BY PAUL LIOTTI
Penn Yan quarterback Will Rogers is on the brink of rewriting the Section V season passing records, and East Rochester-Gananda running back Jaden Castrechini is ready to do what few running backs have ever done as their teams prepare for the Class C semifinals.
Rogers, a 6-3, 187-pound senior, is just one touchdown and 318 yards from breaking those season standards set by Aquinas’ Jake Zembiec in 2015. Sitting at 2,712 yards and 37 touchdowns, Rogers one touchdown toss would break a tie with Zembiec, and if he hits his season-average of 339 yards, he will shatter the 3,030-standard of Zembiec. Rogers already owns the Sectional pass percentage mark as he has completed 75.0% (198-264) of his passes.
On the state’s passing charts, he currently sits at 27th all time. Unless Penn Yan advances far into the state playoffs, breaking the great Greg Paulus mark of 3,677 (Syracuse Christian Brothers, 2004) is out of reach. But passing for his average on Saturday against Letchwork/Warsaw could push him into the top 10. The state mark for touchdowns is 53 set last year by Pat Hackler (Skaneateles). Paulus holds the second- and third-highest seasonal totals – 45 (2002) and 43 (2004). The Mustang gun-slinger is also second all-time in passing completion percentage, trailing the 77.7 percent by Joe Capobianco (Lawrence) in 2012.
In the Mustangs’ 48-0 win over Dansville in the quarterfinals last week, Rogers completed 26-of-29 passes for 340 yards, which put him third on the all time Sectional game completions list and fifth in the all time Sectional game yardage list.
VIEW MORE CHRISTOPHER CECERE PHOTOS HERE.
Castrechini, a 5-8 165-pound senior, is sitting at 1,727 yards rushing this year, and is 273 yards from topping the 2,000-yard plateau for the second consecutive season. Only one other running back in Section V history — David Zapata of Hornell – rushed for more than 2,000 yards in two seasons when he did that in 2004 and 2005.
Additionally, in the Bombers’ 62-32 win over Waterloo last week in the Class C quarterfinals, Castrechini set the all-time Sectional playoff scoring mark of 40 points with his six touchdowns and two conversion runs.
Castrechini is also moving up in the Section V career rushing marks, and is currently sitting in 11th position with 4,140 yards. If he hits his average of 215 yards per game on Saturday, he will move into eighth-place overall. The all-time career mark in the section is 6,101 by Zapata (2003-2007).
Also noteworthy in the ER-G quarterfinal win the Bombers reached rarefied air as a team. ER-G gained 622 yards in the contest – all on the ground – which was second all-time to Livonia’s 659 set in 2015. In that game, Castrechini rushed for 274 yards, but wasn’t even his team’s leading rusher, as burly quarterback Corywn Cleveland finished with 285 yards.
Both Penn Yan and East Rochester-Gananda will participate in this week’s Class C quarterfinals on Saturday. Top-seed ER-G takes on No. 5 Attica at 4 pm, and is followed by second-seeded Mustangs versus No. 3 Letchworth/Warsaw. Both games will be played at Honeoye Falls-Lima.
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