By TIM IRVING
Brockport and Spencerport meet every year in what could be one of the friendliest rivalries you’ll see. Over the past couple of seasons, the Rangers have dominated and that continued on Saturday with a 40-27 win for Spencerport on their Homecoming.
“The kids are always tough over there, I told them, you guys are Westside Tough, they bring it and they didn’t give up, “ Rangers coach John Dowd said of Scott Nugent and the Blue Devils.
It might have been easy to get down as Brockport kicked off to the Rangers’ Joey Marcello and the senior brought it back 95 yards for a score 15 seconds into the game.
Spencerport got into their double wing offense, for the uninitiated, it features two wings, sometimes a tailback, sometimes a fullback and the quarterback tucked down under his center, making it nearly impossible to see where the handoff is going. Added to the sight-line problems, the Rangers biggest offensive lineman, 6’3”, 315-pound sophomore Jason Micklei is the center. Junior Cameron Mesh, who has three years of experience in the offense, dished out a punishing run to get Spencerport in scoring position.
Where Tauron Beachum took the sweep left for seven yards and a 14-0 lead.
After a short kick, Brockport senior Shamone Johnson took the next play from scrimmage 51 yards the other way and the lead was cut in half.
Still in the first quarter, Marcello, who is the fullback in the double wing, got loose for 41 yards and the lead was 21-7.
The second quarter saw the offense drain the clock, as it’s been known to do. Mesh scored from 13 yards out leaving Brockport under four minutes to try to cut into the 27-7 lead.
Freshman quarterback Landon Scott had the Blue Devils on the move put Marcello picked him off and the lead remained 20 at the half.
Brockport attacked to start the third, Johnson went into the line but was not tackled, bounced it outside and went 37 yards to sever the lead, 27-13.
Again, Mesh and Marcello followed the team-blocking inherent in the double wing and Micklei, down the field where Mesh got the payoff from 11 yards out.
“There’s a few plays where he (Micklei) yells my name and says, ‘Joe, you know what to do’ and I’m like ‘I got you’ and I’m just happy to have him there,” Marcello said.
Brockport went down the play list and tried to get a rally going. Scott handed off to Jacob Falvey in what looks like a jet-sweep, he then threw to Tyler Judd, who caught the ball between two defenders but one of those defenders, Beachum, took the ball out of Judd’s hands and the Rangers went back on offense.
Junior Brenten Sheffield took over the running duties and scored on a tough 23 yard run and the lead was 40-13 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
Brockport then mounted a drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter, with Johnson scoring his third touchdown of the game.
With a minute to play, Scott threw a bubble screen to Nathan Parker, who went 66 yards to cap the scoring.
The teams met after the game for the Port Bowl and Oar presentation and clearly, the mutual respect between the players and coaching staffs transcended the final score.
“He (Coach Nugent) and his kids should be proud of themselves, they’re a tough football team. I think they’re a better team than their record reflects at the moment,” Dowd said.
The Rangers (4-0) travel to Greece Athena before meeting Canandaigua on October 8th, both games on the road.
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