By BOB CHAVEZ
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — It didn’t take long to see what was being established at CA Stadium Friday night.
It wasn’t until the final minute of the first quarter that Greece Arcadia picked up its initial first down. But by then, Canandaigua Academy had four touchdowns on the board.
So yes, it was that kind of night for the Titans and it was that kind of night for the Gray Wolves. And when it was all over, Canandaigua was celebrating a 60-13 victory in its home opener to improve to 2-0 this season.
Not much went wrong for the Gray Wolves, who had an impressive nine first-half possessions and scored touchdowns on seven of them. One drive ended with a lost fumble and the other non-scoring drive came as the first half ended. The Gray Wolves took a 47-6 lead into the half with Cayden Gullace (three), Talan Pearl, Jordan Thomas (two) and Jack Clark all reaching the end zone in the first half.
It was a tone set on both sides of the ball as the Gray Wolves ran their newly installed option-based offense to near perfection and the defense was hardly shy with introductions, many of which came behind the Arcadia line of scrimmage. Arcadia’s first four drives ended with three-and-outs and the Titans were never past their own 34-yard line until Drake Sapp’s long kickoff return following a CA touchdown put them at CA’s 33-yard line and led to their first score of the game with 1:15 left in the first quarter.
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Derek Smith, a 6-3, 250-pound junior, powered much of the defensive surge for CA and his third-down sack on Arcadia’s second drive forced a punt from the 5-yard line.
“Hit ‘em hard,” Smith said of the defensive plan coming into the game. “We wanted to show them wHere they were.”
That message came through quite clear for the Titans, especially after Thomas scored his third TD of the game, a 78-yard kickoff return to open the second half. That made it a 53-6 game for CA.
“We had great blocking,” Thomas said of the efficient CA offense that presents a defensive headache with so many options in the, well, option. “We felt the energy during the whole game.”
For CA coach Jeff Welch, the new offense took another step toward improvement following some initial struggles in the Week 1 win over Greece Athena.
“We’re pleased,” he said. “Last time out, we were trying to get some rhythm and we fixed some things. Tonight, we had a good rhythm going and it was good to see that.”
So far, that rhythm has produced 110 points in two games. Making it even more impressive is that the Gray Wolves have scored all those points while throwing just three passes in two games. Against Arcadia, CA used just one pass and that halfback option from Payton Holtby to Pearl in the first quarter produced a 33-yard touchdown strike.
“It’s nice to see everybody getting reps in these games,” said Welch. “They know that when the opportunity comes, they need to play at a high level.”
CA’s Week 3 trip to Irondequoit is sure to produce more high-level challenges. The Eagles are 2-0 following Friday’s 47-25 wi over Gates Chili. Arcadia, meanwhile, falls to 0-2 and hosts rival Greece Athena next week.
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