The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill faces off with Homer
Coach Gary Oliver’s VVS Red Devils take on the Homer Trojans in Section III Class B semifinal action.
CHITTENANGO, N.Y. » After handling Chittenango at home in the opening round of Section III Class B sectionals, the Vernon-VeronaSherrill Red Devils struggled against Homer in the semifinals.
Coach Gary Oliver’s squad could not find a rhythm on offense and was unable to contain Trojan running back John Horner III on the ground as Homer cruised to a 34-0 victory.
VVS received the opening kickoff, starting the game on its own 27-yard line. On third-andfive, quarterback Alex Oliver was sacked for a huge loss, and the Red Devils were forced to punt.
Homer began its ensuing possession with the ball in VVS territory, quickly capitalizing on the positive field advantage with a 13yard touchdown pass fromTucker O’Donnell to Dante Yacavone to grab an early 7-0 lead.
Oliver barely avoided a safety on third down during VVS’ next possession as Homer forced another Red Devils three-and-out.
Once again, Homer took advantage of solid field position after the VVS punt. O’Donnell found Dominick Natale on 47-yard toss to set the Trojans up with firstand-10 from the VVS 11. Horner III burst into the end zone for another Homer score, and before anyone could blink, the Trojans were up 14-0.
The Red Devils kept the Trojan offense out of the end zone for the remainder of the first half and strung together a few plays on offense in the second quarter. Just when it appeared the Red Devils might generate some sort of response to Homer’s quick 14-0 lead, Oliver suffered and injury and was unable to continue. With Oliver out, the Red Devils turned to quarterback Austin Grow, but a staunch Homer defense proved to be too much.
Coming out of halftime with a 14- 0 lead, Homer scored on its first possession of the second half courtesy of a one-yard run
by Zach Barber. Horner III added his second rushing score of the day minutes later on a four-yard run to give Homer a 28-0 lead, an advantage the Trojans would carry into the final quarter.
Charles Lines found pay dirt yet again for Homer in the final quarter, as the Trojans advanced to the Class B championship at the Carrier Dome next Saturday.
“We ran into a team that was bigger, faster, and stronger than we were,” VVS coach GaryOliver said. “It surely was not a lack of effort and heart on our part. Theywere just the better team today, and our seniors, I could not have been more proud of them. They led us all year, and they led us today. I’m going to miss them.”