By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
As the quarterback for Webster Schroeder’s football team, senior Drew Pagano expects to guide the offense up and down the field.
He knows they won’t score every time they get the ball, but he also knows the variety of weapons and a talented offensive line will provide problems for a defense.
So while the Warriors scored the necessary points in the first two games – a 21-14 victory over Hilton followed by a 17-0 win against Churchville-Chili – Pagano wasn’t overjoyed.
“I know we can put up a lot of points, but we didn’t do it the first two games,” he said.
On Friday night he showed why he believes so strongly in the offense.
Schroeder scored touchdowns on four consecutive possessions in the first half, opening a 28-2 lead and cruising to a 35-2 road victory over the Spencerport Rangers in an early season showdown of Section V Class A-1 unbeatens.
The Warriors (3-0) did the damage through the air, dissecting the Spencerport (2-1) defense with a never-ending array of catch-and-run strikes.
“We have some great, athletic receivers,” Pagano said.
Like junior Kaleb Juliano, who scored the first touchdown. On third-and-10 from the Spencerport 46, He caught Pagano’s pass around the 20 yard line and sprinted free to the end zone.
“They weren’t ready for our passing game,” Juliano said. “After that first play, we knew we were going to be able to pass.”
Also on that list of hard-to-contain receivers: Torance Washington. On the next possession from their own 41, the Warriors ran one play and scored.
Pagano found Washington in the seam about 10 yards into Spencerport territory and the senior wideout sprinted away for the 59-yard touchdown and a 14-2 lead.
The next time Schroeder got the ball, it took three plays to score. On third-and-8 from the Rangers 34, Pagano threw underneath to junior wideout Justin Maier and he raced the final 22 yards untouched for the touchdown.
The quick-strike daggers kept coming, too. Schroeder’s defense forced the Rangers to turn the ball over on downs at the Warriors 33, and on first down, Pagano threw maybe two yards down the field to Washington, and he sliced and weaved his way the other 65 yards to complete the 67-yard scoring play for a 28-2 halftime lead.
“When they’re not covering Torance, we’re going to throw it to him and let him run 70 yards,” Warriors coach Mike Stumpf said.
Pagano credited a good week of practice and the work of the scout team to prepare the offense for what they’d see.
While Schroeder’s offense was executing to perfection, the Rangers’ game plan changed before they ever ran a play from scrimmage.
All-purpose, all-everything back Cameron Mesh suffered a leg injury when tackled after returning the opening kickoff to the Rangers 27. He never played again, spending all four quarters on the sideline with an ice pack on his left thigh.
“Obviously Mesh getting hurt on the opening kickoff changed the outlook,” Stumpf said. “I’m not sure he’s 35 points better than us, but he’s their best player and it affected them mentally and from a scheme standpoint.”
Without the dynamic abilities of Mesh running the ball, the Rangers misdirection offense misfired often.
The Rangers couldn’t move the ball with any consistency. Their only sustained drive came on their first possession, when they reached the Schroeder 28 before a holding penalty and later a fumbled exchange sabotaged the drive.
“Our defense matched our offense,” Pagano said.
Webster schroder defense has not allowed points in 12 out of 14 quarters