By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
For 47 minutes and 32 seconds, the Hilton Cadets and Brighton Bruins went up and down the field, over and over, quarter after quarter, with each offense somehow finding a way to one-up the other time and time again.
From ground-and-pound to flash-and-dash. From seemingly tackled for a loss to celebrating in the end zone. From dominating end-to-end drives to electrifying end-to-end sprints.
You want offense? This Section V Class A1 championship game was all offense: a never-ending display of skill, speed, power and pizzazz, with Hilton finally prevailing 49-42 on the rain-soaked turf at Gates Chili High School.
“Maybe the greatest Section V game ever,” said Hilton coach Rich Lipani, who is allowed to make such a proclamation since he has won more Section V games than any other coach.
He had a point, too. Even though there were 13 touchdowns and 91 points, it was never more than a one-score game until Calvin Starwald barreled into the end zone with 2:07 remaining in the game for a 49-35 Hilton lead.
“These were the two highest scoring teams in A1,” Brighton coach Stephen Lian said, “so the dam was going to break for somebody.”
Actually, it broke for both teams. Defensive stops were virtually impossible. Three-and-out? Not a chance. More like three-and-into-the-end zone. Though not always.
There were also precision, time-consuming drives, like the first possession of the game. The Cadets (8-2) methodically marched 77 yards in 18 plays, eating up 7:57 on the clock before quarterback Matthew Kosiorek scored on a seven-yard keeper.
The two-time defending section champion Bruins basically said, “Oh, yeah? Watch this” and responded with their own 10-play, 71-yard drive that took 5:03 before Leo Hopkins caught a screen pass on fourth-and-13 at the Hilton 18 and darted into the end zone, his first of three TDs.
Hilton’s next possession resulted in a four-play, 61-yard TD drive, capped by Starwald’s 1-yard run.
When the game ended, Hilton had punted just once over the 48 minutes. Brighton (9-1) also punted once and turned the ball over via an interception by Starwald (who also made 12 tackles). And that was it for defensive stops. Every other possession for both teams led to a touchdown (other than the end of the first half when time ran out on Hilton).
“You saw two amazing teams and a lot of playmakers,” Lian said. “Since the summer we expected to be in the finals and we expected to have to beat Hilton.”
In this Shootout at Spartan Field, the Bruins fell one possession short of the Section V three-peat, however.
“It’s Hilton, you know what they’re going to do; coach (Lipani) has been doing it since I was in high school,” said Lian, whose coaching staff has guided the Bruins to a championship game six times in their 15 seasons.
While it was weapons-a-plenty for both teams – including Jared Wade’s dynamic 81-yard kickoff return for a TD for a 28-21 Cadets lead with 5:07 left in the third quarter and Justin Medina’s scintillating 61-yard, sideline-to-sideline TD scamper that tied it 35-35 – Hilton’s Tyler Reger earned A1title game MVP honors. He rushed for 155 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries.
“He should have 40, that’s my fault,” Lipani said. “If he played any other year he’d have 40-45 carries a game. He should carry the ball more; I did him an injustice so far this year but we have more games to play.”
Indeed, the Cadets face A2 champ Canandaigua at 8 p.m. Friday at St. John Fisher University in the regional qualifier, with the winner advancing to state tournament play.
And to think that after back-to-back losses to close the regular season (21-14 to Pittsford, 31-28 to Rush-Henrietta), the Cadets were considered more pretender than contender.
“Everybody had us dead after we lost to Rush-Henrietta,” Lipani said.
So why are they still playing?
“We’ve got good kids,” Lipani said. “We could have won both of those games. We played tough teams all year long: Victor, (Webster) Schroeder, Pittsford, Henrietta, Schroeder. We battled every time.”
Their battle plan has really never changed over his nearly four decades at Hilton, either.
“We just pound the ball at you,” Lipani said. “We like to pound the ball, try to keep it away from opponents so they can’t score that fast.”
You can do that when you have an offensive line that bulldozes defenders. The group of tackle Barry Slater, guard Brayden Petrosky, center Zach DeMarte, guard Dante Pacheco, tackle Colin Kelsey and tight end Jha’Zae Dessources made life a little easier on Reger, Kosiorek and Starwald.
The Barons were almost just as good on offense, which is why this was pretty much a last team with the ball wins affair.
“When they tied it up (35-35) with maybe four minutes to go (actually 7:36) and Calvin Starwald had a nice return out to the 50 yard line,” Lipani said, “I thought maybe we could milk the whole thing.”
Instead, the Cadets did what the Cadets had done all game: open holes and let Reger run. They needed just six plays to move those 50 yards, the last two coming on a won’t-be-denied power run by Reger for a 42-35 lead with 4:37 to play.
Hilton’s defense then came up with a critical stop, sacking Bialaszewski on fourth-and-19 at the Brighton 12. Just 52 seconds later, Starwald bolted across the goal line and the lead ballooned to 49-35 after Reger’s seventh PAT kick of the game.
But the Bruins refused to roll over. They marched 65 yards to score yet again, pulling within seven points with 30 seconds remaining. Their one chance to tie the score: recover an onside and then put together one miracle final drive.
They came oh-so-close to giving themselves that one last chance, too. John Habib executed to perfection the onside kick. The ball bounced off a Hilton player around the Brighton 45, triggering an insane scramble for the ball.
Players from both teams were diving, reaching, and lunging, trying to reel in the water-soaked ball as it bounced crazily along the turf; off hands, off shins and off arms before finally skittering out of bounds at the 39.
Which meant Hilton ball, 28 seconds left, and one kneel-down to the brick, one kneel-down to the celebration.
“I’ve played three varsity sports for a long time and never even reached the sectional finals until this,” Reger said. “It feels amazing.”
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