Saturday, October 13, 2007 (07:00 PM)
League game at Maplewood Park, Hornell NY
Livingston County Division I/II Crossover

LeRoy Oatkan Knights 21, Hornell Red Raiders 14

Last week the Hornell Red Raiders scored touchdowns on their first three consecutive possessions en route to a 35-13 victory, their fifth straight Livingston County Division I championship and the No. 1 overall seed for the upcoming Section V, Class B playoffs.

Hornell has one last box to check off on its to-do list and a Livingston County crossover victory over the LeRoy Oatkan Knights would accomplish that task - the perfect regular season, a stretch of seven wins without a loss.

"The perfect season is certainly a goal for everybody," HHS head coach Gene Mastin said. "It isn't the emotional letdown from last week that we're concerned about. We were just so physically spent after that game that we didn't start to look like a football team again until Wednesday. We have not practiced in full pads all week. At this point of the season that is less significant than most people would want to believe, but we're really in a position where we need to get the players back in physical condition to play. Normally the players have two days, although we do lift weights Saturday, both Saturday and Sunday are part of the recovery period. With just one day of recovery time we had to hit the ground running. It's been a challenge to get ourselves around, but even with that the reward of a 7-0 season is enough to drive these players.

"Right now our team has a lot of confidence," Mastin continued. "They work well in practice and in the last two games - HF-L and Bath - we've played very well. It's getting to the point where we're hopefully hitting our stride as we head for postseason competition."

LeRoy has appeared to been in stride all season long. It's scored an average of just over 43 points each week, while giving up exactly seven defensively. Three weeks ago the Knights let it all hang out in a 52-14 victory over Canisteo-Greenwood. They put up all 52 of their points in the first half, employing the use of two onsides kicks, several two-point conversions and a 75-yard kick-off return along the way. But according to Mastin there's more to LeRoy than running up the score on the Canisteo-Greenwoods, Cuba-Rushfords and Wellsvilles of Livingston County Division II football - much more.

"I think LeRoy is a state championship caliber team," Mastin said. "They were very impressive last week against Cal-Mum, they've been impressive in every game that they've played. They've got a great mix of run and pass on offense and they're very physical on defense, probably as physical as any team in Section V. It's a great preparation for us going into sectionals because this will really get us ready to play the physical teams like Geneva."

While scoring early and often are at the top of any team's agenda, points may come at a premium in this evening's game.

"LeRoy is the best defensive team that we're going to see. To expect to score on our first three possessions would be way too cocky," Mastin said. "It would be nice, but it will be a real challenge to do. With LeRoy's run defense being as solid as it is we anticipate putting the ball in the air a little bit more this week. We really ran the ball well last week, but it was the passing game that opened everything up."

Turnovers could also factor into tonight's outcome, especially considering the recent turn in the weather. Tonight's forecast calls for temps in the mid to high 30s with a 30 percent chance of rain.

"If you force five turnovers in a game you should win it unless you're the Bills," Mastin said. "That was one of the key differences in last week's game and they were big turnovers, every one of them. We did make some big plays in the game, but that game doesn't buy us anything going forward.

"The biggest difference between last week and this week will probably be the weather. It is supposed to be a high in the 50s (Friday). I don't know how you go from wearing shorts and short sleeves to putting on every piece of clothing that you can. That's what football in the northeast is like."

"This is a fresh week and the good thing is that the players have not looked back on last week," Mastin concluded. "The reality of it is we could play Bath again in the second week of the playoffs. I don't think we can rest on the laurels of what we've done so far."