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Knights storm back from early deficit to defeat rival Cal-Mum Raiders 27-20 Andrew Alexander runs for 107 yards and key first downs; Mike Humphrey snags key INT and 7 passes from QB Travis Fenstermaker (11 of 15-106 yds-1 TD); Jon Casper pounds for 2 early TDs to knot contest; John Scheuing has monster defensive game while Alexander & Fenstermaker split 14 tackles; Joe Schwab-6 stops. |
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lead images courtesy of BIGeorge of the Vermont SportsDesk
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Game
Recap courtesy of William "Bilko" Pangrazio
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| LEROY
- The huge 4,500+ crowd had not yet got comfortable and the hometown faithful
had a big frown as Cal-Mum struck quickly for a 14-0 lead, only 5 1/2
minutes into the "Clash of the Titans". Many thought perhaps
the Knights would 'pack it in' or 'pitch their tents', but Coach Brian
Moran righted the LeRoy ship and pushed his squad to methodically go about
business as usual, despite the early deficit. The Knights responded with
27 unanswered points against the Raiders to post a 27-20 victory, their
6th straight in the series with Cal-Mum since 2003. Andrew Alexander - 20 carries for 107 yards 2 TDs - one rushing, the other receiving; Travis Fenstermaker - 11 of 15 passing for 106 yards and a TD; and Mike "Spiderman" Humphrey - 7 receptions on offense plus another on defense (INT), paced the LeRoy offensive attack. Jordan "Haystack" Casper opened huge holes for his brother Jon "Hippo" Casper to score twice, and made life miserable for the Raider ground attack that netted 139 yards, only 49 after the opening 2 drives. Cal-Mum came out of the locker room flying as Jeremy Wilson raced 41 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Dave Fox bulled for 15 yards on 3 rushes and John Marozzi scored from the 7 on a 3rd-and-7 for the game's first points. Marozzi added the 2-point PAT run to give Cal-Mum a quick 8-0 lead. Bad became worse for the Knights, as a fumble on the Knights' first offensive play was recovered by the Raiders' Ben Anastasi. Four plays later, Marozzi's plunge over the pile gave the visitors a 14-0 lead after the PAT run was stopped. The Knights responded with an offensive punch all too common this season. Alexander netted 27 yards on 4 carries and Mike Humphrey picked up 14 yards on 2 receptions before Jon Casper's first TD of the night, a 4-yard score. Fenstermaker's PAT boot cut the margin in half to 14-7. Cal-Mum's next drive was a 3-and-out as LB John Scheuing and Jordan Casper came up big on D. A shanked 11-yard punt put the Knights in excellent field position at their own 47. The hosts marched the 53 yards to paydirt in just 5 plays with Jon Casper plowing into the end zone once again, this time from the 2. The big play in the game-tying drive was a 37-yard catch-and-run by TE Brian Calmes on a dart thrown to him by QB Fenstermaker. The conversion kick tied the contest at 14-all. The sudden turn of events had enlivened the LeRoy faithful while the Raider followers were dismayed to see their 2-score lead vanquished. LeRoy's defense again stopped a Raider drive to give the Knights' offense a drive start at their own 30. Quentin Humphrey picked up 9 yards on a laser from Fenstermaker, while Jon Casper and Alexander moved the ball to the Cal-Mum 40. Facing a 4th-and-7, Coach Moran chose to go for the first and a pass interference call on the Raiders produced a 1st down at the Raider 25. With Mike Humphrey double-covered, Alexander dashed past his defender and caught a 25-yard spiral from Fenstermaker for a LeRoy score. The PAT failed but the Knights were able to go to halftime with a 20-14 lead. The Knights, as they did at Avon a week prior, took the opening kickoff of the 2nd half and drove 77 yards in 14 plays that consumed 7:22 off the game clock. Workhorse Alexander picked up 55 yards on 9 rushes and Fenstermaker added 18 tough yards to keep the drive alive. Alexander's 12-yard TD dash and Fenstermaker's PAT kick put the Knights up by 13, 27-14. Early in the 4th quarter following a LeRoy punt, the Raiders moved 47 yards only to have Mike Humphrey pick off a Raider pass attempt in the end zone to force a touchback. After a change of possession, Raider QB Chris Voos hit Jeremy Wilson with a 21-yard scoring toss on a 4th-and-7 to give the Raiders life at 27-20. The Knights ran out the clock with Andrew Alexander nailing down 2 big first downs for the Knights in the closing moments. LeRoy dominated the final stats with 20 first downs (double the Raiders), 288 total yards of offense (to 193 by C-M), while holding a time of possession edge of 28:12 to 19:48. The 6-0 Knights, ranked #2 among Section V small schools and 4th in the state in Class C, now face the Hornell Red Raiders at home this coming Friday evening. The Knights now possess a 41-game win straight at Hartwood Park that began after a 7-0 loss to Hornell in Week 5 of the '98 season. Hornell is led by head coach Gene Mastin who earned his 200th win with a huge home victory over rival Bath 14-7 in Week 6 action in Hornell. |
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Game
Recap courtesy of Chris Metcalf - Livingston County News
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| LE
ROY — Championship teams know how to overcome adversity. Le Roy is
one of those teams. Trailing 14-0 midway through the first quarter, the
homestanding Oatkan Knights battled back with 20 unanswered first-half
points en route to the thrilling 27-20 victory over Caledonia-Mumford
Friday at Hartwood Park. The win extended the Oatkan Knights’ home
streak to 41 consecutive victories. “We could of packed our lunch right there and went home,” Le Roy coach Brian Moran said of the early deficit. “But we stood up and fought back. Give Cal-Mum credit, they made the plays early. But our kids never gave in; they battled right until the very end.” Cal-Mum took the opening drive and moved right in as Jeremy Wilson ran for 41 yards on the first play from scrimmage. After four straight carries with Dave Fox plowing his way up the middle for 15 more yards, the Red Raiders had a third-and-5 from the 7, where John Marozzi darted in the end zone to cap off the seven-play, 64-yard scoring drive that gave the Red Raiders the 8-0 lead after Fox ran in the conversion. Things started to unfold early for Le Roy as Andrew Alexander fumbled on the Oatkan Knights’ first offensive play. Cal-Mum’s Ben Anastasi scooped it up at the Le Roy 24. After quarterback Chris Voos scrambled for seven yards, Fox rumbled for 10 more to set up Marozzi’s 1-yard dive over the pile and into the end zone for a 14-0 Cal-Mum lead with 6:35 left in the first. About the only positive in the first six minutes for the Oatkan Knights was when they stopped Marozzi’s two-point conversion run inside the 1. But, like any good heavyweight would do, the Knights got back up and started swinging. Alexander made up for his earlier miscue as he sparked an 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive that ended with a Jon Casper 2-yard TD run up the middle to cut the deficit to 14-7 following Travis Fenstermaker’s PAT with 34 seconds left in the first. On the drive, Alexander pounded his way for 17 yards while Mike Humphrey caught two passes for 14 yards. The Le Roy defense forced Cal-Mum out on three downs on the next drive. A 10-yard punt gave the Oatkan Knights a first down at their own 47, where they embarked on a five-play, 53-yard scoring drive that culminated with another 2-yard TD run by Casper. The drive included a 36-yard pass down the middle of the field from Fenstermaker to Brian Calmes that put the ball at the Raiders’ 6. Fenstermaker’s PAT kick knotted the game at 14 with 8:13 left in the first half. The Oatkan Knights weren’t done yet. After the Red Raiders punted, Le Roy started on its own 30. Quentin Humphrey caught a 9-yard pass, Casper plunged up the gut for five more and Alexander darted his way to a 14-yard gain that put the ball in Cal-Mum territory late in the first half. With Le Roy facing a fourth-and-7, a pass interference call on Cal-Mum kept the drive alive. With just over a minute left, Fenstermaker took a two-step drop and threw a perfect spiral down the right sideline to a streaking Alexander, who caught the ball in stride for the 25-yard TD that gave the Knights a 20-14 halftime lead. Le Roy kept the momentum going when it got the ball to start the second half. Once again, Alexander did the most damage as he sparked a Le Roy-like 14-play, 77-yard scoring drive with a 12-yard TD run that made it 27-14. The scoring drive, which ate up more than seven minutes of clock, featured Alexander getting the call nine times for 53 yards, including the TD. After both teams traded punts, Cal-Mum got on the move to start the fourth as the Red Raiders moved the ball deep inside Le Roy territory thanks to Voss’ 28-yard pass to a wide-open Wilson. After a 10-yard run by Marozzi, however, the drive would stall as Section 5’s top playmaker, Mike Humphrey, stepped in front of a Voos pass in the end zone to get the interception with 10:25 left in the game. “That’s what Mike does, make plays,” Moran said. “He has a nose for the football, and he has a habit of making big plays.” After a Le Roy punt, the Red Raiders got good field position at the Knights’ 34. Just seven plays later, Cal-Mum made it a game when Voos hit Wilson with a 21-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 7 to cut the lead to 27-20 with 5:04 remaining. Marozzi was stopped just short on the conversion run. Cal-Mum committed a personal foul penalty on Le Roy’s ensuing drive, and instead of Le Roy having a second at 10 at its own 27, the infraction gave the Oatkan Knights a first down near midfield. “We can’t make those types of mistakes and expect to beat a team like Le Roy,” Cal-Mum coach Mike Monacelli said. “That penalty, and a few others, killed us. When you play against a team like Le Roy, you need to play error-free football and we did not do that tonight.” With the Oatkan Knights facing a third and two, Alexander’s 8-yard run for a first down sealed the win for Le Roy and sent the fans heading for the exits. Alexander finished with 107 yards on 20 carries, while Fenstermaker was 11-of-15 passing for 106 yards and one TD. Despite seeing plenty of attention, Humphrey caught seven passes for 40 yards. The Le Roy defense was led by John Scheuing with eight tackles and Alexander (7), Fenstermaker(7), and Joe Schwab (6). Wilson led Cal-Mum with 63 yards on 12 carries while Marozzi was held to 41 yards on 14 touches. Cal-Mum’s rushing attack was held in check as they went for 139 yards on 34 carries. Voos was 3-of-7 passing for 54 yards and one TD. The victory pushed Le Roy’s record to 6-0, while Cal-Mum fell to 5-1. It was Le Roy’s eighth victory in the last nine games against their arch-rival. “This was a very emotional week,” Moran said while wiping back tears. “I am very proud of the effort my kids put out tonight. They left it all out there on the field. This was a hard-hitting, intense-filled football game. We battled back after being down and that’s a credit to the kids in this locker room. They deserved it.” “Our whole team played a great game,” said Casper, who rushed for 34 yards on 10 carries with two TDs. “This game was for ‘Hooks.’” Don ‘Hooks’ Robinson was a popular, longtime volunteer coach for the Oatkan Knights who passed away last spring after a battle with cancer. Moran dedicated the game ball to Hooks. |
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BIGeorge
of the Vermont SportsDesk
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Following
images by Brady Dillsworth - Rochester D&C Sports
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Following
game recap by John Boccacino - Rochester D&C Sports
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LE
ROY — Mike Humphrey smiles when asked why he's nicknamed Spiderman
by his LeRoy football coaches and teammates.
"It's because every time there's a ball thrown my way that they think is out of reach, I just throw my web up there and catch it," Humphrey said after LeRoy hung on to defeat longtime rival Caledonia-Mumford 27-20 Friday night. Humphrey, LeRoy's wide receiver/defensive back, was all over the field at Hartwood Park, catching seven passes for 42 yards, and his interception stopped a Cal-Mum scoring threat as the Oatkan Knights scored 27 unanswered points to defeat their Route 5 rivals for the ninth time in 10 tries. LeRoy clinched the Livingston County Division II football title. "This was the craziest game I've ever played in, and it was the biggest crowd I've ever seen at LeRoy. It was the best game of my career," Humphrey said. "We knew we could run and pass on them and we did what we've done best all year long, which is wear teams down. I think we're one of the best-conditioned teams." Drew Alexander and John Casper each scored two touchdowns as LeRoy (6-0), ranked No. 4 in the state in Class C, rallied from an early 14-0 deficit. Cal-Mum scored two first-quarter touchdowns as John Marozzi scored from 7 yards out, then following a fumble, scored again on a 2-yard plunge for the Red Raiders (5-1). The Oatkan Knights stormed back as Casper scored on runs of 4 and 2. Travis Fenstermaker, LeRoy's senior quarterback, completed 8 of 9 first-half passes and lofted a perfect 25-yard spiral to Alexander in the right corner of the end zone as LeRoy took a 20-14 halftime lead. The more than 4,000 fans who packed the stands and lined the fences around the field stood and delivered a loud ovation as LeRoy trotted into the locker room at halftime. "This is the greatest rivalry in Section V," said Alexander, a senior who rushed for 114 yards. "Everyone came to play. My line gave me huge holes to run through and there were cut-back lanes all day. Anyone on the offense can get it done." LeRoy came out in the third quarter with a 78-yard drive that chewed up 7:22. Alexander scored from 12 yards out and a 27-14 advantage. The Red Raiders could not get their offense on track in the second half. Counting penalties, Cal-Mum mustered 4 yards of offense in the third quarter. "You can't make critical errors against them," Cal-Mum coach Mike Monacelli said. "We were trying to pull rabbits out of hats, and we're just not a big-play team. We're a grind-it-out, keep-it-simple team." Trailing 27-14, Cal-Mum drove 58 yards to the 15 before Humphrey stepped in front of a Chris Voos pass for a momentum-stealing interception. LeRoy won its sixth-straight Five Star Bank Cup, which goes to the winner of this rivalry that dates to 1900. Cal-Mum leads the all-time series 38-35-2. "I love having never lost to Cal-Mum, and beating them at home this last time, I'll be telling people about this for the rest of my life," Humphrey said. |
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