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By TIM IRVING
Up until the last play of the game, Irondequoit quarterback Azavier Ross and sophomore receiver Cameron Freeman had been successful in finding seams in the Greece Athena secondary to exploit.
So, it was little surprise that in overtime, with the Trojans up a touchdown, Ross looked to Freeman for the tying score.
Less of a surprise to sophomore defensive back Darius Howard, who stepped in front of Freeman for an interception to clinch a 28-20 victory for the Trojans.
“They were throwing his way a lot all game and we told him, don’t get down on yourself, stay in the game because we’ve seen him play, we know how he works and we know how good he can be,” junior Jayden Rapp said of Howard.
Rapp got his team the lead, hitting Matt Ranalletta for a key first down on the team’s second offensive possession of the game. Rapp then scored on a quarterback sneak for a 7-0 lead.
The Trojans defense dominated the first quarter and with time winding down, Rapp hit Ranalletta on a slant with the junior snagging the ball with one hand for a 15-yard gain.
First play of the second quarter, Rapp hit Connor Osier for 14 yards and the lead was 14-0.
The Eagles then started connecting passes between Ross and Freeman and worked their way down with 1:20 to play inside the 10-yard line where Freeman took a hand-off from Ross on a jet sweep and cut the Trojans lead in half, 14-7.
“They started to motion and overload one side in the second quarter and we weren’t adjusting, “ Athena coach Mike Husdan said later.
In the third quarter, Rapp got the offense moving again and found the 6’4” Osier on a fade pattern and the lead went back to 14 points at 21-7.
After finding themselves pinned deep in their own end, Irondequoit started to get the running game going and four minutes into the fourth quarter, Lamere Smith scored from five yards out to cut the lead to 21-14.
The Eagles defense forced a three-and-out and punted to Jordan Nolan. The junior brought the ball back to the Athena 18-yard line.
That set up a second Freeman rushing touchdown and the Eagles tied the game 21-21.
The Trojans drove down the field to the Eagles’ 20 yard-line with five seconds left and after three Irondequoit time outs, the kick was partially blocked and the game went to overtime.
“All week, we’ve been telling Jayden just to move the chains, get ourselves in some manageable situations on and second and third down, “ Husdan said.
Athena had the first overtime possession from the 20 and Rapp did that, with a short pass and a couple of runs from Jayd’n Sample, they earned a first down at the 10-yard line.
With Irondequoit keying on Ranalletta and Osier, Rapp instead threw to Byron Williams and the sophomore put the Trojans ahead.
“We scored on the fade earlier and I knew Osier was gonna draw the attention and it opened it up for Byron and he made the play, “ said Rapp.
With the 28-21 lead, the Trojans went to defense and stopped a first down run. On second down, Ross rolled to the right side and looked for Freeman to work his way open, Howard stayed with Freeman and intercepted the ball at the one-yard line near the sideline to lock up the win.
Rapp said “We always felt in the game, like we had control. Even when it was tied, even when they were coming back, we had control, we just had to play the right way.”
Rapp threw for 255 yards, 229 of those going to Ranalletta (123) and Osier (106).
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Trojans (3-2), coming off two losses by a combined ten points.
“Our class is tough and the way our schedule goes, the competition gets better and better so, we need to get better and better and a game like this is a great game to build off of, “ Husdan said.
The Trojans face Wilson on Friday while Irondequoit hosts a hot Brockport squad.
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