By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
CICERO, N.Y. — Coming off an impressive performance last weekend, Waverly is playing in its first New York State Class C semi-final game since 2011 — and second ever — and looking for its first-ever trip to a state title game when it squares off with Section VI champion Salamanca here Saturday at noon at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
In 2011, Waverly committed six turnovers, including five lost fumbles, yet only lost 19-13 to Southwestern.
Waverly coach Jason Miller, who was also at the helm in 2011, said ball security will be a key Saturday as well.
"The thing that hurt us in that game is we turned the ball over five times on fumbles, and we can’t do that," said Miller. "That can happen in any game — doesn’t matter if its the first game, the fifth game, or the 13th game of the year — but you have to hold on to the football.
"It gets colder, the ball does gets colder and slipperier … we need to secure the football this time around," added Miller.
Miller was quick to note most of his team wasn’t even in school the last time the Wolverines reached the semifinals.
"A couple of our coaches played on that team, though," laughed Miller.
"I think (M-E coach) Matt Gallagher said it best last week after his Sectional game, ‘this team hasn’t been there.’
"What happened 12 years ago is insignificant," said Miller. "This particular team hasn’t been there … we’re mindful of that. We want to go out and perform at our best, and the way we’re going to perform at our best is to practice at our best.
"We got off to a good start this week," added Miller. "We’ll keep working, and we will be ready."
The Wolverines survived a scare last week when all-state QB Joey Tomasso was injured on a late hit, and missed a series of downs, only to return and lead them to a 49-8 win over Section III champ Adirondack.
Of course, Tomasso had a lot of help as the Wolverines pounded out 336 yards on the ground.
"I’ve always felt like we’re a good running team," said Miller.
"We’ve kind of built a system around Joe (Tomasso), and the pack of receivers we have, but we’ve proved we’re capable or running," he noted. "We’re solid up front, those guys have a lot of experience.
"This time of year, you have to be able to run the ball, and I thought it was just a great performance up front on both sides of the ball.
"Payton (Fravel) did a great job," Miller added. "He’s becoming more of a confident runner … he understands where to run, he has a burst of speed, and he runs very hard. It’s been pleasant to see."
Waverly defense was also up to the challenge, limiting an Adirondack team that was averaging nearly 33 points per game to one score.
"We had a great plan, and (Adirondack’s) offense kind of suits what we’re capable of," said Miller. "If you want to smash us, we’re capable of smashing you back.
"That’s what we talked about last week, smashing them, and being technically sound, and not getting out of position," he added. "The kids just played great."
Miller lauded the play of his offensive line (senior Jake Benjamin, juniors Kam Hills, and J.T. Williams, sophomore Troy Beeman, and freshmen Carson Rockwell, and Matthias Welles) and defensive line (Hills, Beeman, Benjamin, and Welles).
"They dominated on both sides of the ball, and that’s where you win games is up front.
"They have to play great again this week," said Miller. "It’s kind of the same expectation.
"We’ll see a similar offense, with the quarterback running the ball, down-block, kick-out stuff," he said. "And more of a power-type team out of the spread. They are very similar to us."
WHEN SALAMANCA HAS THE BALL (No stats available)
The Warriors are 10-2, enter the contest ranked third in the state, and have outscored their opponents by an average of 27.1 to 16.9 points per game.
Salamanca’s two setbacks are a 26-15 loss to Class D Franklinville-Ellicottville in Week Zero, and 37-6 loss to Section VI Class D champ Clymer-Sherman-Panama, which will play Tioga in the state semifinals Friday, in Week 5.
The Section IV title was the program’s first championship in 22 years.
"This Salamanca team has gotten better, and better as the year has progressed," said Miller. "Comparing their loss to CSP to their win over LeRoy is night and day.
"I think it’s a team that’s found what it wants to do, and committed to doing certain things," he noted. "It’s worked out for them.
"They are not afraid to take chances throwing the ball," added Miller. "They have some receivers the quarterbacks really rely on. We’re going to have to be aware of where they’re at on the field, and what they do from those positions."
The Warriors run a two-QB system, but Maddox Isaac played the entire second half in last week’s 21-13 win over LeRoy. He threw two TDs and scored on a 33-yard run.
The week before, Jaxson Ross took over for an injured Ross in the second half, and completed eight passes for 176 yards and two TDs, and also ran for a score in a 36-23 win over previously-unbeaten Medina in Section VI title game.
The passing game’s top targets are wide receiver Lucus Brown, and 6-6 tight end Carmine Hoag.
"In the last couple weeks, Salamanca has thrown the ball more," said Miller. "They have a really good group of receivers, who I think are pretty talented.
"They have a two-quarterback system," he noted. "The one quarterback is very athletic. He runs well and is a tough kid. The other QB Is bigger, is a lefty, and is athletic, too.
"They roll out a lot, so they put pressure on you on the edge," he said. "Up front, they are similar to us as far as size goes.
"I don’t think anyone is going to chance anything at this point," added Miller. "We got here by being good at what we’re doing. We just need to execute better than they do."
WHEN WAVERLY HAS THE BALL
The Wolverines enter the game at 11-1, winners of 10 in a row, and ranked second in the state. They have outscored their opponents by an average of 40.6 to 11.6 points per game, and are averaging 406.7 yards per game in total offense — 218.9 through the air, and 187.8 on the ground.
"(Salamanca) is going to be in a 4-3, very similar to what we saw last week, with a little more cover-3, so a little more soft corners perhaps," said Miller.
"They are very aggressive with their safeties coming down into the box on the run," he noted. "And, their backers are deeper than normal, cognizant of the pass.
"We’ll see how they adjust if we establish the run, and go from there.
"It’s like every week, we’re going to have to take what they give us," added Miller. "We have a plan, but it gets altered by what people do to try and stop us. We’re pretty good at making adjustments based on the defense, and that’s what we’ll do this weekend."
Tomasso is completing 73.6 percent of his passes (170 of 231), and has single-season school records with 2,516 yards, and 36 TDs. He’s thrown just three interceptions.
Senior Jay Pipher leads the team with 53 receptions for a single-season school record 1,095 yards, and 12 TDs, while junior Xavier Watson has 49 grabs for 686 yards, and 13 TDs, senior Jake VanHouten has 36 catches for 390 yards, and five TDs, and junior Kolsen Keathley has 23 receptions for 293 yards, and four TDs.
Tomasso leads the Waverly ground game with 565 yards and nine TDs on 105 carries, but did not register a carry in last week’s game after injuring his knee on the team’s second possession.
Junior Payton Fravel has 474 yards and seven TDs, while senior Carter George has 339 yards and two TDs on 45 carries, and Keathley, who had 144 yards on four carries last week, has 305 yards and three TDs on 21 carries (14.5 yards per carry.)
"It’s fairly obvious Joe (Tomasso) is not going to be part of the run game," said Miller.
"It does hamstring our offense a bit, but what I’ve noticed with play-calling is that in these bigger games, I probably relied on Joe too much to run the ball," noted Miller. "It’s gratifying to see the tailbacks get quality runs. And, we tried to attack different places. Last week was the first time we kind of committed to the jet sweep a little bit, and it was very beneficial.
"It was a lesson for me: we don’t need to run Joe. I think when Joe’s running the ball, it’s a little bit easier to pack the box against us, especially in adverse conditions when it gets tougher to throw," continued Miller. "It kind of opened my eyes to the fact I need to be a little more flexible with the tailbacks, and with the slots running the ball.
"I feel real good about it," added Miller. "In the mean time, Joe’s just trying to get healthy … I just want him to get to a point where he can manage the game."
SPECIAL TEAMS
"(Salamanca) does some things on special teams that are concerning," said Miller.
"They have returned a lot of kickoffs for long yardage, and they come hard after punts," he noted.
"I think special teams is going to play a big part in this game," added Miller.
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IN PHOTO: Waverly coach Jason Miller. … VSR STOCK PHOTO.
