Friday Roundup: 2nd quarter score difference maker in Alexander’s 7-0 win over B-R; GV/Belfast wins home tourney over Hinsdale
BOLIVAR — For the first time this season, the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg made their grand return to the gridiron. It wasn’t exactly under the Friday Night Lights, but light remained bright on Dunsmore-Latimer Field when they took on Class D powerhouse Alexander.
Like last season, the Wolverines gave the multi-Class D Finalist Trojans everything they could handle. Despite nearly compiling twice the amount of yardage, more than double the first downs accrued in their drives, the visitors in white and green found a way to win.
Just a single score was accounted for in the end zone, and it came in the second quarter when Brayden Woods provided a goal-line response with a run that crossed the plain. After the point-after attempt, that was all that was written on the field, as the Trojans held onto their 7-0 lead all the way to the end to pick up the season-starting win over Bolivar-Richburg over the road.
“The moral of the story is that we love our effort, and the kids played their hearts out,” Wolverines coach Steve Smith, who enters his seventh season as head coach, said. “We had some untimely errors that cost us in turnovers and penalties. We marched it up to the 2-yardline at one point, and we came away empty. In a one-score game, that was the difference. I told the kids that Alexander has been to five straight Finals in Class D. They’re a very good team, and I asked them how good are we after a game like tonight.”
Smith added, “There’s a lot of bright spots, and we will find a way to build off that. We have a full season this year, and I have to believe our team will continue to get better. It’s what we do every week.”
Bolivar-Richburg (0-1) accumulated 162 total yards of offense altogether, with 130 coming on the ground led by Landon Danaher, who rushed for 62 yards off 19 carries. Rudy Polk added in six carries of his own for 31 yards. On defense, there were a lot of shining stars that propelled the Wolverines to big success in keeping Alexander in check for much of the contest.
Among them, sophomore Trent Sibble, who led the defensive front with three sacks. Camdyn MacDonell added in a team-leading nine tackles, while Ethan Coleman and Lloyd Kinnicutt each had five tackles of their own. Kinnicutt would add a sack along the way to help further the defensive cause for the Wolverines.
Bolivar-Richburg is back on the field over the road next Friday night with a 7 p.m. kickoff against their longtime Hyphen Bowl rival — Cuba-Rushford. The Rebels begin their season this afternoon on the road with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Oakfield-Alabama/Elba.
Alexander 0 7 0 0 – 7
Bolivar-Richburg 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring Summary
1st: None
2nd
ALEX – Brayden Woods 1-yard run, PAT good. (7-0 ALEX)
3rd: None
4th: None
Total Yards: ALEX 86, B-R 162.
Passing: ALEX 4-11, B-R 3-32.
Rushing: ALEX 32-75, B-R 42-130.
First Downs: ALEX 7, B-R 14.
Turnovers: ALEX 1, B-R 4.
Penalties: ALEX 5-32, B-R 5-50.
Punts: ALEX 5-38, B-R 2-26.
BOYS SOCCER
GV/Belfast takes tourney crown, B-R shuts out And/Whi in Consi
BELFAST — After spending only 57 seconds in extra time to advance to the Championship game, GV/Belfast was now in a position to win their first tournament as a combined group, and perhaps the third for coach Mark Sullivan in the last four seasons.
Hinsdale was the last remaining hurdle in order for them to do that Friday night at the Rich Sullivan Complex. With GV/Belfast holding a lead they controlled for much of the first half, the Bobcats made it interesting as time expired by tying the game at the break.
Then in the second half, a flip of the script — Matt Weaver provided an explosion.
After getting on the board with the team’s first goal to break the ice, the GV/Belfast senior made sure they earned the lead back again with two more goals to complete his hat trick, helping the hosts capture the third tournament title for Sullivan in the last four years with a 3-1 edging in the Championship game.
“These boys are understanding what I want to do. That second half, we had opportunity after opportunity, and I spread everyone out on the field,” Sullivan said. “It was a fun game, and everyone had a piece of the action and got excited. It’s not just GV and Belfast as two teams, it’s one team. We’re here to do one thing together, and they’re buying into it. We’re off to a great start so far, and this was a big confidence booster.”
Weaver’s first goal came off a penalty kick chance, which was converted for his second goal of the season. His first coming back on Wednesday, also off a penalty kick in the second half of their first round battle against Bolivar-Richburg. With a 1-0 lead they held across the first 40 minutes, the Bobcats (1-1) started a brand new game going into the second half with just two seconds remaining with Tucker Schwartz finding the back of the net off a Damion Brown cross to tie it up.
But the heat was turned up in the last 40 minute portion of the evening with Weaver providing his explosion on offense with his second and third goals of the game, with his go-ahead netter coming off a direct kick and his last piece of insurance on a rush that saw him finesse his way past a pair of Hinsdale defenders to put the goal away for Genesee Valley/Belfast (2-0).
Shots were 11-5 in favor of Genesee Valley/Belfast over Hinsdale, with Garrett Miller earning the win in goal with four saves. On the other end, Ethan Cashimere made eight stops for the Bobcats, who are now off until next Friday when they hit the road to visit Houghton Academy at 5 p.m.
Genesee Valley/Belfast will now prepare for more tournament action on Wednesday, when they head to Kiwanis Park to take on the host Indians in first round action with a 6:30 p.m. first kick. East Rochester and Bishop Kearney will begin the tournament with a first round battle of their own at 4:30 p.m.
Before the championship game, Bolivar-Richburg, behind a massive night from Reiss Gaines, saw six different scorers contribute to the cause to help their successful rebound in the Consolation round against Andover/Whitesville, as they rolled towards a 7-0 shutout victory.
The bar was set with a 2-0 lead in the first half behind goals by David Baldwin and Hunter Stuck, with Baldwin connecting with a header off the foot of Ian Unfus nearly halfway through the opening period. Nearly 20 seconds later, the lead was extended by Stuck and his penalty shot to go up by a pair.
Five more goals were scored in the second half of play, with Gaines playing a role in all of them by garnering a pair himself while dishing out three assists to Aydin Sisson 10 minutes into the second half to extend the advantage to three, and later to Wyatt Karnuth near the halfway point before scoring a goal himself at the 16:34 mark to eclipse a 5-0 lead.
Gaines dished out his final assist with 10:08 remaining to play on a goal scored by James Margeson, and then finished off the goal-scoring for the Wolverines (1-1) with a penalty kick under five minutes remaining in the contest. In all, Bolivar-Richburg outshot Andover/Whitesville (0-2) by a 17-2 total count.
“We had a great bounce back game tonight from the other night,” said Wolverines coach Mike Zilker. “The boys played really well together, they passed well and they started executing on their opportunities. Hopefully this amount of success will breed confidence that will carry throughout the season. The boys did a great job.”
David Abdo earned the win in goal for the Wolverines with two saves, securing the shutout along the way, while Andover/Whitesville’s Landon Ordway and Ethan McRae combined to make 10 saves.
Bolivar-Richburg will head home to open up their home slate at Dunsmore-Latimer Field to take on the Golden Eagles of Friendship on Wednesday with a 5 p.m. first kick. As for Andover/Whitesville, their road swing will continue into Wellsville right after the Labor Day weekend in a 7 p.m. first kick under the lights in the Lion’s Den on Tuesday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Wellsville rebounds, takes Addison Consolation game
ADDISON — Friday night was a chance for redemption for the Lady Lions of Wellsville after being blanked by host Addison in the first round back on Wednesday.
In order to do that, they would have to navigate past Jasper-Troupsburg in the Consolation round of the Blake Driskell Tournament. Each team exchanged a goal in each half of the contest to force extra sessions of overtime. In the first 10 minutes, it belonged to Emily Costello, as she gave the Lady Lions the lead back and for good to assist them in rebounding from their 4-0 loss in a 2-1 overtime victory.
“This was a great rebound and we are thankful that we have been running,” said Lady Lions coach Erica Aftuck. “That extra 20 minutes was great for us, and our endurance is even better after that. We didn’t let a goal against us bring us down. We held our heads up high, and we continued to work. It paid off, and the entire team worked together to make that happen.”
A giveaway deep in the Jasper-Troupsburg zone allowed Wellsville (1-1) to jump on the board first with nearly 10 minutes left in the opening half, as Kylie Fanton-Acker gave the Lady Lions their first goal of the season behind the turnover that was previously fed up the middle by Vena O’Dell.
With the Lady Lions leading at the break, Jasper-Troupsburg would find their way onto the board just past 10 minutes into the second half with their game-tying goal. It would remain deadlocked for the remainder of regulation, and into partially into overtime. That was until Costello gave the Lady Lions the lead back for good with her first of the season only three minutes in.
When it was all said and done, it was an affair that saw both teams combine for 31 total shots on goal, with the Lady Wildcats narrowly outshooting Wellsville by a 16-15 count. In goal, Makenna Dunbar preserved the victory behind 15 saves.
The Lady Lions continue their road swing after the holiday weekend on Tuesday, when they visit Andover/Whitesville for a 6 p.m. first kick.
