The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Lowville dashes Canastota title hopes
CICERO, N.Y. >> Lowville did something no other team has been able to do during this 2019 season during a Section III Class C semifinal win over Canastota: hold the state-ranked No. 9 Raider offense in check.
Lowville, the No. 4 team in the state, limited Canastota to 15 second half points in a 49-15 semifinal victory.
Looking to hand the Class C No. 2 seed its first loss on the season, No. 3 Canastota did not have an answer for Chad Bach. Lowville’s senior quarterback threw for four touchdowns and added three more on the ground to carry his team to the Class C finals.
After forcing a Canastota 3-and-out, Bach led Lowville on a six-play scoring drive, finishing the drive off with a 6-yard quarterback keeper.
Lowville forced another Canastota three-and-out on its next defensive possession and Bach went back to work, engineering
an eight-play drive that started from its own 36yard line. Bach converted a fourth down run deep in Canastota territory, and a play later, the Lowville QB hit wide receiver GavinMcCauly on a 9-yard score to grow the lead to 15-0 with 3:55 left in the first quarter.
The two state-ranked teams traded punts on their next possessions, but even when Lowville punted, things continued to go the 2 seed’s way as Bach pinned Canastota on its own 1-yard line. With their backs against the end zone, Tom Congden’s Raiders quickly secured breathing room when Andrew Marshall floated a pass to receiver Nate Wood deep down the left sideline for a 44-yard gain for Canastota’s first first down of the afternoon. A false start on 3rd-and-4 two plays later contributed to a stalled Canastota drive as Lowville recovered to force another punt.
Bach’s best throw of the day came during Lowville’s next offensive series. Looking at 2nd-and-16 from the Canastota 49, Bach uncorked a deep ball toMacAuley down the left side, hitting the over the shoulder and in stride for a third Lowville touchdown. After a successful extra point, Lowville led 22-0 with 6:56 to go in the second quarter.
Greg Olden tried to spark the Canastota offense to life with a kick return to the Raider 49-yard line on the kickoff, but three plays later, Bach picked off a Marshall pass to give his team possession deep in Canastota territory before cashing in on the turnover with a 1-yard plunge to grow the lead to 29- 0. Another Canastota 3-andout followed, and Bach led Lowville on one final scoring drive in the first half to extend the other Red Raiders’ lead to 36-0.
On its next drive, Canastota worked the ball to the Lowville 19 following a long Marshall run and a 17yard Olden reception. After the completion, Canastota spiked the ball with 9.7 seconds on the clock to earn a pair of shots to the end zone, but each pass fell incomplete, and Lowville took a29-0 lead into theintermission.
Once Lowville punted its first possession of the second half, Canastota finally got on the board with a seven-play scoring drive to open the half, keyed by a deep pass from Marshall to Olden down the right sideline to move to the Lowville 10-yard line. Marshall kept it on the option the very next play, rumbling into the end zone with 7:39 to go in the third to trim Lowville’s lead to 36-7.
Canastota’s defense forced another Lowville punt the next time they were on the field, keyed by a Cole DeKing third down sack of Bach. Fighting the clock and trailing by three scores, Canastota reached the Lowville 20 on its ensuing drive, aided by a Nate Wood first down recption on 4th-and-14 to keep the drive alive. Lowville held strong however, bringing down Canastota running back Nick Weber for no gain on 4th-and-1 with 1:58 left in the third douse any thoughts of a comeback. Bach rewarded his defense with a touchdown toss to MacAuley to grow the lead to 42-7.
Canastota answeredwith another scoring drive, completed by an Olden touchdown and Matt DiGeorge two-point conversion with 7:38 left in the contest.
Bach and company had one more touchdown left in them, though. The Lowville field general hit Brett Myers on a 31-yard touchdown to grow the lead back up to 49-15, a score that would stand at the conclusion of the game.
Lowville advances to the Carrier Dome to take on Cato-Meridian in the Class C finals on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Canastota closes the season with a 7-2 mark.