BY PAUL LIOTTI
EAST ROCHESTER – ER-Gananda’s Jayden Castrechini accounted for 203 total yards and 2 TDs but it was a late-game fourth-down stand that pushed the Bombers to a 24-20 homecoming victory over Finger Lakes East rival Geneva Saturday night.
The Bombers, who controlled the game through the first 3 quarters building a 24-6 lead, watched as the Panthers mounted a rally that saw them score twice in the final 8 minutes and had the ball for one last drive in the final 2 minutes. But a shift in the defensive formation on the last drive forced Geneva into 4 consecutive incompletions to seal the game.
“It seemed like we were hanging on for dear life at the end, but we made some defensive adjustments in our secondary going to a cover 4-deep zone and it worked out,” ER-G coach Brian Touranjoe said of his squad ranked 17th NYSSWA Class C. “We wanted to keep everything in front of us and make tackles underneath.”
The move to zone defense was required because the Panthers’ speed on the outside was too much for the Bombers to handle. It was especially so when Geneva QB Wyatt Patchett hit Quincey Johnson on a 33-yard fly pattern for a score to pull the Panthers (2-3) to within 24-20 with 5:50 left in the game. Earlier in the game Patchett connected with WR Javon Loucks on a 51-yard wheel route down the sideline to pull within 8-6 when Loucks simply ran by the corner back.
“I was proud of our kids the way they responded (after Geneva pulled to within 4) and we couldn’t convert on fourth down,” Touranjoe said. “Sometimes when that happens you hang your head, but we hung tough and stopped them on downs.”
Touranjoe was referring to the ER-G’s final drive where it could have run out the clock if it converted one more first down. On that series, Geneva stopped 255-pound Bomber QB Corywn Cleveland twice on 3rd-and-2 and 4th-and-1 and the Panthers had life with 2:35 left on its own 40 yard line. Patchett connected with Johnson who took it to the ER-G 38-yard line, but two penalties and 4 incompletions spelled doom for the Panthers.
“I was happy with the way the kids hung in there tonight,” Geneva coach Mike Pane said. “We played for 4 quarters probably for the first time this season, but in the end a couple of penalties that we couldn’t overcome.”
Geneva’s game plan was simple enough: Load the box with defenders and try to contain the ER-G running attack headlined by Castrechini, who entered the game with 994 all purpose yards in 4 games – including 859 on the ground.
“(Castrechini) is a heckuva player. He’s tough to bring down and his legs never stop moving,” Pane said. “Our game plan was to bring as many hats to the ball on every play and we did that for the most part, but he broke free on some runs and they completed some passes that hurt us.”
The Panthers did slow down the Bombers, but it wasn’t enough as ER-G’s offensive line moved the pile early and often which led to a 24-6 lead midway through the 3rd quarter.
“They were putting 9 guys in the box but I got the best offensive line in Class C and they got it done for me tonight,” said Castrechini, who carried the ball 26 times for 183 yards and caught 2 passes for 20 yards. “It was a tough game.”
Castrechini holds his line in high regard despite its youth. A very young team, the 4-1 Bombers are staking their claim on their big uglies up front that are just as young and inexperienced. But they know what their opposition’s game plan will be and so far this season they have been successful.
“We know teams are going to load up up front and try to stop Jayden,” Touranjoe said. “But Corywn’s running well as is TJ (Swagler), and our line is really coming together, which is nice to see as we only have 4 seniors on our entire team and only 1 on the offensive line. We are young and our line is just as young with only 2 returning starters.”
Castrechini opened the scoring after collecting a 17-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone on opening drive of the game. He also added the conversion run to give the Bombers an 8-0 lead. Then in the second quarter he added a 2-run TD and was on the receiving end of a Cleveland pass for the 2-point conversion to give ER-G a 16-6 halftime lead.
ER-G extended the lead to 24-6 late in the 3rd quarter when Cleveland tossed his second scoring pass of the game, this time hitting Colin Bryant from 21 yards out. Cleveland then powered in for the two-point conversion.
For the game, Cleveland finished 6-10 for 89 yards and the 2 TDs. He also rushed for 25 yards on 19 bruising carries. For the game, ER-G rolled up 242 yards on 51 carries.
Patchett completed 11-of-27 passes for 194 yards and 2 scores, hitting his favorite target in Loucks who had 4 grabs for 126 yards.
| Geneva | 0 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 20 |
| ERG | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 24 |
| Scoring | |||||||
| ERG | Jayden Castrechini 20 pass from Corywn Cleveland (Jayden Castrechini run) | ||||||
| Geneva | Javon Loucks 51 pass from Wyatt Patchett (pass failed) | ||||||
| ERG | Jayden Castrechini 2 run (Corywn Cleveland (Jayden Castrechini pass from Corywn Cleveland) | ||||||
| ERG | Colin Bryant 21 pass from Corywn Cleveland (Corwyn Cleveland run) | ||||||
| Geneva | Wyatt Patchett 2 run (Wyatt Patchett run) | ||||||
| Geneva | Quincey Johnson 33 pass from Wyatt Patchett (kick failed) | ||||||
| Rushing | |||||||
| Geneva | Dugan Doeblin 14-65, Beka Bekauri 2-15, Wyatt Patchett 6-7, Messiah Brooks 1-3, Quincey Johnson 1-2, Malik Gramling 1-0, | ||||||
| ERG | Jayden Castrechini 26-183, TJ Swagler 6-34, Corywn Cleveland 19-25 | ||||||
| Passing | |||||||
| Geneva | Wyatt Patchett 11-27-194-2-1 | ||||||
| ERG | Corywn Cleveland 6-10-89-2-1, Colin Bryant 0-1-0-0-0 | ||||||
| Receiving | |||||||
| Geneva | Dugan Doeblin 14-65, Beka Bekauri 2-15, Wyatt Patchett 6-7, Messiah Brooks 1-3, Quincey Johnson 1-2, Malik Gramling 1-0 | ||||||
| ERG | Jerry Brongo 1-29, Colin Bryant 1-21, Jayden Castrechini 2-20, TJ Swagler 2-12 | ||||||
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