Tuesday the Pembroke 7th and 8th grade modified football team traveled to Alexander. Unfortunately the the trip was not a lot of fun for the Dragons, as they lost to the host team 56-13.
More pictures of the game can be seen here.
The Dragons will host Attica at 9:30 AM on Saturday at Pembroke.
The Genesee Community College Women’s Soccer team lost to Jamestown Community College-Cattaraugus 2-0 on Tuesday night, falling to 5-9 on the season.
The Lady Cougars kept the 7th ranked team in NJCAA Division III off the board for the majority of the first half. It wasn’t until the 36th minute that Ashley Skelly gave the Jaguars a 1-0 lead, scoring on a breakaway. The score remained 1-0 into the half.
In the second half, Jamestown controlled the tempo by keeping play in GCC’s end. Goalkeeper Amanda Brown did a nice job in net to keep the Lady Cougars in the game. Skelly was able to beat Brown in the 23rd minute however, to give Jamestown-Cattaraugus a 2-0 lead, which they would hold on to for the win.
GCC’s best chance came late in the second half when Morgan Glover (Belmont, NY) fired a ball just inside the box off of a corner kick. Catching the goalkeeper out of position, it was a Jaguar defender that stepped in to make the save.
GCC falls a game below .500 in conference play (3-4) and will play at home on Saturday, October 15th at 11am against SUNY Delhi.
The Genesee Community College Women’s Volleyball team went 3-1 at the Hagerstown Community College volleyball tournament this weekend, losing only in their final match of the tournament to Rockville 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25.
Paige Tilert was named the tournament MVP. She ended the tournament with 84 digs, 17 aces and 9 kills. Named to the all-tournament team were Carrie Blunt and Sabrina Wilhoite. Blunt finished the weekend with 32 kills, 15 digs and 2 blocks. Wilhoite tallied 49 aces, 19 digs and 6 aces.
Maria Antsupova had a strong tournament with 105 digs, 17 aces and 16 kills. Kristie Barger added 95 digs, 16 aces, 3 blocks and 10 kills. Karin Davis lead the team with 62 assists and added 11 aces. Olivia Engel contributed 20 kills and 9 blocks, and Deliane Lessard had 59 digs, 32 kills, 15 blocks and 10 aces.
The Lady Cougars will host Niagara County Community College for their next match on Tuesday, October 18th at home at 6pm.
Elba/Byron-Bergen shutout Oakfield-Alabama 49-0. Zack Dubois ran the ball 18 times for 146 yards and two TDs. Zac Gillard completed eight of nine passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Ramsey had three receptions for 105 yards and two TDs. Cody Naylor had a three-yard TD run. Tommy Manzella completed 12 for 128 yards for the Hornets. Ben Langdon had five receptions for 44 yards.
Several players had big games for the Lancers (5-1), including Gabe Stempin who had a 48-yard return on an interception. Andy Boyce had seven tackles, half a sack and a fumble recovery. Brandon Naylor had six tackles and twice was involved in sacks. Alex Jasinski had five tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. Emiliano Acosta had five tackles, a sack, and half of another. O-A is 0-6 on the season.
Batavia HS lost to Wellsville on homecoming night 38-6. No stats are available for the game.
Le Roy fell to 3-3 with a loss to Letchworth, 42-7. Tommy McQuillen rushed for 123 yards on 19 carries, scoring the Oatkan Knights lone TD.
Genesee Region League leader Barker moved to 6-0 with a 36-14 win over Attica.
Alexander picked up its first win of the season over Holley by a score of 39-7. No stats are available for this game.
In a game in which Pembroke went into the second quarter with a lead and a chance to beat the always tough Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the Dragons ended up 24 points off the mark.
The Irish dominated on offense and defense from midway through the second quarter, scoring three TDs in the second quarter and a TD and field goal in the third.
Brothers McCulley, Tim and Doane, led the Notre Dame (5-1) offense with Tim tossing four touchdowns and completing six passes for 187 yards. Doane had two TD receptions and gained a total of 101 yards.
Nate Woods also scored twice, once on a passing play and once on a running play. Woods had 75 total yards.
Andrew Mullen came up big on offense and defense. On offense, he scored on a 35-yard pass play, his only reception of the day, and on defense had 10 tackles. Nick Taylor, Nick Conklin and Doane McCulley each had eight tackles with Taylor adding a QB sack.
For Pembroke (2-4), QB Cody Bedard carried the weight of the offense after running back Wyatt Chittenden was injured early in the game.
Bedard ran the ball 33 times for 120 yards, including one TD run. He completed five passes for 51 yards and had one interception.
Luke Thomas and Steve Weaver had five tackes each for the Dragons and Zack Franclemont had the team's lone sack.
Pembroke's other TD was scored by Trevor Gray, who carried the ball twice for four yards.
Notre Dame had 309 yards total offense, to Pembroke's 227.
If you're unable to view the slide show, click here.
The second seeded Genesee Community College Men’s Baseball team came back after trailing 3-0 to win the Western New York Athletic Conference Championship, 7-3 over the number one seed Mercyhurst North East on Saturday evening at Dwyer Stadium.
Cougars starting pitcher Dan Sharpe (Youngstown, NY) allowed two runs in the first inning after giving up two hits and walking two. He allowed another run on two hits in the second inning before settling down.
Trailing 3-0 in the home half of the second inning, the Cougars responded by scoring two runs on RBI singles from Brandon Collins (Toronto, Canada) and Bryan Depew (Wellsville, NY). Zach Ranta (Stoney Creek, Ontario) tied the game at 3 in the very next inning when he scored on an errant throw after a base hit from Brian Nieves.
With a tie score, Sharpe settled in and did not allow a single hit after the second inning. He finished the game throwing 8 and 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, struck out 5 and earned the win.
(Fauchedre Celestijn celebrates after hitting a three-run homerun in WNYAC Championship game)
GCC took the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI single from Ramon Vega (San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico) that scored Ranta to give the Cougars a 4-3 advantage. Fauchedre Celestijn (Willemstad, Curacao) followed with a three-run homerun to give Genesee a 7-3 lead, a lead they would hold on to for the win.
(The GCC fall championship baseball team)
The Cougars finish the fall season with 13 wins and 2 losses in conference play and earn their first fall title since 2009.
In the WNYAC semi finals, the GCC Men’s Baseball team defeated Erie Community College 5-1 to advance to the championship game.
Cougars starter Adam Pratt (Batavia, NY) threw 8 and 1/3 innings, allowing a run on 5 hits, struck out 7 and walked 3.
(Batavia High School graduate Adam Pratt pitches GCC into the WNYAC Championship game with a 5-1 win over Erie Community College)
GCC jumped out to an early lead when Tyler Koronas (Naples, FL) delivered an RBI singled that scored the lead off hitter Shakeel Newton (Christiansted, Virgin Islands) who reached on an error in the bottom of the first. Koronas would later scored on an RBI ground out by Brian Nieves (San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico) to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
The Cougars added a run in the 3rd, 5th and 7th innings and finished with 11 hits in the game. Fauchedre Celestijn went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s and Koronas finished the game going 2-4 with a run batted in and a run scored.
The Genesee Community College Men’s Soccer team increased their unbeaten streak to twelve games with an 8-0 win over Jamestown Community College on Thursday night. The win also officially clinches the regular season Western New York Athletic Conference title.
The Cougars got off to a very fast start, scoring thirty seconds into the game when Sean Brettel (Welwyn City, England) beat the Jamestown goalkeeper. GCC scored six first half goals, including another one from Brettel in the 18th minute. Ryan Fredal (Bloomfield Hills, MI) Dominic Francis (Huddersfield, England), Sam Cassidy (Cork City, Ireland) and Theo Stamatopolous (Norwich, England) all added goals for GCC.
The second half was more of the same as the Cougars dominated play and controlled the tempo. GCC added two second half goals, including a second goal from Sam Cassidy.
The shutout is Genesee’s 8th clean sheet of the season. The Cougars improve to 10-0-2 on the year and will play again on Tuesday, October 18th at 4pm at Herkimer Community College.
(Photo: #14 Sean Brettel scores two goals in the Cougars 8-0 win over Jamestown Community College on Thursday night)
The Genesee Community College Women’s Soccer team lost a tough 1-0 contest against Jamestown Community College on Thursday night.
Both teams played a physical match from start to finish. After a scoreless first half, JCC scored the game’s only goal in the 27th minute of the second half when Ashley Skelly found the back of the net. The Cougars best chance to tie the game came when a corner kick from Emily Troup (Holley, NY) traveled all the way through the goal crease, but could not be cashed in.
The Lady Cougars fall to 5-8 on the season and will play once again on Tuesday, October 11th at 7pm at home against Jamestown-Olean.
(Picture: The Lady Cougars huddle up in the second half of their 1-0 loss against Jamestown Community College)
The Genesee Community College Women’s Volleyball team cruised to a three sets to none win over Mercyhurst North East on Thursday night, winning 25-16, 25-17, 25-19. Paige Tilert, who entered Thursday night’s match ranked second in all of Division II in digs per set, lead the team with 28 digs and also added 4 kills. Maria Antsupova, who entered the match ranked 13th in Division II in digs per set, tallied 23 digs. Carrie Blunt lead the team in kills with 19 and Karin Davis chipped in with 16 assists. The Lady Cougars only trailed once in the match when they were down 2-3 in the open set. Sabrina Wilhoite served to the next six points and GCC did not trail again. GCC will travel to Maryland for the Hagerstown Community College Tournament. The two-day tournament will start on Saturday, October 8th and end Sunday, October 9th.
(Photo: Carrie Blunt goes up for the kill in GCC's 3-0 win over Mercyhurst North East)Running back Zach Dubois helped carry Elba/Byron-Bergen to a 19-14 victory over Notre Dame.
Dubois had 152 yards on 23 carries, scoring three touchdowns.
Elba/BB (4-1) jumped out to a 12-0 first-quarter lead, with Dubois scoring on runs of three and four yards. The first TD followed a fumble by the Fighting Irish on the opening kickoff.
Sophomore Quarterback Tim McCulley was involved in both of Norte Dame's TDs, rushing three yards in the second quarter to score and tossing a third-quarter TD to Nick Taylor on a 10-yard pass play.
Dubois scored earlier in the third quarter on a 62-yard run, which proved to be the decisive score.
Tom Fowler led the Elba/BB defense with 15 tackles, including four for a loss. Alex Jasinski had five tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Cody Naylor had seven tackles and one sack.
The Lancers had 253 total yards compared to 173 for Notre Dame (4-1), however, time of possession was greatly in Notre Dame's favor, 29:59 to 18:01.
For Notre Dame, Nick Taylor had 61 yards on 16 carries. McCulley had 83 yards passing.
With Notre Dame's loss and Baker's 49-7 win over Holley, Barker is in sole possession of first place in the Genesee Region League at 5-0.
In other Genesee County football action:
Alexander fell to 0-5 with a 26-7 loss to Attica (4-1). Lucas Phillips scored Alexander's lone TD, a 48-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Le Roy, now 3-2, scored 35 points in the second quarter on its way to a 62-26 win over Perry (1-4). Tommy McQuillen had 213 yards rushing on 18 carries, scoring six TDs. Andy Lowe completed all eight pass attempts for 136 yards and two TDs. Jeremy Poles had three receptions for 55 yards.
No stats are available on the following games:
Hornell beat Batavia 49-7; Pembroke beat Oakfield-Alabama 43-22.
Press release:
The Rochester Red Wings announced today that the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, will play 37 of their home games at Frontier Field in 2012 while their ballpark in Scranton (PNC Field) undergoes a $40-million renovation.
Batavia’s Dwyer Stadium, home of the New York-Penn League short-season Single-A Batavia Muckdogs, who are managed and operated by Rochester Community Baseball, Inc., will host seven games.
“We are delighted to be able to bring these additional Triple-A baseball games to the fans of the Rochester and Batavia areas," said Red Wings President/CEO/COO Naomi Silver. "This expanded schedule will provide lots more opportunities for our fans to enjoy additional games during the upcoming season. We’ve put a considerable amount of time and effort into working with the Scranton ballclub to make this a reality.
“We very much appreciate the franchises in Rochester, Batavia, Syracuse, Buffalo, Lehigh Valley and Pawtucket welcoming us into their stadiums and hosting our SWB Triple-A team’s games next season. We will establish our base of operations in Rochester with more than half our home games played right there in Rochester.
New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said: "This will be a very interesting experience for our players and we’re looking forward to having our highest-level prospects playing in front of the legions of Yankees fans all across Upstate New york and into Allentown and Pawtucket. In 2013, we will return to Scranton Wilkes-Barre to a dramatically rebuilt stadium which will be our Triple-A home for a very long time."
“We are all excited about this opportunity, but we are also aware of the challenges that are ahead of us as an organization. Without a staff like we currently have in place, we wouldn’t have been able to consider this opportunity. We feel there is no better place than Frontier Field for Scranton to play,” Silver added.
The International League has approved the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees plan to play all 72 of their 2012 home games at alternate locations while renovations to PNC Field take place this off-season.
International League President Randy Mobley said: "As the title of a current article in 'Baseball America' states 'Passion Runs Deep in Rochester.' There are many baseball-loving communities in Minor League Baseball, but there is none that has supported the game for a longer period of time or loves the game any greater than in Rochester. There may not be another community or organization in Minor League Baseball that could tackle this challenge in this manner.
"The International League is grateful to both the Red Wings and Muckdogs organizations for being the cornerstone elements in establishing a home base for the Scranton/W-B Yankees games in 2012."
For the last several weeks, SWB Yankees LLC and the International League have been working diligently on a final proposal to have Scranton/Wilkes-Barre play all their home games at alternate locations in 2012.
“From an economic development standpoint it will also be a home run for our community because it will create more jobs, fill more hotel rooms, and spur on more business in our community thanks to the Yankees and visiting teams being here for those additional 37 dates," said Red Wings General Manager Dan Mason.
"This should also be an economic boom for Batavia as well as a great opportunity for Muckdogs fans to see Triple-A baseball in their own backyard for the first time ever."
Scranton, for the most part, will make Upstate NY their home away from home in 2012. In addition to the 37 home games at Frontier Field, Scranton will play six home games in Buffalo, seven in Batavia, and 10 in Syracuse.
Scranton will also play eight games in Lehigh Valley and four games in Pawtucket.
“The International league has always prided itself in helping each other out when needed," Mason said. "The Scranton/W-B club needed a place to play and we were happy to come to their assistance along with our North Division partners in Buffalo, Syracuse, Pawtucket and Lehigh Valley. This is a shining example of the spirit of cooperation within the International League."
Alexander moved their overall and league record to 7-0 on the season with a 3-1 win against Elba last Wednesday at home and following that up with a 3-1 win last night home to Kendall.
In the Elba match Senior Forward had 2 goals, one in each half, while Freshman Defender Sydney Breton picked up her first varsity goal late in the game to seal the victory. Sophomore Forward Korie Leitten assisted on Pettys' first goal while Junior Midfielder Abby Shilvock assisted on the last 2 goals. Sophomore keeper Jess DeAngelo made 3 saves in goal to pick up the win.
Last night Alexander welcomed Kendall to their field and came away with a 3-1 victory. Senior Forward Julia Pettys converted passes from Freshman Midfielder Breyana Crawford and Junior Midfielder Becca Bykowski in the 1st half to stake Alexander to a 2-0 halftime lead. Shortly after halftime, with Alexander struggling to get any sort of soccer going, Kendall sent a cross into the middle of the field. Alexander nearly scored an own goal, but the ball came off the post right to a Kendall attacker who found the net to make it 2-1. Sophomore Forward Lydia Spiotta converted a Pettys pass to make the score 3-1 later on in the match. Sophomore keeper Jess DeAngelo had 4 saves in net to pick up the win.
Defenders Gabby Kwiatek (Junior), Sarah Loranty (Junior), Sydney Breton (Freshman), and Ashlee Wolf (Junior) all had strong games anchoring the back line and limiting what Kendall was able to do.
Thursday Alexander travels to Wheatland-Chili in a matchup of the leagues top 2 teams - Alexander is currently 7-0 in the league while Wheatland-Chili is 6-0-1. Game time is 6:30pm.
The final games of another great season of Tri-Town Youth Athletics soccer were held on Monday night.
The Tri-Town Youth Athletics program was rejuvenated this year with the induction of new President Wade Smith and Vice President Lisa Lyons. The snack bar was always open, and fundraising helped offset rising costs allowing more families to participate than ever.
Capping off what was mostly a rain-free and fun-filled season was the traditional pizza party, this year sponsored by Breton Construction.
For further information on the Tri-Town Youth Athletics Association and upcoming basketball sign-ups, please contact Wade Smith at 585-345-0665 or 585-201-1357.
More pictures from the year can be found at Francletography.com
Elba/Byron-Bergen (3-1) rolled over Holley 28-0, with all of the Lancers' points coming in the first half. Zack Gilliard completed 10 passes for 171 yards and two TDs. Matt Ramsey caught three passes, all for touchdowns, and had 107 receiving yards. Zack DuBois had 121 yards rushing. Nate Jonathan led a powerful Lancer defense with 10 tackles and a sack. Brandon Naylor, in only his second game up on varsity, recorded nine tackles, including his second sack of the season and his third forced fumble in two games. Holley is now 1-3.
Alexander played tough again, but came up short in overtime in a 17-14 loss to Notre Dame. Notre Dame, with four wins, remains undefeated on the season. Notre Dame put together its victory with an interception by Tim McCulley and four plays later, McCulley booted a 35-yard field goal. McCulley was 9-18 passing for 95 yards and two TDs. Nick Conklin carried the ball eight times for 56 yards. Nick Taylor had 13 tackles and Doane McCulley had nine and a sack. For Alexander (0-4), Austin Heberlein had 11 carries for 65 yards and Lucas Phillips added 109 yards rushing on 13 carries. Mark Farnsworth completed nine passes for 131. Alexander had 338 total yards compared to ND's 249.
Pembroke dropped to 1-3 with a loss to Attica, 14-6. Wyatt Chittenden gained 107 yards on the ground.
Baker beat Oakfield-Alabama 54-22. The Hornets are now 0-4 on the year.
Le Roy beat Batavia, 48-35 (coverage).
Genesee Region standings:
1. Barker, 4-0
1. Notre Dame, 4-0
3. Attica, 3-1
3. Elba/Byron-Bergen, 3-1
5. Holley, 1-3
5. Pembroke, 1-3
7. Oakfield-Alabama, 0-4
7. Alexander, 0-4
Next week's schedule:
Friday: Batavia at Hornell, 7 p.m.; Oakfield-Alabama at Pembroke, 7 p.m.; Attica at Alexander, 7 p.m.; Perry at Le Roy, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Notre Dame at Elba/Byron-Bergen, 7 p.m. The Section V website had the wrong time. We've confirmed the game is at 1:30 p.m.
More than 150 people turned out in Elba today for the Genesee ARC 5K run and walk race.
The overall winner was Michael Richenberg, of Elba, with a time of 17:45, a course record in the seventh year of the race. It's Richenberg's ninth 5K win of the season.
Fifty-one-year-old David O'Leary was second overall and first in the 50-59 age group with a time of 18:43.
Third overall was Michael Skowkronski, 14, of Rochester, with a time of 20:32. Skowkronski won the 13-18 category. The next best time in that age group was 23:05.
The top female runner was Jill Graney, 26, of Buffalo, at 21:57.
Click on the following links for complete results: Overall Results, Award Winners by Age Group, Complete Age Group Results, Walk Results
If you have trouble viewing the slide show, click here.
Tonight's seventh race at Batavia Downs Casino, the Open Trot, is named in honor of a great lady that Western New York harness racing fans won’t soon forget. Live racing programs will feature a special insert highlighting some of Mary Ann Sarama-Luce’s harness racing career.
The Mary Ann Sarama-Luce Memorial Trot will be in recognition of a great mother, person, horseman and friend to so many in Western New York. She passed away in July after a long battle with leukemia. She was 73.
Mary Ann was introduced into the business when she met Danny Sarama in the late 1960s. From that point, she and Danny teamed up to own the successful Mardan stable, that included the pacer You Devil You, who won 10 races in a row in 1976.
In the early 1980s, after separating from Danny, she continued on as both a trainer and a driver. Her best year as a driver came in 1983 when she won 21 races. Throughout her driving career she won 109 races. In 1990 she turned the lines over to her son, Carl Surdyk.
On the training side, she conditioned 107 winners, including four this year. Her purse earnings exceeded $334,000. Some of the top horses she trained included Gold Bandit N, Top Dog Alex, Top Dog Nicholas, Easy L-Bar and Guy-Lee Debbie.
Harness racing was her number-one priority and passion,” her daughter Lynette Mcgiveron said. “Her horses were the driving force behind her battle to recover. Even in her final days she worried more about her horses then herself."
"A fierce competitor both as a trainer and a driver,” was the best way Bruce Tubin, president of the Western New York Harness Horsemen's Association, described Mary Ann. “I have fond memories competing against and working with her. She’ll be missed by all."
Alexander picked up two recent wins to move their record to 5-0 on the season.
Last Thursday Alexander picked up a 9-0 win over Oakfield thanks to 4 goals from Senior Forward Julia Pettys, 4 goals from Junior Midfielder Abby Shilvock, and 1 goal from Junior Midfielder Maria Dominick. Assists in the game went to Sophomore Forward Korie Leitten (2), Sophomore Midfielder Emily Alvut, Dominick, Pettys, and Shilvock. Senior Amanda Bender had 3 saves in goal for her 3rd win and 1st shutout of the season.
Monday Alexander traveled to Pembroke and played a very good all around game picking up an 8-0 win. Senior Forward Julia Pettys again lead the way with 5 goals (all in the 1st half) while Junior Midfielder Abby Shilvock, Junior Midfielder Maria Dominick, and Junior Defender Gabby Kwiatek all found the net once. Dominick had 2 assists, Junior Defender Ashlee Wolf had 1, Sophomore Midfielder Lydia Spiotta had 1, Shilvock had 1, and Kwiatek had 1. Senior Amanda Bender played the first portion of the game and did not have to make a save while Sophomore Jess DeAngelo played the remainder of the game and made 2 saves as they combined for the shutout.
Alexander's next game is Wednesday at home against Elba 4:30pm.
In a battle of 1-1 teams, Elba rolled over Pembroke 46-20 behind the six TDs of Zach Dubois. The Lancers jumped out to a 18-0 first-half lead, and even with the Dragons scoring twice in the third quarter, Elba added 21 points of their own to the scoreboard.
Dubois scored three times in the first half on short runs, but really broke loose in the second half, scoring on runs of 53, 48 and 57 yards. In all, Dubois carried the ball 22 times for 296 yards.
Overall, Elba had 420 yards of offense. Elba's Matt Ramsey had three catches for 73 yards. The Dragon's QB, Cody Bedard, was 17 of 34 for 175 yards and two TDs. Wyatt Chittenden for Pembroke, 18 carries, 75 yards, eight receptions for 135 yards, two TDs.
Elba's defensive stats: Andy Boyce, 15 tackles, one sack; Matt Ramsey, seven tackles, fumble recovery returned for a TD; Cody Naylor, 10 tackles, one sack; Brandon Naylor, six tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles.
Le Roy dropped to 1-2 with a loss to Avon, 34-20. Tommy McQuillen rushed for three touchdowns for Le Roy.
Batavia also dropped to 1-2 with a 20-17 loss to Livonia. T.T. Martinez racked up 171 rushing yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Brett Scheurline was 9-for-20 for 109 yards.
Batavia visits Le Roy this Friday for a non-league game.
Alexander lost to Barker 16-7.
For our coverage at Notre Dame vs. Oakfield-Alabama, click here.
Photos by Destin Danser.
Coming off two disappointing seasons and starting the 2011 season 0-2, it would be easy to dismiss a game against Oakfield-Alabama as a bye week, but as any coach in the Genesee Region will tell you, there's no squad in the league that can be taken lightly.
There's no telling if the Fighting Irish took the Hornets a little less than serious coming into Friday night's league match-up, but O-A's young players certainly made a game of it.
The final score was 29-14, but the Hornets were never really out of it until the final minutes, and at the half looked like a team that could spoil Notre Dame's early season perfect record.
"They're very well coached," said Notre Dame's head Coach Rick Mancuso. "Brian (Palone) is doing a great job. That (Tommy) Manzella kid is a terrific quarterback. They're tough, there's no doubt about it. They spread you out all over, they throw the ball. I give them all the credit in the world. I thought they played very well tonight."
Palone said his team is young. They let the game get away from them when Nate Woods returned a punt 50 yards for a TD, making the score 15-14 following a two-point conversion.
"That changed the momentum," Palone said.
While Manzella showed he could still march his offense down the field -- he passed for 192 yards on the night on 27 completions -- the Hornets couldn't finish the deal in the red zone.
"Overall I fell like we were right in there," Palone said. "Our kids were fighting hard just like we ask them -- 'give 110 percent.' We’ve got a lot of sophomores out there. We’re just very young this year, so we’re going to make mistakes, but we’re just going to learn from our mistakes and improve."
The scoring started in the first quarter when Nick Taylor capped a Notre Dame drive with a 16-yard run.
But O-A's no-huddle offensive helped the Hornets get the momentum back and the defense was being pretty stingy, twice intercepting Tim McCulley.
Two O-A drives in the second quarter ended in TDs -- a three-yard run by Manzella and a two-yard pass by Manzella to Chris Nanni.
By the fourth quarter, Notre Dame's running game was nearly unstoppable.
Taylor finished the game with 87 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Nick Conklin had 82 yards rushing on 11 carries.
ND's two fourth-quarter TDs were a five-yard run by Taylor and Woods hauling in a 25-yard pass from McCulley.
McCulley finished with 107 in the air on 16 completions.
Mancuso said his young team played two great quarters to start each of their previous games and then "sort of frittered it away" in second halfs, but Friday the team played better in the second half than the first.
"With a young group of kids like we've got, that's what you expect," Mancuso said. "I want to get us to the point where we're playing four full quarters of football."
As for O-A, which was shut out three times in 2010 on its way to a 0-7 season, following a 2-5 campaign in 2009, Coach Palone is disappointed in his team's 0-3 start, but he said he's seeing progress for the Hornets.
"I feel like this program is heading in the right direction," Palone said. "Every day and each and every game you can see that we’re improving. We’re hanging right in there with these teams now, where last year and the year before we weren’t right in there with the games. They were breaking the games wide open. This year, we're right there."
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