NEW YORK STATE FOOTBALL: WAVERLY CRUISES INTO FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (2023-11-25)
By TIM TAYLOR
Valley Sports Report
CICERO, N.Y. — Waverly shook off a little bit of a slow start in the NYSPHSAA Class C West semifinal Saturday afternoon, racking up a 42-0 thrashing of Salamanca.
After punting and turning the ball over on downs on their first two possessions, the Wolverines put the ball in the Cicero-North Syracuse High School endzone on six consecutive possessions in their first semis appearance since 2011.
Head coach Jason Miller, who has been coaching for 31 years, is thrilled to be taking Waverly to its first championship game.
"It feels great," he said. "When you play in this game to get to the Dome, you want to represent your section. Section IV historically, Class C, B, D play very well in the state tournament and we finally got that off our back and were able to get to the final."
Waverly junior slotback Kolsen Keathley scored three touchdowns and chalked up 139 yards rushing and receiving while quarterback Joey Tomasso lit up the airwaves, going 18-for-20 for 303 yards and three TDs.
It was the senior QB’s legs, not his arm, which provided the winning points.
Following Jacob Benjamin's blocked punt at the Salamanca one, Tomasso ran in a keeper. Hogan Shaw’s PAT kick made it 7-0 at 9:23 of the second quarter.
Waverly would tack on two more touchdowns before halftime. After the Warriors turned the ball over on downs at the Waverly 10, Tomasso guided his team down the field, connecting on three passes for 54 yards while Carter George carried the rock on four of five rushing attempts for another 34, the last being a 4-yard TD run. The PAT made it 14-0 at 3:09.
Two holding penalties proved costly to Salamanca on its next possession and Benjamin was credited with another blocked punt with George recovering the ball at the Warrior 39.
The Wolverines moved the ball to the 20, then a pass interference penalty pushed it down to the 10. With 19.2 seconds remaining in the half, Tomasso hit Keathley in double coverage for another TD. Shaw’s kick made it 21-0 at intermission.
George picked off Maddox Isaac to give the Wolverines the ball at the Salamanca 36, but there wasn’t enough time left on the clock for Waverly to score.
The Warriors looked like they might get back in the game when Isaac bolted 40 yards down the Salamanca sideline to the Waverly 19. Four plays later, Xavier Watson jumped up in front of the Warriors’ Lucas Brown at the two for an interception.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Tomasso found a wide open Keathley in stride for a 92-yard strike. Another Shaw kick made it 28-0.
Salamanca turned the ball over on downs on its next possession, and a Tomasso pass to Jake VanHouten and a horse collar penalty gave the Wolverines the ball at the six. Keathley ran it in on the next play and the kick inflated the Wolverines’ cushion to 35-0 with 3:24 left in the third.
A three-and-out and a 25-yard punt put the ball back in Tomasso’s hands at his own 48 late in the quarter. He followed up with four passes to VanHouten, Keathley and Watson with Watson making a leaping grab for an 8-yard TD. Shaw’s sixth PAT kick of the day made it 42-0 just 15 seconds into the final frame.
Salamanca and the Wolverines’ reserves each turned the ball over downs on the next two possessions, and the Warriors took a knee on the final play of the game.
Tomasso, who completed 10 consecutive passes to start the game, distributed the pigskin to four different receivers.
Keathley grabbed six passes for 135 yards and Watson snagged five for 69. Jay Pipher had four receptions for 36 yards and VanHouten tacked on three for 63 yards.
Waverly finished the game with 373 yards offense, adding 70 on the ground. George had four rushes for 34 yards and Bryce Laforest added 22 on six carries.
The Wolverines were equally impressive on the other side of the ball. Salamanca totaled just 165 yards offense.
"I thought we've had a solid year on defense all year," Miller said. "I think the physical style of play that we see throughout the season helps us when you get to this level. There's no one more physical than the Tiogas and the Chenango Forks and Sus Valleys, and that's what prepares you, so I think coming out of our class and our section prepares us for these types of games."
The Warriors gained 80 yards on 24 rushes and their three-QB offense went 17-for-29 for 85 yards and two interceptions. Fourteen plays ended in tackles for losses or no gain.
There were times when Salamanca moved the ball well in the middle of the field, but the Warriors seemed to get stumped by Waverly’s defense when they needed crucial yards.
"We kind of played soft on the edge and every time that we tried to match up with them in numbers, they ran the other way and they stung us a couple times on that," Miller said. "It's the first time a team's really done that, so we went back to our base, down a man, and just did a better job coming off the blocks and making tackles, especially on their short screen passes."
Waverly (12-1), ranked second in the state, faces top-ranked Fonda-Fultonville (12-1) next Saturday at 6 p.m. in the championship game at the JMA Dome in Syracuse. Fonda downed O’Neill, 33-7, in the East semi.
"We’ve got unfinished business," Miller said. "We're not going to be content with getting there. We’ve got to have a great week of practice and come out and play a solid game, especially on defense as we did today.
"Honestly, I don't know much about them. I know they have a big, big line, a big tall quarterback, young kid. They're coming out of the East. Those are always pretty good teams. A team from the East won it last year, O'Neill.
"It’s going to be a great week, but we won't approach it any differently than we have in the past 13 weeks, 14 weeks now."
NOTE: Keathley was selected Waverly's recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly’s Xavier Watson ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
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