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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