The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Canastota squares off with Notre Dame
CANASTOTA, N.Y. >> Canastota won comfortably in each of its first three games this season before being tested on the road in a comeback win over Mount Markham last week.
Friday, Canastota, the No. 8 team in the state according to the New York State Sportswriters Association, faced its toughest test yet in visiting No. 11 Utica Notre Dame.
Prior to kickoff, the two unbeaten Class C East juggernauts had some of the hottest offenses in CNY football. Canastota came in averaging 43.5 points per game, while Notre Dame entered putting up 39 points per game, setting the stage for a shootout.
Friday’s contest was anything but. Notre Dame’s defense did not yield a point, and Juggler quarterback Treijan Garrett did a little bit of everything for the Jugglers on Friday. He threw for one score, intercepted a pass, and added a sack, all in the first half, as Notre Dame put Canastota away 18-2.
“I think we did great. That is really a shutout for our defense against a good opponent. They executed. We put in a game plan we
felt comfortable with, and they came out and made it happen,” first year Notre Dame head coach Genaro Scampone said, before touching on Garrett’s performance. “He is a competitor. He battle every time we are out here on the field. I ask himto do a lot of different things, and he responds. He continues to come out and compete and play physical and do good things for this football team.”
The loss is Canastota’s first regular season defeat in nearly three seasons. The Raider’s last regular season loss was to Herkimer in Week 1 of the 2015 season.
“We just have to make those plays on offense and play to our ability. We’ll be alright. We will learn from it,” Canastota head coach Tom Congden said. “I’ve had a lot of guys throughout the years tell me they almost wanted to get a loss in the regular season. It’s been three and a half years since we lost in the regular season. So, it’d be better now to get that loss now than in a couple of more weeks to get that taste [of defeat]. Keep that fire in the belly, keep on driving through, and bust threw that door and get to where we want to.”
Friday was also the second week of Greg Olden under center at quarterback with junior standout Andrew Marshall sidelined.
“Just getting different reps for another guy. Obviously, [Greg Olden] was getting reps all along, but Andy [Marshall] was 90 percent of the reps in practice. Just getting our next quarterback up to speed. We’re going to stay with our offense,” Congden said. “[Olden] is capable of doing it. We missed a couple of plays out there. It was a game of big plays. They made a couple, and we were inches away. We just have to learn fromit and come back better next week.”
The Jugglers had several poor exchanges between center and quarterback Friday night, particularly in the first half of play. Their first drive ended on a fumbled snap recovered by Canastota’s Sam DiGeorge, but the Notre Dame defense forced a turnover on downs near midfield to set its offense up with solid field position. The visitors’ offense bounced back on their next possession with a touchdown. On 3rd-and-4 from their own 44-yard line, Garrett hit Pat Espinosa on a 56-yard bomb for a 6-0 Notre Dame lead.
Following a Canastota 3-and-out, on another one of those poor Notre Dame exchanges, the snap went sailing over Garrett’s head, and by the time he scooped up the loose ball, Raider defenders were all over himin the end zone for a safety.
After the Raiders cut the deficit to 6-2, an Ethan Findlay return gave the Raiders the ball at the Notre Dame 31-yard line, but the Juggler defense forced another turnover on downs to maintain their advantage. After a Juggler punt, Garrett ended Canastota’s next drive by picking off an Olden pass on third down, returning to the ball to the Notre Dame 42-yard line. From there, the Jugglers needed just six plays - sparked by a huge run from Isaiah Czarnicki - to find the end zone for their second touchdown of the eve- ning. After Czarnicki’s big run set Notre Dame upwith 1st-and-goal from the Canastota 8-yard line, the Jugglers went to the ground attack again, handing the ball off to Mike Washington for an 8-yard touchdown run and a 12-2 lead heading into the halftime intermission.
Canastota’s first drive of the second half ended with an Edquan Brooks punt that pinned the Jugglers inside their own 5-yard line. The Canastota defense responded by forcing a 3-andout, and return man Raymond Wilsey brought the ensuing Juggler punt all the way back to the Notre Dame 20-yard line to set the Raiders up with their best opportunity of the night. Eight plays later, after Olden picked up a first down on 4th-and-5 to keep the drive alive, the Raiders faced a 4th-and-goal from the Juggler 17-yard line. Olden broke free from the Notre Dame defense, barrelling into the end zone for what appeared to be Canastota’s first touchdown of the night. A holding penalty negated the play and infuriated the Canastota crowd, and on the next play, Garrett snagged his second in- terception of the night to keep Notre Dame up 12-2.
The Raiders had opportunities to get back into the game on their next two ofensive possessions, driving inside the Notre Dame 25-yard line, but each time, the Juggler defense responded by forcing a turnover. Zarnicki added a rushing score late in the fourth for the Jugglers to put Notre Dame up 18-2 with less three minutes to go, and fittingly for Notre Dame, the defense forced one final turnover on downs to close out the contest.