Sunday, August 09, 2009
EFL Post Game Coverage August 8, 2009
Red & Black follows formula to home rout
By MATT CORDOVA
TIMES SPORTSWRITER
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2009
The Watertown Red and Black is tearing through this 2009 football season by embracing one of life's most practical concepts. It's sticking with what works.
The Red and Black put together another potent rushing performance Saturday night at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, racking up 346 yards en route to a 43-0 Empire Football League victory over the Vermont Ice Storm.
Anthony Noel again led all runners with 138 yards, highlighted by a 58-yard touchdown jaunt in the second quarter.
But the dominant offensive line isn't partial to just Noel. Joe Brennan finished with 90 yards, and quarterback Bria n Williams carried six times for 49 and a score.
Williams completed just one pass — an 18-yard touchdown connection to Nate Bryant — as Watertown
But Watertown
"We're not going to try to fix something that's not broke," head coach George Ashcraft said of Watertown
And why should they? Watertown
Brennan broke free for a 24-yard gain, while Williams's first rush covered 20 and Noel's 37. Sixteen of the Red and Black's first 17 plays were handoffs, and Ernie Miller and Williams provided the first two Watertown
"The O-line did the job," said Noel, who had 177 yards last week. "Without them nobody runs anywhere. And we've got four quality backs that we can utilize."
The defensive unit has proved pretty dependable, too, having scored a touchdown in each game this season.
But he was confident he'd have another chance for a big play, and a few minutes later, he out-muscled Vermont
Tyrkala said playing against the Ice Storm (1-4) last week made it easy to make adjustments.
"Having them two weeks in a row, we knew they'd want to run a lot of outs and curl routes," he said. "We decided to go man-to-man this week, after we played them mostly zone last time. We know we have a great D-line, and that always makes a QB hesitate and make mistakes."
And mistakes were too common an occurrence for Vermont
Troy Canada , just before halftime, dropped a high Mike Dumaw punt, allowing Jake Smith to pounce on it for Watertown Watertown
"They didn't do anything unexpected," first-year Vermont
Dylan K irker and Dustin Houppert each contributed five tackles, while Garrett Kline added four and a sack.
Ashcraft said the team's efforts in preparations for each game is the main reason for the undefeated start to the season.
"We have five coaches here putting in hours and hours of work on our game plans," Ashcraft said. "And it's working."
A 61-yard touchdown pass from Ken Stay to Matt St. Clair highlighted Plattsburgh 's shutout triumph over the Silver and Black at Sandstoner Park in Potsdam
Kyle Nolan, Brandon Kelleher, Kris Fish, Kelly Gordon and Elija Parks all scored short-yardage touchdowns for the North Stars (4-0).
Ryan Mason completed only three passes for 32 yards, while Andy Deon led the rushing attack with 47 yards on 13 carries for Massena (0-5).
Stay leads unbeaten Stars
August 09, 2009 03:23 am
MASSENA — The Plattsburgh North Stars focused on the passing game during their bye week, and it showed when they returned to action Saturday.
Quarterback Ken Stay tossed three touchdown passes — including a 62-yard score — to help the Stars shut out the Massena Silver and Black 40-0 in an Empire Football League game.
The Stars improved to 4-0 in league play.
Stay finished 10-for-18 for 151 yards and no interceptions.
"One of the things we did during the bye week was work hard on the passing game, letting Ken see the field,"=2 0Stars coach Pat Keleher said. "He's really had two good (games) in a row now. He's starting to understand the offense. The game's slowing down for him; he's starting to see the field. He played very well tonight."
The Stars' offense was kickstarted by the special teams, specifically Zach Blocker's kick returns.
"He set us in their territory a couple times," Keleher said. "He had a 50-yard opening return to start the game. That put us inside their 30, and bam, three plays and we're up 7-0."
Blocker totaled 137 return yards and added 22 rushing yards.
Stay connected with Matt St. Clair for a 62-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 and found Kelly Gordon for a 6-yard score before the end of the first quarter.
The Stars went into halftime ahead 27-0.
St. Clair finished with a team-high 75 receiving yards, and Gordon totaled three catches for 27 yards. Chris Fish had a 9-yard touchdown reception.
Brandon Keleher ledPlattsburgh
The Silver and Black's best chance to get on the board came late in the game.
"They had a first-and-goal from the six, and we held," Pat Keleher said. "They didn't gain any yards. They went 0-for-4 from the six. That was really the only time they threatened.
"I think we're very solid up front defensively, and that allows what I believe is a very talented group of linebackers to run free, make plays. The secondary was solid (Saturday). They didn't give up any home-run balls."
Massena, which visitsPlattsburgh
Plattsburgh 40, Massena 0
Plattsburgh
Massena 0 0 0 0—0
Scoring summary
First Quarter
P- B. Keleher 5 run (Fish kick).
P- Stay 62 pass to St. Clair (Fish kick).
P- Stay 6 pass to Gordon (kick failed).
Second quarter
P- Stay 9 pass to Fish (Fish kick).
Third quarter
P- Nolan 23 run (Fish kick).
Fourth quarter
P- Parks 6 run (kick failed).
Individual Statistics
Rushing
P- B. Keleher 12-101, TD; Nolan 3-24, TD; Z. Blocker 5-22; Parks 3-19, TD; J. Blocker 1-4. Totals: 24-170, 3 TDs.
Receiving
P- St. Clair 2-75, TD; Gordon 3-27, TD; B. Keleher 1-16; Fish 1-9, TD; Talley 1-9; J. Keleher 1-8; Z. Blocker 1-7. Totals: 10-151, 3 TDs.
Passing
P- Stay 10-18-151-3-0.
MASSENA — The Plattsburgh North Stars focused on the passing game during their bye week, and it showed when they returned to action Saturday.
Quarterback Ken Stay tossed three touchdown passes — including a 62-yard score — to help the Stars shut out the Massena Silver and Black 40-0 in an Empire Football League game.
The Stars improved to 4-0 in league play.
Stay finished 10-for-18 for 151 yards and no interceptions.
"One of the things we did during the bye week was work hard on the passing game, letting Ken see the field,"=2 0Stars coach Pat Keleher said. "He's really had two good (games) in a row now. He's starting to understand the offense. The game's slowing down for him; he's starting to see the field. He played very well tonight."
The Stars' offense was kickstarted by the special teams, specifically Zach Blocker's kick returns.
"He set us in their territory a couple times," Keleher said. "He had a 50-yard opening return to start the game. That put us inside their 30, and bam, three plays and we're up 7-0."
Blocker totaled 137 return yards and added 22 rushing yards.
Stay connected with Matt St. Clair for a 62-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 and found Kelly Gordon for a 6-yard score before the end of the first quarter.
The Stars went into halftime ahead 27-0.
St. Clair finished with a team-high 75 receiving yards, and Gordon totaled three catches for 27 yards. Chris Fish had a 9-yard touchdown reception.
Brandon Keleher led
The Silver and Black's best chance to get on the board came late in the game.
"They had a first-and-goal from the six, and we held," Pat Keleher said. "They didn't gain any yards. They went 0-for-4 from the six. That was really the only time they threatened.
"I think we're very solid up front defensively, and that allows what I believe is a very talented group of linebackers to run free, make plays. The secondary was solid (Saturday). They didn't give up any home-run balls."
Massena, which visits
Massena 0 0 0 0—0
Scoring summary
First Quarter
P- B. Keleher 5 run (Fish kick).
P- Stay 62 pass to St. Clair (Fish kick).
P- Stay 6 pass to Gordon (kick failed).
Second quarter
P- Stay 9 pass to Fish (Fish kick).
Third quarter
P- Nolan 23 run (Fish kick).
Fourth quarter
P- Parks 6 run (kick failed).
Individual Statistics
Rushing
P- B. Keleher 12-101, TD; Nolan 3-24, TD; Z. Blocker 5-22; Parks 3-19, TD; J. Blocker 1-4. Totals: 24-170, 3 TDs.
Receiving
P- St. Clair 2-75, TD; Gordon 3-27, TD; B. Keleher 1-16; Fish 1-9, TD; Talley 1-9; J. Keleher 1-8; Z. Blocker 1-7. Totals: 10-151, 3 TDs.
Passing
P- Stay 10-18-151-3-0.
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