By STEVE BRICKLER
GREECE, N.Y. — It was a good-looking start to the season for Coach Dan Fichter and the Irondequoit football squad which won its opener 52-21 over Athena. The Eagles dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball en route to a 38-0 halftime lead, scoring on four of six first-half possessions. Jordan Nolan also returned a punt for a touchdown in the first half while the defense held the Trojans to negative yardage in the first half and 91 total yards for the game.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and drove down the field in 4 minutes and 29 seconds. Myles Wynn finished the drive with an 8-yard run up the middle. Cam Miller took a direct snap to convert the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 edge, and the Eagles never looked back. After forcing a three and out, Irondequoit took over at its own 19-yard line and drove 81 yards in nine plays for a second score capped by a 15-yard strike from quarterback Taiden Makubire to Jordan Nolan in the left corner of the end zone. Another 2-point conversion by Miller stretched the lead to 16-0.
The Trojans again went three and out on the next possession as the Eagles Cam Freeman recorded a sack and the rush knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage during the series. Irondequoit’s defensive line had four sacks and knocked down three passes in the game. Forced to punt, the Trojans kicked it away to Nolan who returned the ball 55 yards to the Trojan 25-yard line, however the Trojans defense forced a turnover on downs to regain possession in the last minute of the first quarter. The Eagles stymied the Trojans again as the Trojans gave up possession in 41 seconds heading into the second quarter.
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The Eagles ensuing possession resulted in a punt and touchback giving Athena possession at its own 20. Two losses on run plays and an incomplete pass caused the Trojans to punt but a roughing the punter penalty resulted in a first down for the Trojans, their lone first down of the first half. The Eagles forced the Trojans to punt again three plays later and the Eagles took over at their own 41.
On the second play of the drive, Wynn took off down the left sideline for a 50-yard touchdown run. Makubire connected with Wynn on the 2-point conversion to stretch the margin to 24-0. The Eagles defense forced another three and out which resulted in Nolan’s 56-yard punt return down the right sideline with 2:56 left in the half. Nolan finished with 140 yards on four punt returns for the night and contributed 59 yards on four receptions and a touchdown. The Eagles regained possession with 1:47 left in the half and took six plays to score, capped by a 2-yard sneak by Makubire to extend the lead to 38-0.
The Trojans got the second half kickoff but were put into a third and long situation again on a 10-yard sack by the Eagles’ Miller on second down. After an incomplete pass forced a fourth down, Nolan had another long return setting up the Eagles at the Trojan 27-yard line. Wynn scored his third touchdown of the night on the ensuing play to stretch the Eagles’ lead to 45-0. Wynn finished the game with 136 yards on 11 carries along with his three touchdowns.
The Trojans pieced together a 12-play, 70-yard drive that took 5 minutes and 4 seconds. Quarterback Brady Nugent went 4-of-6 on the drive, completing two passes to Brandon Rodriguez and two to Byron Williams. The running attack was led by three carries apiece by Darius Howard and Andrew Hill during the drive with Hill plowing over the goal-line for the Trojans’ first touchdown.
After stopping Irondequoit on downs at the 45-yard line, the Trojans continued where they left off balancing the run and pass effectively. Howard and Hill each broke off chunks of yards on the drive while Nugent connected with Zaire Good three times through the air, including an 8-yard touchdown, four seconds into the fourth quarter making the score 45-14.
The Eagles responded with an 11 play, 60-yard drive, all on the ground. Sophomore Daeshawn Johnson and Junior Ethan Heath did the majority of the work on the drive but the payoff went to Cole Hoats who bulled in from the 2-yard line with 5:15 left in the game.
The Trojans answered back. Byron Williams took the kickoff 30 yards to the Irondequoit 30 and on the ensuing play quarterback Jacob Strebel found I’Zick Reaves in the right corner of the end zone to cap the scoring on the night.
The Eagles ran out the last 4:26 of the game with six running plays, amassing 347 rushing yards on the night. Makubire added 122 passing yards, hitting on 7-of-12 passes. Jonathan Williams had eight total tackles for the Eagles. The Eagles home opener is next Friday versus Wilson while the Trojans travel to Churchville-Chili, also on Friday night.
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