lead.
The Stars, on their next play from scrimmage, fumbled the football deep in their own zone which set
Ruderman then found Rob Joy in the corner of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead "" just 23 seconds after their first touchdown.
After holding the Star to a three-and-out, the Ice Storm were at it again, this time on the ground. Jason Young took a toss from Ruderman and went 24 yards for the touchdown.
Late in the second quarter, Ruderman tossed his third touchdown pass of the day, and his second to Joy, from 10 yards out.
Less than a minute later, Kevin Fournier intercepted
Brandon St. John was a standout out defense for
The Stars were again hindered by turnovers, as they threw four interceptions and one fumble.
The Ice Storm move to 3-0 in the EFL season while
Scoring summary
Second quarter
V- Partain 10 pass from Ruderman (Kemp kick), 2:39.
V- Joy 2 pass from Ruderman (Kemp kick), 3:02.
V- Young 24 run (Kemp kick), 5:21.
V- Joy 10 pass from Ruderman (Kemp kick), 12:42.
V- Fournier 26 interception return (Kemp kick), 13:24.
Third quarter
LC- Gordon 21 pass from Bezio (DeCamp kick).
Interceptions
LC- St. John 2.
V- Gordon, Fournier, Howe, LaFleur.
Sacks
V- Randall.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
Zephyrs drop road game to Titans
Published on Sunday, July 29, 2007
"We had very limited personnel, but these guys stuck together,"
The Zephyrs (1-2) were already without seven defensive starters and lost two more at the border, along with five offensive starters. They were without 26 players overall. Ruggeri suited up to play defensive end and defensive coordinator Rodney Schur lined up on special teams.
Ken Shaffer passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns on a 16-for-38 night. He threw one interception along with passing touchdowns to both Evan DeGeorgio and Cedrick Pearlman. Shaffer also ran for a touchdown.
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Saturday, July 28, 2007
EFL Pre Game Press Coverage July 28
PREVIEW: EMPIRE FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Saturday, July 28, 2007
When, where: 7:30 p.m., today, Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds
Head coaches:
Records:
Last meeting:
Notes:
St. Lawrence Valley Trailblazers vs.
When, where: 7:30 p.m., today, Scranton Memorial Stadium,
Coaches: SLV, Mike Britton (offense), Jim Compeau (defense, special teams);
2007 records: St. Lawrence Valley (0-2);
Last meeting:
NOTES: The Trailblazers are looking to rebound after a disappointing 44-0 loss to
Copyright 2007. Watertown Daily Times, Inc.,
| |
| Eagles optimistic for matchup against St. Lawrence Valley BY MARK COONS The
|
07/28/2007
STAFF REPORT
The
The Eagles (0-2), who lost 49-0 to
"He had X-rays and an MRI on the shoulder and the doctor said he was OK to play," coach Mike Arcure said. "He's going to practice, but we're going to take it slow with him just to make sure he's all right."
The Eagles also added some defensive help this week as they signed lineman Dave Drake, a former standout at Lackawanna Trail.
Among the bright spots last week was the play of receiver Louis Verdetto and rookie kick returner Rob Solimini.
Verdetto, from Old Forge, caught five passes for 75 yards. On the season, Verdetto leads the team with 11 receptions for 137 yards.
Solimini, a Bishop O'Hara product, helped get the Eagles solid field position with returns of 35 and 25 yards.
, while a third, a 90-yarder that put the Eagles near the goal line, was nullified by a penalty. Solimini is averaging 29.9 yards on his nine kickoff returns this season.
"Rob is like a little spark plug. He's small and fast, the other team has a hard time finding him," Arcure said. "We're trying to find ways to get him the ball offensively. He's been a nice little surprise for us."
St. Lawrence Valley (0-2, 1-3 overall) looks to do much of their damage offensively through the air. Quarterback Dave Currier has passed for 345 yards with a pair of touchdowns this season while receiver Joe Hutchinson has hauled in a team-high 13 receptions for 149 yards and a score.
"They picked up some players from
Eagles' notes
Saturday is Big Brothers/Big Sisters Night, sponsored by the Eagles. A percentage of the night's gate receipts will be donated to that organization. ...The Eagles and Trailblazers have met only once, with the Eagles taking a 37-14 home decision in the ninth week of 2005.
Contact the writer:mcoons@timesshamrock.com
Lake City
By KEITH KANE
Staff Writer
—
A year ago, however, the Ice Storm joined the Empire Football League and quickly became a thorn in the Stars side.
Tonight,
The Stars travel to
"We had an excellent week of practice,"
"Last week did a lot for our confidence. This is the closest thing to a rivalry that we have in the EFL and we are awfully excited to go out there and play."
The Stars rebounded from a first week loss to
Matt Bezio threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns to lead
"My goal is to go in and have a balanced attack," Pat Keleher said. "I think we had that last week and had a pretty good offensive night. Again, if we give Brandon and Kyle (Nolan) an opportunity to run, they can run "" they are good backs."
Brad Ruderman finished with 309 yards on 23-of-38 passing and two touchdowns. Rob Joy (79 yards) and Austin Partain (73 yards) each had five catches in the game. Partain and Troy
Ruderman sliced up the Stars' secondary a season ago, and so far this season
"We have worked hard back there to straighten out our assignments," Pat Keleher said. "I am hoping we are more solid in knowing what we are doing and not blowing late leads. It wasn't like the
"(Pairtain) is tough, but he isn't there only guy. We are going to be very cognisant as to where he is and how they are going to use
"My concern is not really that we will be able to move the ball, but us being able to stop them and stop Ruderman."
Gordon has three touchdowns and 137 yards receiving so far this season on seven catches.
"We are hoping to get the running game going a little more," Pat Keleher said. "With a strong running game it gets the pressure off of Matt and opens the passing game up.
"Every minute that we have the ball then
"It's going to be a battle. They are a good team and there's no question we like to be the underdog. But I don't mind being the underdog."
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
Zephyrs ready for shoot out with Titans
By BILL CAIN, The Leader-Herald
Published on Saturday, July 28, 2007
The Amsterdam Zephyrs are set for a shootout at Chateaugay tonight. The Zephyrs are without a large portion of their defense, so the onus is on the offense to keep up with another strong offense.
"The pressure of this week is solely on the offense," coach Dom Ruggeri said. "It's going to be a shootout and we have to outscore them. Thank God we've got an offense like we've got."
Ken Shaffer leads the Zephyrs offense and Ruggeri said he believes his wide receivers can take advantage of slower defensive ends to provide him with open targets throughout the game.
"We're going to attack their secondary," Ruggeri said. "That's where they're slow. Their corners don't have the speed to stay with our receivers. Depending on what kind of coverage they play, that'll dictate somewhat what we do on offense, but we're going to open it up a little bit."
The Chateaugay defense has a large line, Ruggeri said, and they are well-coached and disciplined. The speed of the
"Our offense matches up well with their defense," Ruggeri said. "I think we have the edge with our speed. That could be our advantage, but I think their defensive line may be bigger than our offensive line, which could make it a wash."
The
The Zephyrs are also missing middle linebacker Greg Woodard and outside linebackers Ricky Fish and Penta Thomas.
In light of the missing personnel and the likely ways Chateaugay will attack the defense, Ruggeri said he will go with a 3-4 defense, manning up at the corners, in an effort to take away the short passing game.
"It's going to be a tall task for our defense," he said. "We've got young guys in place who can step in, but they don't have the experience. They have the talent and I have confidence they can get the job done. It's just going to be baptism under fire for some of them."
Ruggeri said he young players will have to remain disciplined in the secondary against an offense that will throw about 70 percent of the time. Any slip-ups will be costly, he said, because Chateaugay's receivers will find the open spots.
The Zephyrs enter tonight's game with a 1-1 record after dropping last week's sloppy game to the Vermont Ice Storm, 26-14. Ruggeri said he thinks is eating at his players a little bit.
If they can rally around the belief that they should still be undefeated, he thinks they may be able to not only perform well enough to win this game with missing personnel, but turn in a few good weeks in a row and head to
"Even though the guys are upset about blowing last week's game – they knew they were better than them – they're looking forward to winning this one and taking care of the next two," Ruggeri said. "The goal is to be 4-1 when we go up to
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Sunday, July 22, 2007
Ice Storm run past Amsterdam, 26-14
Ice Storm run past Amsterdam, 26-14
July 22, 2007
AMSTERDAM, N.Y. -- Brad Ruderman completed 23 of 38 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns as the Vermont Ice Storm defeated the Amsterdam Zephyrs, 26-14, in an Empire Football League game Saturday night.
Vermont (5-0 overall, 2-0 Empire) built a 14-0 halftime lead when Aaron Pyer returned a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown and Ruderman passed to Zack Howe, who lateralled to Austain Patron for the score. Ruderman then connected with Troy Canada for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 20-0 in the third quarter.
After two Amsteradam touchdowns, Vermont's Jason Young closed the scoring in the fourth with a 5-yard TD run.
Partain finished with five catches for 73 yards and Rob Joy had five receptions for 79 yards.
Kevin Fournier led the Vermont defense with seven tackles and two sacks. Chris Coppins and Pyer added two tackles apiece.
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EFL Post Game Press Coverage July 22
JACOB HANNAH /
Cole powers Red and Black
By MATT CORDOVA
TIMES SPORTSWRITER
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Two games into the Empire Football League regular season, Lester Cole is already making boisterous statements.
And they're not all coming from his mouth.
The second-year wide receiver hauled in three touchdowns and racked up 128 yards Saturday night as the Watertown Red and Black dismantled St. Lawrence Valley 44-0 in a game at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.
Cole's ability to read the Trailblazers' defensive alignments led directly to scoring plays of 31 and 44 yards in the first half. From there, he simply relied on his legs, and they get him to the ball pretty quickly.
"They were bringing the safeties up, bringing nine in the box waiting for us to run the ball," said Cole, who has scored five touchdowns in two victories, "and there's not a corner in the league that can cover me in one-on-one coverage. I just had to let them know that."
Cole said he draws much of his motivation by watching his defensive teammates and trying to match their big plays. They provided plenty of highlights to emulate.
Watertown (4-1 overall, 2-0 EFL) held St. Lawrence Valley to negative-9 yards rushing, while quarterback David Currier completed 15 of 33 pass attempts for 117 yards. But five of those completions were on the Trailblazers' final drive of the game, which ended at the
Truth Napier intercepted two passes for
St. Lawrence Valley (0-2) threw a few trick plays at
Not until late in the fourth did Currier and Co. generate a consistent attack. By then, clearly, it was too late. Joe Hutchison paced the Trailblazers with five catches for 32 yards.
"The offense was sputtering," Trailblazers co-head coach Jim Compeau said. "We need to get some first downs and get the defense a break. They can't stay on the field for that amount of time."
"We're molded as one now. It starts off with communicating. Everybody here is on the same level. We've really made a jump since last year," Harris said.
In Anthony Noel's absence, Ernie Miller (13 carries, 74 yards) carried a bulk of the rushing load for
"It was borderline anger playing against these guys," he said, "like controlled rage. The offensive line was awesome, and the way the defense keeps us on the field is phenomenal."
Stingy defensive play has been a staple for
"I've felt for the past couple years we should have (scored 40 points a game)," head coach George Ashcraft said. "Now it's happening. It's really because we have six great coaches for us doing a great job on both sides of the ball."
Leave it to Cole to loudly echo the coach's sentiments.
"It's a statement we want to stick to," he said. "We're going to put up as many points as possible, and not slow down for nobody."
Copyright 2007. Watertown Daily Times, Inc.,
STAFF REPORT
That's because not only did the Eagles get blown out at Minot Stadium, but promising quarterback Ted Wallingford left the game with a shoulder injury with 7:49 to play in the first half.
Bright spots for the Eagles were kickoff return specialist Robert Solomini. The Bishop O'Hara product had two returns of 55 yards, another for 35 and a fourth for 25 yards. Lou Berdetto made five catches for 72 yards.
Defensively, George Romiti had nine solo tackles and eight assists. Nick Parlanti had six solo tackles and six assists for the Eagles (0-2).
Zephyrs fall short against Ice Storm
By MIKE ZUMMO, The Leader-Herald
Published on Sunday, July 22, 2007
| |
| The Leader-Herald/Mike Zummo View additional photos and order prints online at cu.leaderherald.com |
The Zephyrs lost a chance for a second-quarter field goal and a bad snap led to the Vermont Ice Storm's first touchdown in a 26-14 Empire Football League victory over the Zephyrs Saturday at Lynch Field.
"We gave it to them," Zephyrs coach Dominic Ruggeri said.
Jason Majewski's high snap had already cost Alvaro Montes an opportunity to kick a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter, but it was a bad snap on a punt that did the most damage.
The snap got by Zephyrs punter Bryant Strozinsky and instead of falling on it, he picked it up and tried to punt the ball under duress. The ball hit the side of his foot and Vermont's Aaron Pyer grabbed the ball and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown giving the Ice Storm a 7-0 lead.
"If you make mistakes against good teams, it's going to bite you in the end," Ruggeri said. "We were sloppy."
Then things got worse as the Ice Storm (2-0) broke the Zephyrs' back at halftime. Quarterback Brad Ruderman hit Zach Howe on a first-and-15 and as the defense closed in on him, Howe lateraled the ball to Austin Partain who took it to the end zone for a 14-0
"It's like they fell asleep in the first half and they didn't play until the second half," Ruggeri said. "Take away the hook and ladder with one second to go and you take away the bad snap on the punt, we win the game."
The Zephyrs (1-1) were in position to stop the Ice Storm as the defense held on a third-and-inches play, but an offsides penalty on
"We sure didn't help ourselves," Ruggeri said. "We really hurt ourselves throughout the game. Stupid penalties keeping drives alive again. Giving them other opportunities to score and they were a good team by capitalizing."
The Zephyrs finally got themselves going in the second half, but not after giving up a score on
Ruderman exploited the Zephyrs' defense in the middle of the field and hit Troy Canada for a 15-yard touchdown pass and a bad snap on the extra point gave Vermont a 20-0 lead.
"These guys are a very good football team," Ruggeri said. "They're tough all the way across the line. They've got a good quarterback, a good secondary and I knew it was going to be tough."
The Zephyrs responded with a 64-yard, eight-play drive that ended in a touchdown.
Shaffer connected with Evan DeGeorgio on a crucial fourth-and-two, and as he was falling out of bounds on second-and-goal, he hit Cedrick Pearman for a two-yard touchdown pass cutting the
"We didn't change anything," Ruggeri said. "We came out in the second half. They finally woke up and decided they wanted to play. We were flat in the first half. That's what I was afraid of. I knew if we made any kind of mistakes and fell behind, we were going to be in a big hole."
After holding the Ice Storm scoreless on the next drive, the offense engineered a 10-play drive that ended with Shaffer's second touchdown pass to Pearman — an 18-yard screen pass along the left sideline — that cut the Vermont lead to six points, 20-14.
But mistakes bit the Zephyrs on their next offensive drive as they attempted to take the lead. Eric Johnson caught what would have been a first down on a second-and-11, but was whistled for offensive pass interference costing
The Zephyrs got the ball to start the game and marched all the way to the Ice Storm's 3 yard-line before the drive stalled on an incomplete pass.
"I thought the offense in the second half started to exert themselves and play like they really could play," Ruggeri said. "In the first half, we were stagnant. You can't get inside the 10 and not score. You can't give opportunities away."
Second Quarter
V — Pyer 15 punt return (Beaulieu kick)
V — Ruderman 23 pass to Howe lateral to Partain (Beaulieu kick)
Third Quarter
V — Ruderman 15 pass to
A — Shaffer 2 pass to Pearman (Montes kick)
Fourth Quarter
A — Shaffer 18 pass to Pearman (Montes kick)
V — Young 3 run (pass failed)
Storm topples Zephyrs
By MIKE COLLAR
Recorder Sports Staff
Jason Young scored on a three yard run with 1:48 left in the game to put icing on the cake and give the Vermont Ice Storm a 26-14 victory over the Amsterdam Zephyrs in Empire Football League play at
"We gave it (win) to them. We came out and played in the second half. We were very, very flat in the first half. These guys (
Both teams had opportunities to produce scores early but walked away empty.
The Zephyrs' Alvaro Montes attempted a 41 yard field goal with 7:48 left in the first quarter and a bad snap put an end to that.
Eugene Maye picked off an Ice Storm pass and gave the Zephyrs first and 10 at the 16. Eventually, the Zephyrs were forced to punt. New punter Bryant Strozinsky tried to handle a bad snap from center. He got away a short kick. Aaron Pyer scooped up the loose ball and rambled 14 yards for a touchdown with 2:56 showing on the board and the Ice Storm went up, 7-0.
The Zephyrs failed to move the ball and
The Zephyrs helped with two offsides penalties.
Ruderman hit
"At halftime, I was pretty angry. If you make mistakes against a good team, it will bite you. We hurt ourselves giving them opportunities," said Ruggeri.
It didn't take long for the Ice Storm to do more damage. Partain returned the opening kickoff 29 yards to the 49. Again, Ruderman went to work in the air and completed four passes including a 15 yard scoring aerial to Rob Joy who caught the ball in the middle of the end zone. The Ice Storm had a 20-0 advantage.
The Zephyrs finally reached the scoreboard. Quarterback Ken Schaefer hit Cedric Pearman for 25 yards, and his favorite receiver Evan DeGeorgio twice for 10 and 12 yards.
Schaefer connected with Pearman on a short two yard touchdown pass with 5:49 left and the Zephyrs cut the deficit to 20=7. On the play, Schaefer was scrambling to his left and going out of bounds when he spotted Pearman.
The Zephyrs got back into the game when they took possession on the 20 after a missed field goal by
Schaefer hit Pearman for 17 yards and Josh Newborn for 11 and 14 yards. The culmination was an 18 yard touchdown pass to Pearman with 9:12 left in the game and the score read Ice Storm 20-14.
The Ice Storm put the game away when Young scored.
"We're going up to
The Zephyrs saw their EFL record even at 1-1 while the Ice Storm are 2-0.
Lake City
By KEITH KANE
Staff Writer
—
The fourth quarter, however, almost proved to be a nightmare.
Chateauguay scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, but Lake City was able to hold on for a 35-31 victory over the Titans at Melissa L. Penfield Park on Saturday.
"At the end of the game our youth really showed and we almost buckled under the pressure," Stars head coach Pat Keleher said. "The mistakes we were making were not due to lack of skill, they were mental mistakes. We were blowing coverages and sometimes (we) didn't know our assignments.
"The biggest thing at the end of the game was our mental mistakes."
After
The Titans took the lead back, however, at the end of the quarter when quarterback Zan Symonds got away from a couple of tacklers and found Treldon James open for a 46-yard touchdown pass.
It was all Stars in the second and third quarters.
Matt Bezio connected on a trio of touchdown passes — two coming in the third quarter — as the Stars took a 28-10 advantage.
Bezio first found Matt St. Clair on a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter for a 14-10 lead.
The duo liked it so much that they decided to do it again to start the third quarter, this one of the 35-yard variety.
Bezio's third touchdown pass was to Heath Geiser, who caught a pass on an out route, managed to keep himself in bounds and took it the distance.
"I am very happy that we won," Pat Keleher said. "We played so much better as a team tonight then we did against
"
"We ran the ball a lot better tonight, we did just enough to keep the defense honest and that really helped our passing game."
Kevin Wyeth took over for the Titans at quarterback in the fourth quarter, and thanks to a recovery on a touched ball on a punt, got
The Stars, however, quickly responded as Bezio hooked up with Chris Verkey for a 47-yard pass down to the four. Brandon Keleher took it the rest of the way on the next play for his second touchdown of the game.
Just 52 seconds later, a trick play by the Titans caught
The
Instead of going for two and getting the game within a field goal, the Titans decided to kick the extra point and were still down by four.
Bezio finished 11-for-23 for 232 yards and three touchdowns. St. Clair hauled in five passes for 74 yards and a pair of scores while Geiser pulled in three catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Brandon Keleher rushed for a game-high 62 yards for
Symonds led Chateaugay with 125 yards through the air on 7-of-13 passing and a touchdown. Wyeth came in to connect on 6-of-12 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.
James caught five passes for 153 yard and two touchdowns while Joseph pulled in six catches for 121 yard and a score.
Denis Houle paced the Titans' rushing attack with 45 yards.
"We did a lot of good things tonight," Pat Keleher said. "We just need to polish up our mental mistakes and get some things squared away in the secondary and I think we will be able to play with anyone.
"Now we'll just get back to work for
The Stars will head to
—
Lake City 35,
Scoring summary
First quarter
C- 28 FG by Blevings, 8:11.
LC- B. Keleher 1 run (Montanaro kick), 12:31.
C- James 46 pass from Symonds (Blevings kick), 14:32.
Second quarter
LC- M. St. Clair 6 pass from Bezio (Montanaro kick), 13:58.
Third quarter
LC- M. St. Clair 35 pass from Bezio (Montanaro kick), 3:05.
LC- Geiser 23 pass from Bezio (Montanaro kick), 12:02.
Fourth quarter
C- Joseph 8 pass from Wyeth (Blevings kick), 8:46.
LC- B. Keleher 4 yard (Montanaro kick), 10:00.
C- James 60 pass from Kennedy (Blevings kick), 10:52.
C- Blevings 1 run (Blevings kick), 13:39.
Individual statistics
Rushing
C- Houle 13-45; Blevings 4-11, TD; Symonds 4-22; Dottin 4-13. Totals: 25-91, TD.
LC- B. Keleher 16-62, 2 TD; Ky. Nolan 4-14; Geiser 5-49; Bezio 2-13; M. St. Clair 1-2. Totals: 28-140, 2 TD.
Passing
C- Symonds 7-13-0-125, TD; Wyeth 6-12-0-105, TD; Kennedy 1-1-0-60, TD. Totals: 14-26-0-290, 3 TD.
LC- Bezio 11-23-0-237, 3 TD. Sacks: 1-(-5). Totals: 11-23-0-232, 3 TD.
Receiving
C- James 5-153, 2 TD; Joseph 6-121, TD; Leduc 1-(-2); Houle 2-18. Totals: 14-290, 3 TD.
LC- Geiser 3-72, TD; M. St. Clair 5-74, 2 TD; B. Keleher 1-26; K. Lamoy 1-18; Verkey 1-47. Totals: 11-237, 3 TD.
Sacks
C- Abraham.
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Saturday, July 21, 2007
EFL Pre Game Press Coverage July 21
St. Lawrence Valley Trailblazers vs. Watertown Red and Black
When, where: 7:30 p.m. today, Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, Watertown.
Coaches: SLV, Offense, Mike Britton; Defense, special teams, Jim Compeau; Watertown, George Ashcraft.
2007 records: St. Lawrence Valley (0-1); Watertown (1-0).
Last meeting: Watertown won 34-6 on July 29, 2006.
POTSDAM — The last time a semiprofessional football team from St. Lawrence County defeated the Watertown Red and Black was nearly 34 years ago.
When Canton's Joe Jubinville hears that he quarterbacked the Massena Warriors to a 20-2 win over Watertown on Aug. 25, 1973, one moment resonates in his mind with good reason.
"I remember throwing a touchdown pass to Johnny Morgan in that game," Jubinville said. "I remember it only because he reminds me every time I see him."
The glory days of the Massena franchise still exist in the anecdotes told by Jubinville, former Warriors head coach Tim Long, and many others affiliated with the team. Most of the community lived close to Massena's home turf, which was Alcoa Field. For matchups against Watertown, the raucous crowd escalated to almost 5,000 people.
"It was a really good rivalry and a really big draw back then," Jubinville said. "This was back before football was on (television) almost every night."
The Massena faithful weren't disappointed on that particular Saturday night in August. The Warriors scored their other two touchdowns on interception returns from Malone's Ed Boyea and George Hyde of Adams. The Red and Black mustered their only points on a blocked punt that was covered up in the end zone.
"That night, I knew we just didn't have a lot of things going for us," said Mike Britton, a former Watertown running back and current co-coach of the St. Lawrence Valley Trail Blazers, who play at Watertown tonight. "We knew we were running a version of the run-n-shoot offense, but it was more oriented to the run. ... We thought we were prepared for them. It was a big surprise for us."
Long said the Warriors were able to attract players from as far away as Amsterdam and Saranac Lake to play in the weekend games. After each game between Massena and Watertown, they shared food and drinks at their respective Italian-American Clubs.
But what former red and Black defensive end Steve Fisher vividly recalled was the volatile atmosphere at Massena.
"The fans were even hostile to our wives, sometimes even spitting on them," said Fisher, who is entering his 41st year as the head football coach at General Brown. "You could talk in a normal tone of voice on the field, but you couldn't hear yourself think in the stands," Long said.
Watertown was in the early stages of bringing the organization back to prominence during the 1970s. They returned to competitive action in 1969 after a nine-year hiatus. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they ceased operations following their 18th season in 1975.
The next St. Lawrence County franchise to arrive would be the Trailblazers in 2002. They've been unable to record a victory against the Red and Black in their six years of existence. Britton, who is Trailblazers' offensive head coach, isn't ready to designate the matchup as a true rivalry.
"Usually in rivalries, the teams play each other equally, with a lot of intensity, and I don't have that feeling at this time," Britton said. "We've had it happen in some of the games recently, but we haven't pulled off a win yet."
If St. Lawrence Valley is unable to upset Watertown today, they'll have another chance at Sandstoner Park in Potsdam next month. Coincidentally, the game will by played on Aug. 25 — exactly 34 years since the last victory.
"It's always one of the best games because Watertown always brings it," Trailblazers quarterback Dave Currier said. "It would be big to get a win against those guys because our momentum would rise."
But what former red and Black defensive end Steve Fisher vividly recalled was the volatile atmosphere at Massena.
"The fans were even hostile to our wives, sometimes even spitting on them," said Fisher, who is entering his 41st year as the head football coach at General Brown. "You could talk in a normal tone of voice on the field, but you couldn't hear yourself think in the stands," Long said.
Watertown was in the early stages of bringing the organization back to prominence during the 1970s.
They returned to competitive action in 1969 after a nine-year hiatus. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they ceased operations following their 18th season in 1975.
The next St. Lawrence County franchise to arrive would be the Trailblazers in 2002. They've been unable to record a victory against the Red and Black in their six years of existence.
Britton, who is Trailblazers' offensive head coach, isn't ready to designate the matchup as a true rivalry.
"Usually in rivalries, the teams play each other equally, with a lot of intensity, and I don't have that feeling at this time," Britton said. "We've had it happen in some of the games recently, but we haven't pulled off a win yet."
If St. Lawrence Valley is unable to upset Watertown today, they'll have another chance at Sandstoner Park in Potsdam next month. Coincidentally, the game will by played on Aug. 25 — exactly 34 years since the last victory.
"It's always one of the best games because Watertown always brings it," Trailblazers quarterback Dave Currier said. "It would be big to get a win against those guys because our momentum would rise."
Lake City in home opener tonight
By KEITH KANE
Staff Writer
— PLATTSBURGH "" It didn't exactly start out the way the Lake City Stars were hoping.
The Stars dropped their first Empire Football League contest of the season, 38-21, to Amsterdam last Saturday, in a game plagued by Lake City turnovers.
Tonight, the Stars have a chance to turn it all around.
The Chateauguay Titans come to town for a 7:30 p.m. contest and the home opener for Lake City.
"The guys are really excited to be playing at home," head coach Pat Keleher said. "We had a great practice on Thursday and we are hoping to get a really good crowd. We hope that people can come down and check us out "" I think they'll be surprised and they should be in for a good game.
"The team knows that they are on the road the next two weeks, so they are looking to play well and to get a W."
A week ago, the Stars hurt themselves with four turnovers, which allowed Amsterdam to score three times and eliminated a score of their own.
The young secondary was also without starting safety Kevin Fessette "" who will be back tonight "" and gave up a lot of yards through the air, including three touchdowns.
"Having Fessette back, as well as Kellen Nolan, in the secondary is only going to help us," Keleher said. "We also have Evan Murphy returning, which gives us a little more depth at the cornerback position.
"I think that we are a better team with Fessette back in the secondary. His leadership and ability alone makes us better. Getting the other guys back helps provide depth and experience, which makes us a better team."
Chateauguay put a scare into the Vermont Ice Storm last Saturday, as the Titans took a 13-0 lead into halftime as they went mostly through the air.
Vermont, however, rolled off 21 unanswered points to pull past Chateauguay for the 21-13 victory.
"They are a throw-oriented team," Keleher said of the Titans. "Against Vermont they threw the ball 30-plus times and ran 13, which is about a 3-1 pass-to-run ratio.
"They have some decent speed at the receiver position and the quarterback looks pretty good and experienced in the pocket, but it's hard to judge a team on film."
The Ice Storm had a difficult time completing passes down the field against Chateauguay, but in the second half had a much better time completing shorter passes to the outside.
"We worked hard in our running game this week "" working to get a push up front," Keleher said. "We have three good running backs, so we need to try to get some balance to our offense.
"If we are forced to throw the ball a lot, or we cannot run, then we are in for a long night. When we do throw, we will try to keep the ball underneath and to the outside of the field."
The Stars managed only 66 yards on the ground against the Zephyrs. They did have success, however, through the air as Matt Bezio connected on 13-of-23 for 170 yards and three scores.
The offensive line should receive a shot in the arm, as Ray Nelson has been cleared to play and Keith Bushey has returned to the team.
"Getting Bushey and Nelson back is going to be a big help to the offensive line," Keleher said. "Having them makes us seven deep and can hopefully keep the offensive line fresh."
Aside from limiting the turnovers tonight, Keleher believes the key will be being more solid in the secondary and get a little more pressure on their quarterback.
"I think the guys are looking forward to another game," Keleher said. "They realize that they made some mistakes against Amsterdam. They are looking for another crack and hopefully eliminating those mistakes.
"I am excited for tonight "" we look to be very evenly matched. It should be a good game."
kkane@pressrepublican.com
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
| Zephyrs to host Ice Storm By MIKE ZUMMO, The Leader-Herald Published on Saturday, July 21, 2007
AMSTERDAM — The Amsterdam Zephyrs are gaining momentum after last week's win over the Lake City Stars in their 2007 Empire Football League opener. |
Key early game for Zephyrs
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