Pickin' Splinters

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Bend but don’t break: Greece Arcadia locks down Greece Athena, advances to sectional semifinals

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Greece Arcadia’s Romell Rose breaks into the open during Friday’s game. (Photo: JENNIFER LAEMLEIN/Perfect Motion Photography)

By JOHN LIKANJE

Six months ago, Greece Arcadia concluded a spring campaign in which it lost all six games. On Friday night, the Titans completely flipped the narrative thanks to their defense. Brian Shonitsky’s squad recorded three interceptions and two fourth-down, red-zone stops and held Greece Athena 15 points below its season average in a 7-6 victory in the Class A2 sectional quarterfinals. It’s the Titans’ first sectionals’ win since the 2015 Class A quarterfinals when they defeated Eastridge, 21-14.

“We faced everything this year,” Coach Shonitsky said after the victory. “We were injured the first game. We had a three-game winning streak. As everyone knows, we had a COVID issue. This whole week, we stressed playoff football, not a crosstown rivalry because we had to take care of today to move on to tomorrow. These boys played four quarters and it came down to the last play of the game.”

“It was a tremendous game by both teams. I’m proud of my team. I’m proud of my staff. I couldn’t be happier.”

The Titans’ defense garnered a bend-but-don’t-break mentality and took a stand in key moments throughout the entire contest. Near the end of the opening period, the Titans clamped down on a Trojans’ scramble play on 4th and 14 from the 17-yard line for a turnover on downs. On the Trojans’ first of two possessions of the second quarter, Latrell Rowe leaped for an interception near the end zone to prevent a touchdown. On the other drive, the senior cornerback almost picked off Trojans’ quarterback Jayden Rapp again, but was unable to squeeze the ball. Fortunately, it was on fourth down from the Titans’ 19-yard line and resulted in yet another turnover on downs.

VIEW MORE JENNIFER LAEMLEIN PHOTOS HERE. 

On the opening drive of the second half, freshman linebacker Xavier Smith gutted another Trojans’ red-zone trip with a pick.

Finally, on the last play of the game, on fourth down from the Titans’ 28-yard line, senior free safety Jaden Polk hauled in the third and final interception to secure the win.

“I knew they had to go deep,” Polk said when explaining his interception. “So I just played my zone and did my job.

“I definitely anticipated. I saw him (Rapp) roll out to his left and I saw his receiver trailing me. So I just went up and played the ball.”

Overall, the Titans’ defense held the Trojans to 223 passing yards and 115 rushing yards and scoreless on eight of nine possessions in 29 minutes. The Trojans’ special teams unit contributed as well by forcing the Trojans to start drives in their own territory seven times.

“In practice, we really work on our coverages and horn tackling, especially because the last two games, we played the two best teams in Section V,” Polk said. “We had trouble tackling and playing our zones. So we worked hard on that all week in practice, got that down and it showed.”

“Our defense has been key all year,” Coach Shonitsky emphasized. “When we need them to step up for big plays, they do. It’s unbelievable what my defensive coordinator has done. I take my hat off to him. To me, he’s one of the best.”

Marcus Moore and Brian Shonitsky provided all the Titans offense with an 85-yard catch-and-run touchdown connection midway through the first quarter. Shonitsky led with 124 passing yards and 21 rushing yards.

“I basically told him (Moore) to be a better athlete,” Shonitsky said when explaining the touchdown pass. “We all know you’re a better athlete. If you’re one-on-one, go deep. He went deep and players like him make plays. It was the difference in the game.”

This victory was extra special for Shonitsky due to playing under his father, whose coached him since he was five years old.

“It hasn’t always been the prettiest thing, but he fights,” Shonitsky said about Coach Shonitsky. “The kids love him. We don’t look at that father-son relationship on the field and our players know that I’m as equal as any other player on this team. We go out there and we love each other as a family.”

“I have to separate the dad and the coach feeling,” Coach Shonitsky said. “As a coach, I’m proud that he leads the offense. As a dad, I’ll celebrate with him after when the coach coat comes off.”

For Greece Athena, Rapp broke through a pile of defenders into the end zone on a three-yard run to start the final period. The sophomore quarterback completed 20-of-32 passes and scampered for 59 rushing yards.

Greece Arcadia advances to the sectional semifinals to take on top-seeded Canandaigua. The Braves defeated the Titans, 54-18, in Week Five on October 1st.

“Honestly, we just need to watch film, see what we did wrong and fix it,” Polk said.

“Work our butts off in practice, “Shonitsky said. “We are gonna want every rep if we want to win this game against a team like Canandaigua, who hasn’t lost a game in Section V in two seasons. So I give that team a lot of respect and the coaching staff a lot of respect because those boys are balling right now.”

“Canandaigua is unbelievable,” Coach Shonitsky said. “They play great in all three facets of the game. We have to eliminate our mistakes and shorten theirs. We have to tackle. They have many weapons. Jeff Welch and his staff do an amazing job out there. We have to play four quarters of football. This is not going to be an easy game at all. But we’re up for the challenge. We’re going to learn from the first time we played them. We’re going to come back to practice from there and see how it goes next week.”

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