BY BOB CHAVEZ
CANANDAIGUA _ If there is one thing any high school football coach wants, it’s for his team to be better in Week 8 than it was in Week 1 of a season.
On Friday night, it didn’t take long for the Canandaigua Academy Gray Wolves to see just how much the Greece Athena Trojans had improved. Still, the Gray Wolves managed a 35-29 victory at home, but they worked much harder than they did in a 40-point win over the Trojans that opened the season back on Sept. 4.
“They came to play and we didn’t expect it to be easy,” Canandaigua senior lineman Chase Williamee said. “But a win is a win.”
No doubt, the 50-10 loss to No. 3 seed Canandaigua in Week 1 was festering in the minds of the No. 6 Trojans, who opened Friday’s Section V Class A2 quarterfinal with an onside kick they recovered at the Canandaigua 44. And despite three penalties and two incomplete passes on that opening drive, it was a 4th-down pass from junior Jadore Santiago to classmate Colten Waterman that covered 31 yards and gave Athena the early lead.
Canandaigua responded in kind and capped its 65-yard opening drive with a 32-yard touchdown run from Payton Holtby to tie the score. And when Canandaigua took a 13-7 lead on its next possession courtesy of freshman quarterback Austin Kierst (3-for-4, 104 yards) finding Holtby for a 16-yard TD, the stage was set for a repeat of Week 1. Especially when the Gray Wolves forced a three-and-out on Athena’s next drive.
But as Canandaigua started its next drive, Travis Portis hauled in an interception for Athena and returned it to the Canandaigua 40. The Trojans drove to the 6 and faced fourth-and-two — an obvious go-for-it scenario. But the CA defense also was in a go-for-it mentality and the Gray Wolves stuffed the run to force a turnover on downs.
That’s how the teams went into halftime and a series of fruitless drives made for a scoreless third quarter before Canandaigua extended its lead to 21-7 on Jack Clark’s 17-yard TD and 2-point run early in the fourth.
The Gray Wolves could breathe now, right?
“We did our scouting and learned to see how they played us the first time,” Athena coach Mike Husdan said. “We learned from our mistakes and learned to look at formations and fronts and use them to our advantage.”
That lesson was apparent with 9:56 left in the fourth when Portis broke free for a 48-yard TD to make it a one-score game again.
Then came a wild sequence that in hindsight turned out to be a fortunate break for the Gray Wolves. Starting at their own 37 with 9:56 left in the game, a CA fumble was scooped by an Athena player, who was on his way to a TD that could have tied the game. But a hustling CA defense forced a fumble on the return and the Gray Wolves recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
That put CA at its own 20 and three plays later, Jordan Thomas ripped off a 68-yard TD run for a 28-13 lead with 7:23 left.
Breathe now?
Not so fast.
On the ensuing Athena drive, Santiago (14-for-22, 151 yards) found Brayden Kadow Smith to cut Canandaigua’s lead to 28-21 with 5:41 left.
But then Thomas (10 carries, 133 yards) answered again for Canandaigua, scooting around the left side for a 29-yard score and a 35-21 lead. There was 1:42 left so surely, the Gray Wolves were clear.
Of course not.
Athena used a series of out patterns to manage the clock and move down the field and with 32 seconds remaining, Chase Sullivan’s 17-yard TD catch pulled the Trojans to within 35-27. They decided to go for two points and the Gray Wolves stopped the run, but a facemask penalty gave the Trojans another chance and this time, Portis (13 carries, 90 yards; 5 receptions, 49 yards) made it work.
Then came the expected onside kick and the 11-yard, slow-rolling kick was deftly covered by Canandaigua’s Clark, which allowed the Gray Wolves to run out the clock with one kneeling play.
And now, they breathe. And advance.
“Our team identity is to finish,” said Clark, who piled up 74 yards on 16 carries. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done.”
Canandaigua coach Jeff Welch figured this game would be different than the opener. The Trojans have too much skill, and pride, to concede anything and he expected nothing less.
“We’re both different teams,” he said. “They’ve improved a lot and we battled for four quarters.”
As for Husdan and the Trojans, they find themselves in the odd mindset of being optimistic following a loss. Of course they wanted the win on Friday and were in position to grab it, but the future is bright for a team that has a freshman, two sophomores and two juniors on the offensive line. Throw in a junior and freshman quarterback who rotate possessions and the optimism is clear.
“I’m really proud of the boys,” he said. “Coming in, a lot of people didn’t give us a shot but we came out and on that first drive, we showed we were ready.”
Canandaigua advances to the Class A2 semifinals next weekend at No. 2 Brockport, a 42-6 winner over Greece Arcadia.
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