By JOHN LIKANJE
Coming into Friday afternoon’s game, Ty Mott led the entire Rochester area with 10 touchdowns – all of which came through the trenches. The senior running back added four more, including three in the second half, of Oakfield-Alabama/Elba’s 40-7 victory over Canisteo-Greenwood in a clash between undefeated Class D squads.
Mott set the tone with a nine-yard score on the game’s opening drive. This capped off a possession in which he accounted for 55 of 67 yards on four carries.
The senior runner continued with touchdowns on both Aggies’ drives in the third quarter. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Mott exploded for a 34-yard run before being shoved out of bounds just short of the end zone. The senior fullback ran the remaining five yards on the ensuing play.
The Aggies’ defense forced a three-and-out yet again to set up another Mott touchdown – a 36-yard run in which he juked multiple defenders and snuck inside the pylon on the right side for a commanding 33-7 advantage. Finally, Mott capped off his performance with an 83-yard burst up the left side. Overall, the senior tailback finished with 23 carries and 310 rushing yards. Mott contributed six tackles on defense as well, including three for a loss.
Bodie Hyde rounded out the scoring with back-to-back one-yard touchdown runs on the strength of consecutive Aggies’ takeaways in the first quarter. The freshman quarterback accounted for one of these turnovers by recovering a fumble and returning the ball 85 yards to the goal line.
Junior running back Gaige Armbrewster added six carries and 81 yards. Senior linebacker Peyton Yasses led the defense with 10 tackles. Kaden Cusmano and Charles Gottler both had six, including two sacks. Three of Gottler’s tackles resulted in negative yardage while two of Cusmano’s were for a loss. Gottler forced a fumble as well.
“This was a big win for our guys,” Oakfield-Alabama/Elba head coach Tyler Winter said. “This game was another example of our team’s ability to put the opponent away in the fourth quarter. Canisteo-Greenwood is a well-coached team with some talented athletes.
“I thought this was a very gritty performance by our guys. The offense continued to show the proficiency of our run game while the defense further demonstrates the ‘bend, but don’t break’ philosophy we spoke on earlier. The name of the game has been to keep getting better each week and our staff is very pleased with the rate at which our guys are improving with each challenge.”
For Canisteo-Greenwood, senior quarterback Roque Santiago found paydirt from two yards out near the end of the second period for the Redskins’ lone points of the game.
Both teams’ next game is Wednesday at 6 p.m. and on the road. Oakfield-Alabama/Elba (3-0) will take on Bolivar-Richburg and Canisteo-Greenwood (2-1) will face Cuba-Rushford.
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