BY PAUL LIOTTI
CLARENCE — On paper, the Letchworth-Warsaw game plan was sound: Load the box and stop Cleveland Hill’s running game.
After all, the Eagles had had attempted only 20 passes in 10 previous games.
But a game plan is easy to write up, executing is so much harder as Letsaw found out, dropping a 54-6 decision to Cleveland Hill Friday night on a cold misty night in Clarence.
The Eagles (10-1/No. 3 NYSSWA) dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, rushing 467 yards and holding Letsaw to only 78 yards of offense – just 10 in the second half — to end the season of Section V’s Class C representative in the Far West Regional.
With slushy snow covering the field, Cleveland Hill scored first in what was to become commonplace when Aaron Wahler ripped off 45-yard run just 5:59 left in the first quarter. Javon Thomas’ conversion run made it 8-0.
But on the next drive Letsaw (9-2/No. 8 NYSSWA) answered as quarterback Tom Standera dove over from one yard out to cut the score to 8-6. L/W gained 38 yards all told on the drive — which was kept alive when Zack Tucker pounced on muffed Eagle punt. The drive ended up being Letsaw’s most productive drive of the night.
After that it was all Cleveland Hill.
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“They only threw two passes, but they are so good running the ball, they don’t have to,” L/W coach Justin Mann said. “You think you have Wahler and Thomas bottled up and you don’t,” Mann said. “Both of them are tough to bring down.”
The Eagles took a 16-6 lead into intermission when Thomas scored from four yards out and thing things still looked good for Letsaw, who received the ball to start the second half.
“We went into the half (down) 16-6 against a high-powered offense and we were happy with that,” Mann said. “We felt we could get something established after coming out after halftime. But we went three-and-out, then they blocked the punt and the momentum all went their way and we couldn’t recover and it spiraled from there.”
But the first two drives of the second half resulted in a loss of 14 yards then a loss of 10 yards before CH partially blocked a punt. In between those to drives Wahler ripped off a 39 yard score and Thomas added his second four-yard run to push the Eagles to a commanding 30-6 lead to end the third.
In the fourth, Thomas and Wahler each scored their third touchdowns – Thomas from 39 when he fumbled a shotgun snap, recovered, broke three tackles and outran the secondary. Wahler’s run covered 12 yards and then reserve running back Caron Marshall drove the final nail in the coffin with a 62-yard run with 1:45 left.
“They have fantastic athletes and they are a very good football team,” Mann said.
All told, Wahlers finished with 177 yards on 16 carries and Thomas 128 on 16 carries as well.
Cleveland did throw two passes, completing just one during a halfback option on a conversion.
Letchworth, meanwhile, found it tough sledding all night, finding very little running room against the aggressive Eagle defense. Powerful running back Adrian Figoura was the team’s leading rusher with just 16 yards on four carries, while Dalton English’s four yards came on seven carries.
Standera finished the game with seven yards on 3 carries while completing five-of-11 passes for 38 yards. English was the game’s top receiver with two catches for 22 yards, including one catch for 17 yards that set up the lone Letsaw touchdown.
The 48-point loss does not diminish the Letsaw accomplishments this season, which finished with its fourth sectional title, the first since 2011.
“This loss can’t take away what these kids did this season,” Mann said. “They had a fantastic year, regardless of the outcome tonight. While they lost this last one, they should be proud of what they accomplished this year.”
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| LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| CH | 8 | 8 | 14 | 24 | 54 | ||
| Scoring | |||||||
| CH | Aaron Wahler 45 run (Jevon Thomas run) | ||||||
| LW | Tom Standera 1 run (kick failed) | ||||||
| CH | Javon Thomas 4 run (Chris Diem run) | ||||||
| CH | Aaron Wahler 39 run (run failed) | ||||||
| CH | Javon Thomas 4 run (D’Mario Grant run) | ||||||
| CH | Javon Thomas 39 run (Javon Thomas run) | ||||||
| CH | Aaron Wahler 12 run (Sean Jones reception) | ||||||
| CH | Caron Marshal 66 run (Pierre Brown run) | ||||||
| Rushing | |||||||
| LW | Adrian Figoura 4-16, Josh Andrews 5-12, Tom Standera 3-7, Dalton English 7-4, CJ Hallopeter 2-2, Sam Wolf 6-(-1) | ||||||
| Passing | |||||||
| LW | Tom Standera 5-11-0-38 | ||||||
| Receiving | |||||||
| LW | Dalton English 2-23, Sam Wolf 3-15 | ||||||
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