Pickin' Splinters

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Irondequoit’s dynamic offensive arsenal too much for Eastridge

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Irondequoit’s Taiden Makubire rolls out during first-quarter action, Friday night. The senior quarterback threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the Eagles’ 43-0 win over Eastridge. Briyceton Thomas (4) defends on the play. (Photo: Paul Gotham)

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

The most difficult decisions on offense for the Irondequoit Eagles coaching staff don’t involve the playbook.

Whether to run up the middle, toss to the outside or throw deep, that’s the easy part. But divvying up playing time, well, that’s another story.

With a stable of dynamic offensive weapons and a veteran line that can clear a forest, who gets the ball – and who they’re getting it from – is a bit of a juggling act.

But what a problem to have.

Seven different players scored touchdowns in the first half – including junior offensive lineman Sebastian Reidmiller – and the Eagles rolled past visiting Eastridge 43-0 in the battle of Irondequoit on Friday night.

“We just have too many weapons for a defense,” senior quarterback Taiden Makubire said after the season-opening victory.

Those weapons were all on display from the outset, too. The Eagles unleashed a share-the-wealth bombardment in the first half – scoring on six of their seven possessions – and then played the second half on cruise control.

The attack began instantly. On second down, senior running back Cameron Freeman raced 71 yards to paydirt on his first touch of the season. He then converted the point-after try for an 8-0 lead after just 58 seconds had elapsed.

By the time the second quarter ended, Makubire had thrown touchdown passes of 13 yards to sophomore wide receiver Brien Walker and 38 yards to Joshua Barr, and ran for one of his own on a 3-yard scamper; junior running back Cooper Moore scored on a 3-yard run up the middle; and Reidmiller, a member of that dominating offensive line, delivered the exclamation point on the 43-point half by pouncing on a fumble in the end zone with 1:09 remaining.

Add to that a defense that limited Eastridge to 132 total yards in the game and featured interceptions by Freeman, Barr and Walker and it was quite the start to 2024.

“The kids came out and played hard and that’s what we asked them to do,” Irondequoit coach Daniel Fichter said.

Freeman rushed 11 times for 120 yards, with 106 of those yards coming in the first half. Senior Myles Wynn had all but one of his 87 rushing yards in the first half. Both said the yards came easily thanks to the blocking.

“I know the line we have can block any line,” Freeman said. “I just do my best to find the holes.”

Said Wynn: “They were opening the field. It was just me and the safety most of the time.”

And when the Eagles weren’t running, Makubire and sophomore quarterback Eric Torres were throwing to open receivers.

On third-and-seven from the Eastridge 13, Makubire zipped a pass to the right front corner of the end zone, where Walker had worked free to make the catch for a 16-0 lead 5:19 into the game.

The SportsCenter play of the night, however, came with 1:45 left in the half. On first down from the Eastridge 38, Makubire fired long down the middle for Barr, who was open behind the defensive secondary.

From Makubire’s vantage point, however, the ball was sailing too high. Except Barr never gave up on it, leaping to make the finger-tip catch and then holding on as he hit the turf.

“That’s all him,” Makubire said. “At first I was like, ‘Aw, I overthrew him,’ and then I was like, ‘Man, he made me look good.’ ”

For Makubire, Game 1 of the season was a chance to make up for lost time. He missed the final half of the 2023 season with a broken collarbone.

“That really made me look at football and be appreciative of the opportunity, and I worked my butt off to be ready for this year,” he said.

That’s, of course, not good news for opponents.

“When he can get the ball in the hands of our receivers quickly, it’s over,” lineman Owen Smalline said.

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