By TIM TAYLORValley Sports Report
SAYRE — Cowanesque Valley overcame the yellow menace and took advantage of Sayre turnovers to pull away for a 40-20 victory in NTL football action here Saturday evening.
The Indians were penalized 25 times for 201 yards, but turned two interceptions and a fumble into touchdowns.
“A win's a win,” said CV coach Jacob Lane. “I'm just happy for the young men. They came out and played hard. We had some mistakes here and there, some penalties that were costly, but overall I'm glad that we got a W tonight. They played together for the most part. I'm proud of that, so I was happy about that.”
It was homecoming for the Redskins, and that’s just one more distraction to deal with.
“At Sayre we do so many fun things, but it's also hard to play a football game after that,” Kapichok said. “I don't know what to say about it, but there's a lot going on for homecoming and It's hard to get up for the game, but the guys did.”
With CV already leading, 7-0, on a Dave Hess 20-yard run in the first quarter, Hess jumped in front of a pass and returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown midway through the second period. He added the PAT run to make it 15-0.
Gavin Churchill would connect with Cam Stahli on a 40-yard TD pass at the halftime buzzer and a failed PAT kick left CV ahead at the break, 21-0.
The Redskins would get on the scoreboard on the opening possession of the second half on Riley Johnson’s 1-yard plunge. The TD, which covered 75 yards in 12 plays and consumed 4 ½ minutes. Hudson Malanoski’s PAT kick trimmed the lead to 21-7.
The Indians would get the ball at midfield when Riley Stidful swallowed up a short looping kickoff. Four plays later, Hess would score on a 21-yard run, but a bad snap denied CV a chance to kick the extra point. With 5:54 on the clock, the Indians would extend their lead to 27-7.
The Redskins would cough up the pigskin on their ensuing possession on a bad snap which was recovered by CV’s Ryson Brown at the Sayre 25.
Despite four penalties, Churchill and Stahli would hook up for a 28-yard TD pass at 10:17 of the fourth quarter. The PAT kick was unsuccessful, making it 33-7.
CV’s final TD came following Hess’s second interception of the night. This one came at midfield and despite a block in the back penalty on the play, and two additional flaggings, the Indians would score again. Churchill would hit Stahli for a 54-yard gain down to the one and CV punched it in on the next play. Mason Wonderlich split the uprights with the PAT kick to give the Indians a 40-7 advantage.
“One thing we preached this whole season is it's a process,” Lane said. “We're not looking at the goal. We're looking at the process, each play. And you're going to make mistakes as you go. Two claps, you drop it, we move on, and I think tonight they did that. They had some errors, mistakes, and we recuperated and went back out and kept playing hard."
Kapichok gave credit to the CV coaching staff.
“I think we got outcoached,” he said. “They're a good coaching staff over there and every adjustment we made, they were like a play ahead. They took advantage of some big plays. They were jumping our snap count and by the time we adjusted, it was almost too late. We thought we could run power and we just couldn't get it in there. They put some linebackers up in the D-line and they were quicker than we expected and so we kind of got whooped there until we got adjusted, but the guys showed heart. We kept it clean, you know, as much as we could.”
Sayre would score twice in the final six minutes.
Quin Chandler would outjump a CV defender in the end zone for a 13-yard TD pass from Declan Barry with 5:04 on the clock and Malinowski made the PAT kick to make the score 40-14.
Malanoski bulled his way into the end zone with 1:55 to play to make it a 40-20 final.
Kapichok praised the efforts of his three senior starters, Barry, Chandler and Malanoski — and noting Chandler’s TD reception.
“We got Quin a touchdown,” he said. “We were trying to get that because he's a senior and hadn't had one.
“We have a good group of kids that are tight and we bicker amongst each other, but they love each other. So that's the goal. We're playing hard. I feel like we're a better team than we are putting out there.
It was just one of those nights where Sayre couldn't really get things clicking.
“Like the passes that we want, like the kid jumped in front of, is a great play, but we thought that would be open and (Hess) picked it. And then your quarterback gets a little shaky and it's tough. Football's tough. You’ve got to get 11 guys clicking together and we just couldn't quite get it.”
CV outgained Sayre, 351-186.
Hess rushed for 130 yards on 18 carries as the Indians picked up 175 yards on 33 rushes. The Indians had 176 yards through the air with Churchill going 5-for-15 for 165 yards.Stahli caught four passes for 144 yards.
Malanoski was a workhorse for the Redskins, toting the rock 21 times for 123 yards and grabbing one pass for another 16 yards. Chandler had three receptions for 52 yards.
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IN PHOTO 1: Sayre’s Quin Chandler. IN TOP PHOTO: Sayre’s Tyrese Hayes (5) and Hudson Malanoski. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR
