Empire Football League

Out of time: Trailblazers come up short

CLOSE, BUT NOT QUITE: St. Lawrence Valley moves to 3-yard line, but Eagles prevent TD for win

 

By MAX DELSIGNORE

TIMES SPORTSWRITER

Sunday, August 19, 2007

POTSDAM — One more play and 3 yards separated the St. Lawrence Valley Trailblazers from ending a four-year winless drought.

Quarterback Christopher Tom threw an incomplete pass as time expired, and the Trailblazers were six points away from forcing overtime on Saturday night.

Scranton narrowly dodged a major comeback and escaped Sandstoner Park with a 25-19 victory in an Empire Football League matchup.

"I hope that we gained a little bit of respect," said Trailblazers linebacker Cheyenne Dashnaw. "There have been some games this year where we've been wiped off the field. We just haven't quit as a unit."

As a seasoned veteran, Dashnaw did all he could to keep aspirations for victory alive for St. Lawrence Valley (0-6). But the Eagles struck first, however, on a pair of Ted Wallingford touchdown passes to Louis Verdetto to build an early 12-point cushion in the first half.

"We just wanted to come out and score points quick(ly)," Scranton head coach Michael Arcure said. "I've been trying to get us to run the ball more lately, so I wanted to keep them off guard and build our confidence."

While the Trailblazers' offense continued with its weekly struggles, Dashnaw ignited the squad with an unexpected scamper. The veteran linebacker intercepted Wallingford and dashed 80 yards for a touchdown before halftime.

"It was unbelievable," Dashnaw said. "I knew it was going to (the receiver) because they were switching sides on their plays. I kind of baited him and cut off the out pattern. It was pretty much open field from there."

But the third quarter resembled a scene similar to a football nightmare to which St. Lawrence Valley has been too familiar. The Trailblazers lost two fumbles, and Tom tossed his second interception, allowing the Eagles to add 13 more points. St. Lawrence Valley finished with five turnovers.

"As a defense, we kept telling ourselves that we were handling them," Dashnaw said. "At the goal lines, we were stuffing them. For a while, it looked like it was going to be another one of those games. But every guy just kept right in it."

Inspiring play from St. Lawrence Valley's defense motivated a bruised and beaten Joe Hutchinson, as well as the rest of the offense. The six-year starting wide receiver snagged nearly every ball thrown his way. He hauled in a 15-yard touchdown reception to trim into the deficit midway through the fourth quarter.

"Throughout the rest of the game, I was only getting short passes," said Hutchinson, who finished with seven receptions and 146 yards. "They weren't really testing me out on long (routes) because my ribs have been sore. I told the quarterback I wanted to go deep, throw it up, and I didn't care where it was. I told him I'd do the rest."

Danny Staton hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass from Tom to get the Trailblazers within a touchdown. Then, Dashnaw's 15th tackle of the game forced Scranton (2-4) to punt with over a minute remaining. Ricky Delaney blocked the Eagles' punt attempt, and despite two pass-interference penalties — and being 1 yard away from the end zone at one point — St. Lawrence Valley couldn't notch one final score.

"This meant a lot to us, especially with Watertown coming in next week," Hutchinson said. "We needed to show that we still had the heart that we've always had. Unfortunately, the season hasn't been as great as we hoped it would've been. But we're trying to turn things around here."

WATERTOWN 20, OTTAWA 14

Todd Kiechle completed six passes for 135 yards, including one touchdown, to help fuel the Red and Black to a victory over the Deacon Demons at Nepean Sportsplex in Ottawa.

Kiechle also rushed 13 times for 114 yards, including a 55-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Anthony Noel started the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and Lamont Lane completed Kiechle's 43-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter as the Red and Black led 20-7 at halftime.

Lane finished with two receptions for 63 yards, while Noel caught two passes for 33. Ernie Miller rushed 12 times for 53 yards.

Mike Dumaw, Kyle Roshia, Brian Harris and Greg Roberson led the defense for Watertown (5-1), coach George Ashcraft said.

The Deacon Demons (2-3-1) scored on a 7-yard run in the second quarter and a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Copyright 2007. Watertown Daily Times, Inc., Watertown, NY. All rights reserved.

 

08/19/2007

Wallingford-to-Verdetto spells victory for Eagles

STAFF REPORT

 

Ted Wallingford hooked up with Louis Verdetto on a pair of touchdown passes and the Scranton Eagles defense made a goal-line stand in the final minute to preserve a 25-19 victory over the St. Lawrence Valley Trailblazers in a Empire Football League game at Sandstoner Park in Potsdam, N.Y.

Five minutes into the game, Wallingford found Verdetto on a 27-yard scoring strike to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead.

With three minutes to go in the second quarter, Wallingford found Verdetto with a 17-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a two-touchdown advantage.

St. Lawrence Valley struck back with 23 seconds to go in the first half when Cheyenne Dashnaw scored on a 81-yard interception return. With the extra point, the Trailblazers pulled to within 12-7 at the half.

The Eagles scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter when Phil Ross scored on a 17-yard scoring run and Gary Visnofsky bolted in from the one-yard line. The extra point gave the Eagles a 25-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With 9:29 left in the game, Chris Tom found Joe Hutchinson with a 15-yard touchdown reception. With a missed extra point, the Eagles held a 25-12 advantage.

Danny Staton pull the Trailblazers to within six points with a 10-yard touchdown catch from Tom with 1:47 to go.

With less than a minute left, the Trailblazers got the ball back and moved to the Eagles 1. However, the Eagles defense was able to stop St. Lawrence Valley on downs to preserve the win.

Wallingford was 11-for-18 for 178 yards and a pair of scores. Cory Champi had four receptions for 62 yards, while Verdetto had four catches for 52 yards and a pair of scores. Ross led the Eagles running attack with 54 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Eagles were led by veteran George Romiti. Playing in his 146th consecutive game, Romiti had 10 tackles while Nick Parlanti and Jim Shaffer had eight tackles each. Chris Clancey had a key sack and fumble recovery late in the third quarter to stop a Trailblazers drive.

The Eagles (2-4) return home Aug. 25 when they battle the Ottawa Deacon Demons at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

Contact the writer:sports@timesshamrock.com

 

©The Times-Tribune 2007

 

Amsterdam avenges loss to Titans

By MIKE ZUMMO, The Leader-Herald

Published on Sunday, August 19, 2007

The Leader-Herald/Bill Cain Amsterdam quarterback Ken Shaffer (12) is chased out of bounds on a scramble by Chateauguay's Sabastien Archambault (5) and Kevin Lloyd (7) in Saturday's Empire Football League game at Lynch Middle School in Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM — Elijah White knew the game was about to be over.

The Amster-dam Zephyrs had just tied Saturday night's Empire Football League game against the Chateauguay Titans and Jared Brown recovered a fumble on a kickoff return, giving the Zephyrs with a short field.

White gained 30 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left in the game, giving the Zephyrs a 35-28 victory.

"The line opened up some good holes for me," White said. "All I had to do is pursue it and take it to the house."

White was filling in at tailback for the injured Jorge Rodriguez, who suffered a concussion during last week's win over the Scranton Eagles and ran through and over the Titans, gaining 162 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

"He's just turning into one heck of a running back," Amsterdam coach Dominic Ruggeri said.

The Zephyrs' special teams weren't so special early in the game as the kick return unit let two balls turn over to the Titans.

"One minute they're playing great, another minute, they can't do anything right," Ruggeri said. "I had to put faith in the offense the way we were running the ball. Kenny was playing a great game on offense and it was just a matter of whether we were going to turn the ball over."

However, it was the Cheateauguay kickoff return squad that opened the door for the Zephyrs' victory.

Phillippe Leduc fumbled the kickoff after Amsterdam tied the game, giving the Zephyrs' a first down on the Titans' 24-yard line.

"That's what really brought us the win. We just had to get that ball back, pick it up and take it to the house," White said.

White gained six yards on the first play and gave the Zephyrs' a first-and-goal on the Titans' 6-yard line. After Ken Shaffer lost six yards on a sack, White plunged 13 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

"I just kept going hard," White said.

The game, however, wasn't over just yet. The Titans recovered the onside kick and after two incompletions, the Zephyrs had the victory.

"Now we're rolling," Ruggeri said. "We knew we made some mistakes. We'll just have to make some adjustments. These guys are ready for Vermont and we know we can beat Vermont."

The Zephyrs (4-2) took sole possession of second place and head to Colchester, Vt., next week to face the first-place Ice Storm, who beat the Zephyrs 26-14 at Lynch Field on July 21.

"This was real big," White said. "We have to get ready for them in practice this week and take it to them."

Elliot Swint, who returned to Amsterdam for Saturday's game, put a jolt into the Zephyrs as he opened the game with a 51-yard kickoff return to the Titans' 30, which set up Shaffer's 14-yard touchdown pass to Cedrick Pearman.

"He was our return man last year and he finally moved back to the area," Ruggeri said.

A 22-yard pass from Shaffer to Pearman on the Zephyrs' next drive helped set up White's first touchdown of the game, a 1-yard plunge to give Amsterdam a 14-0 lead.

Then, the Titans started chipping back.

Chateauguay quarterback Kevin Wyeth hit Akked Moore with a 22-yard touchdown pass and Denis Houle's 13-yard run set up Wyeth's 6-yard touchdown pass to Moore that cut the Zephyrs' lead in half, 14-7.

After Amsterdam's special teams turned the ball over, Wyeth opened the second quarter with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Moore.

"Once again, special teams hurt us," Ruggeri said. "We gave them two easy scores when they only had to go 10 yards or 30 yards. You can't do that."

The Zephyrs' special teams, however, preserved the lead as Raphael Nicosia blocked Kevin Lloyd's extra point attempt and Amsterdam clung to a 14-13 with 14:24 to go in the second quarter.

"I give Chateauguay credit," Ruggeri said. "They played hard all four quarters. We got up 14-0 real quick and we just let up. I kept warning them. You can't let these guys back in the game."

White widened the lead with 2:54 left in the second quarter as he broke through the offensive line and sprinted 40 yards for his second touchdown, giving Amsterdam a 21-13 lead at the half.

The Titans opened the second half with a 10-play, 67-yard drive that culminated in Wyeth's 6-yard touchdown pass to Sean Kennedy. Wyeth injured his wrist on the play and Zan Symonds entered the game to hit Moore with the 2-point pass tying the game at 21-21.

"We knew their quarterback was good and we knew that he could throw the ball and had to make some changes when we had to, but the defense just played great when it had to," Ruggeri said. "We had some missed tackles and blew some assignments."

The Titans took the lead with 8:34 left in the game when Symonds hit James Treldon with a 31-yard touchdown pass, but the Zephyrs tied the game with 2:10 left on White's 23-yard touchdown run.

Amsterdam 35, Chateauguay 28
Chateauguay 7 6 8 7 — 28
Amsterdam 14 7 0 14 — 35

First Quarter
A — Shaffer 14 pass to Pearman (Montes kick), 12:40
A — White 1 run (Montes kick), 3:54
C — Wyeth 6 pass to Moore (Lloyd kick)
Second Quarter
C — Wyeth 13 pass to Moore (kick blocked), 14:24
A — White 40 run (Montes kick), 2:54
Third Quarter
C — Wyeth 6 pass Kennedy (Symonds pass to Moore), 8:31
Fourth Quarter
C — Symonds 31 pass to Treldon (Lloyd kick), 8:34
A — White 23 run (Montes kick), 2:02
A — White 13 run (Montes kick), :22

Zephyrs take over second place

Staff report

Elijah White rushed for three touchdowns to lead the Amsterdam Zephyrs to a 35-28 victory over the Chateauguay Titans in an Empire Football League game, Saturday night at Lynch Middle School.

White scored on runs of 42, 32 and 23 yards to help the Zephyrs improve to 4-2 and more important, take over sole possession of second place in the EFL East behind first-place Vermont. Amsterdam, winners of three straight games, travels to Vermont next Saturday.

Chateauguay won the first meeting between the two teams, 34-18 last month.

"We did what we had to do," said Amsterdam head coach Dom Ruggeri. "We got up early, but we kept them in the game. We have to start learning how to put teams away."

Amsterdam jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter advantage and led 21-13 at halftime. The Zephyrs led 28-21 after three quarters.

Amsterdam quarterback Ken Schaefer contributed to the win, throwing two touchdowns — one a 42-yard strike to Cedruck Pearman and a seven-yard scoring pass to Evan DeGeorgio.

"It shouldn't have been this close," Ruggeri said. "We were inside their 20 four times and we shot ourselves in the foot."

Gametime next Saturday night is 7:30 p.m.

 

Lake City falls to Vermont

By KEITH KANE
Staff Writer

— PLATTSBURGH "" The powerful Vermont Ice Storm offense came in to Saturday's game against the Lake City Stars averaging 25 points per game.
The Stars' defense held tough against the Ice Storm, surrendering only 10 points. But it was enough for Vermont to capture a 10-0 victory 10-0 in Empire Football League play at Melissa L. Penfield Park.
"I thought we played pretty well in certain aspects," Lake City head coach Pat Keleher said. "We held a team averaging 25 points-per-game to just 10.
"We are still coming along nicely."
The Stars' offense learned early in the week that quarterback Matt Bezio would no longer be with the team due to a job offer out of state.
Cornerback Kellen Nolan was thrust into the offensive huddle for just three practices before Saturday's game, but fared pretty well under the circumstances.
"We had three nights to get Kellen ready," Keleher said. "Those are tough circumstances he faced. He has been mostly with the defense all season long and was thrown into it.
"There were some nerves and uncertainty on his part, but with a few more practices he will be fine."
Vermont took the opening kickoff from their own 44-yard line down to the Stars' six. Lake City's defense tightened, however, and forced the Ice Storm to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Evan Hicks, which gave Vermont a 3-0 lead.
The game would stay that way until midway through the second quarter when Brad Ruderman found Matt Bombardier in the right side of the end-zone for a 7-yard touchdown, and a 10-0 lead.
The Stars offense struggled during the first half, as they would only record one first down on Kellen Nolan's 14-yard scramble on their third possession of the game.
In the second half, however, the offense began to move the ball as they got into Vermont territory three different times during the half.
On their final possession of the game, Lake City drove to the Ice Storm's nine-yard line before a holding penalty sent them back to the 26.
A pair of incompletions set the Stars up with a 4th-and-goal from the 27.
Needing two scores for the tie, Lake City went with a 44-yard field goal try by Ryan DeCamp that fell short.
Vermont picked up a first down on their next possession and ran out the clock.
"Our offensive line played the best that they have played all year long," Keleher said. "Kellen had time to throw and I thought we ran the ball well at times.
"The defense continues to play well. I think the four up front and our linebackers are playing very well; we do well against the run. Our defensive backs aren't bad and they don't get beat that often, it's just that we lose the height battle and receivers out-jump us."
Ruderman finished with 242 yards through the air on 19-of-40 passing with a touchdown and was intercepted by the Stars' Evan Murphy.
Rob Joy pulled in six passes for 67 yards while Bombardier added 61 yards on two catches and a score.
Jason Young paced the rushing attack with 39 yards on 13 carries. The Stars' defense held the Ice Storm to just 46 yards rushing.
Nolan completed six passes for a net of 65 yards. Matt St. Clair hauled in five catches for 70 yards.
The Lake City rushing attack came alive against Vermont with 102 yards rushing on 27 carries. Brandon Keleher led the way with 52 yards while Heath Geiser added 28.
"I think that our defense is going to keep us in about every game that we play," Keleher said. "If our offense can get clicking we can be OK.
"I can see that our offensive line is really starting to gel and is coming together. We're getting better and once Kellen gets a few more practices in him our passing game will start to gel too."
Lake City travels to Chateauguay next Saturday to take on the Titans. The Stars defeated Chateauguay 35-31 on July 21 at Melissa L. Penfield Park.
 
Vermont 10, Lake City 0
Vermont    3 7 0 0  10
Lake City  0 0 0 0    0
Scoring summary
First quarter
V- Hicks 24 FG, 4:21.
Second quarter
V- M. Bombardier 7 pass from Ruderman (Hicks kick), 7:23.
Individual statistics
Rushing
V- Young 13-39; Fahey 1-4; Randall 1-5; Ruderman 2-(-2). Totals: 17-46.
LC- Ke. Nolan 4-12; B. Keleher 15-52; Ky. Nolan 3-10; Geiser 5-28. Totals: 27-102.
Passing
V- Ruderman 19-40-1-242, TD; K. Bombardier 0-1-0-0. Totals: 19-41-1-242, TD.
LC- Ke. Nolan 6-22-1-72. Sack: 1-(-7). Totals: 6-22-1-65.
Receiving
V- Joy 6-67; Partain 2-22; M. Bombardier 2-61, TD; Howe 3-40; Canada 3-38; Jabour 2-6; Young 1-8.
LC- M. St. Clair 5-70; T. St. Clair 1-2.
Interceptions
V- Coppins.
LC- Murphy.
Sacks
V- Hartman.

Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.

The Lake City Stars' Ryan DeCamp (3) and Evan Murphy (24) attempt to tackle the Vermont Ice Storm's Austin Partain (20) on the opening kickoff of Saturday's Empire Football League game at Melissa L. Penfield Park. The Ice Storm defeated the Stars, 10-0.