LeRoy - Beauty and brawn were both on display at Hartwood Park in LeRoy on Friday evening, September 28th, as the Knights hosted the Avon Braves on Homecoming night. LeRoy, currently ranked #6 in the latest NY State - Class C poll, had little trouble with the visitors as they utilized a smothering defense and a host of offensive weapons to subdue the Braves 36-12.

The Knights scored twice in the first quarter of action. The Knights drove 57 yards on their first possession, culminating in a score at the 4:13 mark as junior QB Joe Shaughnessy hit 6'6 split end Brendan Fulmer on a 17 yard strike. A rare Fulmer missed PAT left the score 6-0 Knights. After stifling the Braves' second possession of the game, the Knights drove 54 yards for another tally as Matt Miller dove over from 2 yards out for a TD with 1:25 left in the first. Shaughnessy and RB Rick Laurie both fueled the drive with nice runs. The Knights lined up for the Fulmer PAT kick only to have holder Shaughnessy dart untouched into the end zone for the 2 point conversion as the Braves were caught sleeping. 14-0 Knights after one.

The Knights were relentless on defense as the Millers, Donny and Matt, were constantly in the Braves backfield. Avon star RB Germaine Dixon entered the game with nearly 650 yards rushing after just 3 games. He found matters much tougher against Coach Paladino's rugged defense as he mustered less than 3 yards a carry for the evening, running for 51 yards on 18 carries. Defensive Coach Andrew Paladino is one of Section 5's very best coaches in preparing a defense to stop the star running back of the opponent.

LeRoy made it 21-0 with just under 8 minutes to go in the first half as Shaughnessy laid a beautiful 16 yard pass into the hands of Fulmer over two Avon defenders. The drive was made possible by a heads-up interception by junior LB Jason Hodge who returned the ball to the Avon 20. The Braves were unable to move the ball at all on their next possession and a poor punt put the Knights back in striking distance at the Braves' 25. The Knights coughed it up on the 18 several plays later and the Braves took over. Avon came up with some nice yardage, including a long run by speedster Ryan Farley, only to have the run negated by penalty. LeRoy RB Joe Cosimeno set up the Knights' final score of the half with a fine return of an Avon punt to the Braves' 23 with 2:34 showing on the clock. Six plays later, Shaughnessy plunged over the goal line from one yard out after running the hurry-up offense. At the half, it was all LeRoy, 28-0.

At halftime, the annual Homecoming coronations of the Princess and Queen were made. Junior Laura Bestor was selected the Princess and Senior Niki Stone was honored as this year's Queen. It was a touching moment for the Stones who just this past week lost Niki's grandmother, Rozella Stone, a truly classy and beautiful lady in every sense of the word.

The Knights came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders for the second half and marched straight down the field for their fifth touchdown of the evening. The drive start was set up nicely at midfield thanks to a great kick return by Joe Cosimeno. QB Shaughnessy dissected the Avon defense operating out of the shotgun before handing it off to FB Hodge who found paydirt from 2 yards out at the 8:01 mark. Shaughnessy hit a wide open Brendan Moran in the end zone for the two point conversion to boost the LeRoy lead to 36-0. Fulmer booted the ball out of the Avon end zone on the kickoff and the Braves had yet another tough drive start. The Braves managed to get to their own 47 before turning the ball over on downs as they were forced to go for it on fourth down due to the lopsided score. LeRoy reserve RB Jeremy Cosimeno ran nicely upon entering the game and the Knights moved to the 8 as the third quarter came to a close.

The second team offense was given their chance to score but fumbled it to the Braves who took advantage of their seemingly poor field position. Ryan Farley took the pigskin and galloped 95 yards around left end with 8 minutes remaining in the contest. This marked the first TD score against the Knights all season. The Braves played inspired ball for the remainder of the contest and added a nice 25 yard TD pass with 56 ticks left on the clock. Final score: LeRoy 36, Avon 12. The Knights are now 4-0 on the year.