Hilton front 7 dominates, cruises to Homecoming win over Athena

BY PAUL LIOTTI

HILTON – If defense wins championship, the Hilton Cadets are dialing up all the right moves.

In a performance that would rival the ’85 Chicago Bears, the Cadets held Greece Athena to -18 yards rushing on 25 attempts and ran away with a 36-7 victory in front of standing-room-only Homecoming crowd Friday night at LeBeau Field.

“We have been playing pretty good defense for the most part this season, but in the first half we missed some tackles and mix-ups in the secondary which led to their score,” Hilton coach Rich Lipani said. “We were a little sluggish in the first half but made some adjustments and played much better in the second half.”

Hilton (5-1) debuted this week in the NYS Sportswriters Association Class AA ranking at #26 and has now won 5-straight games. It’s positioning itself for a deep Sectional run starting in 2 weeks. After a 17-3 loss to Fairport in the opener, the Cadets are doing what they do best: employ a pound-and-ground offense and an aggressive hard-nose defense.

That said, the first 2 offensive touchdowns on Friday came uncharacteristically through the air both from QB Ryan Butts to Tahjae Hill. Then in the 3^rd Quarter, a 21-point explosion came on the ground as the Cadets ran 24 plays in the second half, 23 of them on the ground with most of the carries handled by senior workhorse Nick Romano.

“We’re growing as team more and more. Making the right reads and doing the little things right,” said Romano who had 80 hard-earned yards on 20 carries. “In the first half we were struggling offensively and were a little flat. But we picked it up in the second half and were much more effective.”

Hilton’s Noah Panepinto, who handles the place kicking and punting duties, set the tone for the Cadets just minutes into the game. After the Trojans stopped Hilton on its first series of the game at the 46, Panepinto booted the ball high and deep, not allowing a return and it bounced at the 15 and was downed at the 3 yard line. The next 2 plays laid the foundation for the Cadet’s “Little Shop of Horrors” for the Trojan run game.

On first down Trojan RB Kendale Williams barely got out of the end zone on the handoff and on the next play QB Sam Sheldon was sandwiched by Cadet defensive linemen Colin Burns and Mitch Carr 1-yard deep in the end zone for a safety.

After the safety, it didn’t take long for the Cadets to strike again. A 19-yard return by Romano set Hilton up at the Trojan 42 and on the first play, Butts hit Hill down the sideline for a 42-yard score. Panepinto drilled the extra point and suddenly it was 9-0 with just under 4 minutes played.

And it only got worse from there for the Trojans, who ran the ball 24 times, 13 of which were stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

“We had a good pass and completed some passes, but when you can’t run the ball it’s tough to be successful in football and we couldn’t run the ball,” Athena coach Rob Cerone said. “They are better up front. But we will regroup and hopefully play better next week.”

Panepinto also is adept at not allowing any returner to snatch momentum away from his team after a Cadet score thanks to his cannon-like a leg. Against the Trojans, 5 of his 6 kickoffs into the end zone, and, if you listen closely, the home PA announcer makes it sound like it’s the same old, same old when Panepinto kicks off. It goes something like: “Kickoff, end zone, touchback, starting at the 20”.

“We have been good all season kicking, but it’s just not me: I credit the holder, the snapper and the O-Line. It takes the whole unit,” Panepinto said. “And on kickoffs my goal is to put it in the end zone every time, unless we are kicking into the wind or have to kick it on the ground for whatever reason. Tonight was the first extra point we missed this season.”

“Noah is such a huge weapon for us and he works hard at it,” Lipani said of his senior kicker. “The best part about it is on kickoffs making the other team go 80 yards every time after we score is a great thing for us. And he’s done a great job for us punting too. We are definitely lucky to have him this year.”

Midway through the second period and eading 9-0, Butts and Hill connected again, this time on an 8-yard fade route where Butts lofted it up and the lanky 6-2 WR hauled it in. But the PAT failed…which was a rare occurrence for the Cadets, as it was the first Cadet missed point after try this season.

Athena (2-4) did make a game of it just before halftime, as QB Sam Sheldon connected with Johnny Salone for a 58-yard score. After racing down the sideline, Salone made a nice cutback move at the 15-yard line to get into the end zone. Jake Zielinski added the extra point and the Trojans were in striking distance at 15-7 heading into the lockerroom.

But that was as close as the Trojans would get.

With the Cadet defense only allowing 49 yards offense – 52 through the air and -3 yards on the ground – the Hilton offense scored 3 times in the third quarter: On a 2-yard run by Romano, a 55-yard end around run by Marquis Powell and then another TD by Romano this time from 5 yards out, which we set up by an interception by Matt Mojsej.

The Sheldon-to-Salone connection was one of the bright spots for the Trojans. The pair connected on 8 passes for 132 yards as Salone found gaps in the Hilton secondary and Sheldon didn’t miss the openings. On the night, Sheldon was 13-of-23 for 206 yards.

Athena	0	7	0	0		7
Hilton	9	6	21	0		36
Scoring
Hilton	Safety. Sam Sheldon tackled in end zone by Colin Burns/Mitch Carr
Hilton	Tahjae Hill 42 pass from Ryan Butts (Noah Panepinto kick)
Hilton	Tahjae Hill 8 pass from Ryan Butts (kick failed)
Athena	Johnny Salone 58 pass from Sam Sheldon (Jake Zielinski kick)
Hilton	Nick Romano rush 2 run (Noah Panepinto kick)
Hilton	Marquis Powell 55 run (Noah Panepinto kick)
Hilton	Nick Romano rush 5 run (Noah Panepinto kick)
Rushing
Athena	Tahjmir Kearse 9-5, Kendale Williams 1-(-2), Lorcen Miller 8-(-4), Kelvin Reaves 2-(-6), Sam Sheldon 5-(-11),
Hilton	Nick Romano 20-86, Marquis Powell 1-55, Ryan Butts 9-49, Tahjae Hill 2-37, Anthony Robertson 3-35, Mike Gizzi 1-2, Sean Meyers 3-11, Spencer Robison 1-8, Jack Loomis 1-3, Anthony Kessler 2-0, Peter Reyes 1-(-1)
Passing
Athena	Sam Sheldon 15-23-206-1-2
Hilton	Ryan Butts 3-8-62-2-1
Receiving
Athena	Johnny Salone 8-132, Lorcen Miller 2-47, Kelvin Reaves 3-14, Tahjmir Kearse 1-7, Tristan Ellison 1-6
Hilton	Tahjae Hill 3-62