By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
After suffering a 27-7 loss to UPrep in the second week of the season, Canandaigua Academy’s football team knew a rebound performance was required on Thursday night.
As four-time defending Section V champions, CA couldn’t afford to fall below .500 this early. A victory at Greece Arcadia was a must.
Mission accomplished – but barely.
Arcadia held Canandaigua to just one touchdown and made numerous big plays on defense, but CA was equally dominant on defense and prevailed 7-6.
“This was a huge bounce-back,” senior linebacker and running back Dominic Gullace said. “A tough loss last week, so we needed a big win.”
Canandaigua (2-1) scored on the first possession of the second quarter on a three-play, 94-yard drive. On second down from their own 8 yard line, junior quarterback Drew Williamee connected with junior Jack Clark on an 82-yard catch-and-run that brought the ball to the Arcadia 10.
After a holding penalty pushed CA back to the 20, Williamee elected to keep the ball himself and weaved his way into the end zone, with Jude York’s PAT kick providing a 7-0 lead.
And from that point on, CA’s defense made sure more points weren’t necessary. Oh, a TD or two more would have been nice in terms of comfort, but the one touchdown was enough. While Arcadia (2-1) at times moved the ball – thanks in large part to the arm and escape-ability of senior quarterback Deshaun Caesar – the Titans found the end zone just once.
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“We let them drive the field but when it came time to it, we stuck ’em,” senior defensive and offensive lineman Tyler DeRue.
And yet, as the fourth quarter wound down, Arcadia was in position to tie the score. The Titans took the ball with 41 seconds left in the third quarter and masterfully marched 80 yards in 12 plays over 7 minutes and 8 seconds to score. The final seven yards for the touchdown came when Caesar found Mykel Whitfield with a perfect pass in the back left corner of the end zone.
But on the point-after conversion, the snap was high and kicker Connor Viele was tackled short of the goal line in the ad-libbed attempt to run it in.
“We need to clean some things up but this Arcadia Titans team is very close-knit,” Arcadia coach Brian Shonitsky said. “This is the third week in a row we fought right to the end.”
It’s also the third consecutive one-point game after a 28-27 win over Gates Chili in the season opener, followed by a 39-38 victory at Spencerport.
“I’ll take 2-1,” Shonitsky said. “Obviously 3-0 sounds better, but now they know that feeling (of a loss). I’d rather have that now then at sectional time and have the season be over.”
Following the Arcadia touchdown, there was enough time remaining – 5:33 – for the Titans to get the ball back, if they could get a stop. But Canandaigua executed a perfect ball-control, eat-the-clock drive to end the game. CA ran the ball eight times – each by sophomore running back Samuel Clark – to move from its own 33 to the Titans 17. Before each snap, Williamee let as much time run off the clock before calling for the ball.
Included in the drive was a 23-yard scamper. Otherwise, it was runs of 5, 8, 1, 4, 5, 2 and 2 which enabled CA to run out the clock. Along the way, they picked up three first downs, the most important coming on third-and-one from the Arcadia 21.
“I had faith in 3-5 (Clark’s number, 35) he was going to get that,” Gullace said.
For Clark, the ground-and-pound approach was pure joy.
“It’s like grit and tough, and that’s really how you try to win football games,” Clark said.
CA displayed that same grit on defense, with the opening drive of the second half a perfect example. Arcadia started the half at its own 47 but ended up going backwards in a hurry. Gullace was in on a tackle of Caesar for a five-yard loss on first down, he sacked Caesar for a nine-yard loss on second down, theN sacked him again for a 13-yard loss on third down.
Three plays, three tackles for losses (totaling 27 yards) and forced punt. Not a bad series.
And to top it off, Gullace then returned the ensuing punt 27 yards, although the CA threat ended at the goal line when Williamee was intercepted by a diving Dashaun McClemmon.
“Defensively we figured out I could come off the edge pretty well,” Gullace said. “And we’ve had that punt return put in all year, we’ve just been waiting for them to kick me the ball, and then I’ve got to make a play.”
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