Ward on Sports Center; Here is Troy’s other Top 5
Ward’s 4th touchdown made Top 10 list but it wasn’t the only highlight of state title win
SYRACUSE, N.Y. » Even ESPN is taking notice of Joey Ward.
The senior running back had several highlight reel runs en route to his four-touchdown, MVP performance in Troy High’s 41-26 win over Lancaster in the Class AA state final at the Carrier Dome Sunday.
Sure enough, Ward’s final score of the day ended up on the Sports Center’s Top 10 plays feature multiple times Monday morning.
In the play, the 5-foot- 9, 195-pound running back follows a solid push from his offensive line up the right side of the field. While the line seals the left side of the field, Ward is left with plenty of work to do. Luckily for the Flying Horses, he was up to the task.
He dodges an ankle tackle by stepping to the right at the line of scrimmage before stumbling past another would-be tackler, aided by a block from wide receiver Dev Holmes. Now being pursued from behind, Ward shrugs off a tackle from Lancaster’s leading tackler — 6-foot-2, 225-pound Ben Damiani — with a spin move. Another Lancaster defensive back takes aim at where his things Ward is headed but another spin move left the defender empty-handed on the
turf.
Now inside the 10-yard line, two final Lancaster players attempt arm-tackles from behind but Ward barely seems to notice as he shrugs them off and high-steps into the end zone.
The play started at the No. 6 spot on the Top 10 list, then at some point was moved to No. 1 — meaning the top highlight from Sunday’s sports around the world.
In the spirit of that list, here are a list of five other plays that could have been in contention for the top plays of that game:
Lancaster made it to the state final on the back of Joe Andreessen’s bruising running style. The 6-foot2, 220-pounder did ended up running for 65 yards and a touchdown but his first carry was an unsuccessful fourth down conversion on the first drive of the game. The Flying Horses defensive line came up big early against the opponent’s best player to set the tone for the game.
4. CASALE PUMP FAKES FOR 2
Maybe the only part of Troy’s game that had trouble Sunday was its kicking unit. Two blocked point-after attempts and a blocked punt helped keep Lancaster in the game. At some point the Flying Horses just started going for 2 after every touchdown. The highlight of those 2-point attempts came form quarterback Joe Casale. He took the snap, got outside the pocket and headed for the end zone. The only thing in his was way Lancaster cornerback Kyle Backert. Given the option of going around Backert or through him, Casale instead unleashed a pump fake that sent the senior defender flying. Casale ran untouched for two points that made it 28-7.
3. HOLMES RIPS AWAY A COMPLETION FOR AN INT
Troy led 14-7 when a blocked punt set Lancaster up with first down at the Troy 36-yard line. With 3:32 left before halftime, a touchdown would have tied the game and given the momentum to the Legends. That didn’t happen thanks to the Flying Horses’ Dev Holmes, who literally snatched momentum back to the defending champs. Lancaster quarterback Ryan Mansell threw long to favorite target Max Giordano, who got both hands on the ball. It would have been a completion inside the Troy 10-yard line if Holmes hadn’t snatched the ball away on the way down for the key interception.
2. CASALE TO BURDETTE SETS TROY UP
After the Holmes interception, Troy was inside their own 10 yard line. With less than two minutes left before halftime the Flying Horses faced a 3rd-and-7. Instead of a safe rush to run out the clock, offensive coordinator Mike Grasso made an aggressive play call. Casale executed with a perfectly flighted ball to senior wide receiver Isaiah Burdette for a 34-yard gain. Not only was the play a first down, it was for enough yards to give Troy a chance to score before the half. Casale picked apart the Lancaster defense before finding Holmes open in the front corner of the end zone to make it 20-7 with 10 seconds left on the clock. The Flying Horses went from running out the half to a 96- yard scoring drive thanks to Burdette’s 34yard reception.
1. WARD SCORES ON LANCASTER’S VAUNTED ‘D’
Lancaster entered its semifinal contest averaging less than 10 points allowed per game. In fact, the Legends defense had not allowed a single point to opponents in the first half of any contest this season. That changed when Ward took a handoff from the Lancaster 10-yard line late in the first quarter. Much like his Sports-Center run, Ward stopped, started, juked, spun and bulled his way into the end zone.