By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
The two primary weapons from Canandaigua Academy’s potent 2024 offense are now on college rosters, which leaves some serious questions for the 2025 Gray Wolves to answer.
Namely, who will provide explosiveness at tailback and can fullback-turned-quarterback Jack Clark efficiently handle signal-calling duties?
The answers seemed quite clear on Thursday night when the Section V football season kicked off.
Senior running back Payton Holtby rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another – three of which came in a span of just three minutes late in the third quarter – while Clark ran for one touchdown and looked poised behind center as visiting Canandaigua thumped Greece Athena 50-10.
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“This was more about finding out who we are in Game 1,” Clark said.
So who are they? A team that, like so many CA teams of the past, can overpower opponents on the line of scrimmage and piled up points with a dynamic running game.
“Canandaigua football,” Holtby said.
That said, winning is never a given. Athena is young on the line of scrimmage and the Gray Wolves will face stiffer challenges as the season progresses. But they say they’re ready for the challenge, in part because of an all-for-one mantra.
“We play as a team, we practice as a team, and it showed,” Holtby said. “I always play for my teammates because they play for me.”
While the final score wasn’t close, the game was fairly tight well into the third quarter. Holtby’s 25-yard scamper midway through the first quarter staked Canandaigua to a 7-0 lead but the Trojans sliced into the deficit when Landon Ambeau – who is playing both soccer and football this fall – kicked a 35-yard field goal 1:43 into the second quarter.
That soccer leg was very evident because the field goal would have been good from 50 yards.
The Gray Wolves began to take control on their next possession, however. They put together a masterful drive – especially considering it was Week 1 – marching 80 yards in 17 plays and eating up 10 minutes and 5 seconds of the second quarter. Clark was the focal point, carrying nine times for 47 yards on the direct snap.
That included the final play of the drive, a one-yard power walk into the end zone which, coupled with Holtby’s point-after conversion run, gave Canandaigua a 15-3 halftime lead.
The drive was sneak peek of what was in store in the third quarter. Canandaigua took the kickoff and drove 70 yards in 11 plays, capped when Holtby darted 13 yards for a touchdown and a 22-3 lead with 5:05 remaining in the period.
An Athena fumble on the next play from scrimmage gave the Gray Wolves possession at the Trojans 33 and they struck immediately. Clark pitched to Holtby, who lofted a perfect scoring strike to a wide-open Talan Pearl and the lead was 29-3.
The Canandaigua defense then forced an almost instant three-and-out – a first-down run and subsequent incompletions on second and third down took just 48 seconds – and then a bad snap on the punt teed up the Gray Wolves for their third TD in three minutes.
Holtby sprinted six yards to the left corner of the end zone and a 36-3 lead with 2:05 remaining in the quarter. In that three minute span of game clock, he ran for two TDs and threw for another.
“But I want my brothers to score just as badly as I want to score,” he said.
Athena retaliated when quarterback Jadore Santiago connected with Brayden Kadow Smith on a 47-yard toss and run scoring strike.
But the Gray Wolves had their own instant answer. After Jordan Thomas’ 63 yard run took the ball to the Trojans 15, Cayden Gullace sprinted 15 yards on the next play for a touchdown and 36-3 lead as the third quarter ended.
“I was pretty happy with where we were at going into halftime,” Athena coach Mike Husdan said. “But we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times when we had chances and didn’t get the job done.”
The Gray Wolves then overwhelmed Athena in the third quarter, when the Trojans youth on the line – one freshman, two sophomores and two juniors – was evident.
“Canandaigua’s strength is their front four,” Husdan said. “They were able to control the inside on us and limit our opportunities on offense.”
There was one question that was not answered on Thursday night, however. Clark never threw a pass. The only pass attempts were by Thomas, a second-quarter incompletion, and Holtby’s TD toss.
“We’ve got this figured out,” Clark said. “We have excellent guys in the backfield so we didn’t need to throw.”
He did enjoy his debut as quarterback.
“I liked it, it was new, and I’m excited to move forward,” Clark said.
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