Walton stifles fellow champ

Staff Report

September 15, 2008 04:00 am

Unatego is 0-for-Hoover this season.

For the second straight week, the Spartans fell to a Hoover-coached football team as the Spartans lost, 22-0, in a Section Four Football Conference non-division game at Walton on Saturday in a matchup of reigning Section Four champions.

Walton (2-0), led by 33rd-year coach Jim Hoover, won the Class D sectional title last season en route to a 13-0 finish and the school's second state championship. The Warriors have won 15 straight and have allowed no points this season.

Unatego (0-2), which won the Section Four Class C title last season before falling in a state quarterfinal, opened this year with a 28-6 loss to Oneonta. The Yellowjackets are coached by Hoover's son, Adam.

Robbie Rigas _ the nephew of Unatego coach Art Rigas _ amassed 92 yards on 14 carries for the Warriors, who had a 290-88 edge in rushing yards. Phil Hanley had 84 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Bryant Mead also had a touchdown run for the Warriors.

"(Unatego) came out and played," said Jim Hoover, who coached Art Rigas in high school. "Art knows our offense inside and out. He had some different keys for his defensive people. .... They just came at us and did a nice job defensively."

Walton fumbled the opening kickoff in the second half, setting up Unatego inside the Warriors' 30. Walton stifled the Spartans' drive, though, and responded by scoring on its next drive as Hanley capped it with a 6-yard TD run.

"We did some things we have to improve on," Hoover said. "We did such things as we had them fourth-and-33 and we roughed the punter. Things like that as coaches we sometimes take for granted and you shouldn't. It's something we never talked about. We played well defensively. We had a couple breakdowns and they trapped us a little bit."

Walton visits Seton Catholic Central (1-1) in a Division VII game at 7 p.m. Saturday. Unatego hosts Whitney Point (0-2) in a non-division game at 7 p.m. Friday.

Walton 22, Unatego 0

Unatego0 0 0 0 _ 0

Walton8 6 8 0 _ 22

W _ Phil Hanley 5 run (Chad Gardepe run)

W _ Bryant Mead 9 run (pass failed)

W _ Phil Hanley 6 run (Bryant Mead run)

Unatego rushing: Evan Kiss 7-58, Tyler Newman 7-36, Erik Barber 2-4, Cody Komenda 1-(-4), Cody Renwick 3-(-6).

Walton rushing: Robbie Rigas 14-92, Phil Hanley 11-84, Cody Reed 6-42, Bryant Mead 8-38, Eddie Dixon 6-19, Chad Gardepe 4-12, Jim McDonald 1-3.

Unatego passing: Cody Renwick 4-for-12, 55 yards, int.; Cody Komenda 0-for-3.

Walton passing: Chad Gardepe 3-for-5, 52 yards.

Unatego receiving: Chet Davis 2-37, Newman 1-13, Barber 1-5.

Walton receiving: Cody Endress 3-52.

Cooperstown 20, Ilion 0

Tyler Hoke passed for 77 yards and two touchdowns as host Cooperstown won a Section Three Class C East Division game Saturday.

Hoke snapped a scoreless tie in the second quarter when he connected with Andrew Auriemma for a 26-yard touchdown. Hoke also hit Scott Millea on a 19-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.

Auriemma, who plays middle linebacker on defense, also had 17 tackles and an interception.

Tanner Niedzialkowski's 6-yard TD run capped the scoring in the fourth quarter.

Alec Silvera led Cooperstown in rushing with 43 yards on nine carries.

The Redskins (2-0) visit Sauquoit Valley at 7 p.m. Friday.

Cooperstown 20, Ilion 0

Ilion0 0 0 0 _ 0

Cooperstown 0 7 0 13 _ 20

C _ Andrew Auriemma 26 pass from Tyler Hoke (Ryan Parshall kick)

C _ Scott Millea 19 pass from Tyler Hoke (kick failed)

C _ Tanner Niedzialkowski 6 run (Ryan Parshall kick)

Cooperstown rushing: Tanner Niedzialkowski 6-24, Alec Silvera 9-43, R.J. Alton 3-4, Luke Folts 2-7, Tyler Hoke 4-8, Chad Parshall 1-3, Ryan Parshall 1-5.

Cooperstown passing: Tyler Hoke 5-for-7, 77 yards.

Cooperstown receiving: Brad Ashford 3-32, Auriemma 1-26, Millea 1-19.

B-G 36, Oxford 15

Dustin Ross rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns to lead visiting Bainbridge-Guilford to a Section Four Football Conference non-division win Friday night.

Ross had touchdown runs of 63, 65 and 55 yards en route to his second-best rushing effort at the varsity level. He ran for 237 yards on 20 carries against Hancock last season.

"We try to come up with stuff to get him on the edge," said B-G coach Tim Mattingly, whose team improved to 2-0. "All three of those runs came on sweeps and he had great blocking. We have some pretty quick guards and we were able to get out and make some blocks. He made some cuts and was off to the races.

"He's worked hard to get stronger and I think he's a bit quicker than last year," Mattingly continued. "I think he's become more of a physical runner. He's taking some licks, but he keeps going. He just has this natural ability and instinct to make kids miss."

James Banta scored on a 15-yard pass from Justin Pepper, who also had a 1-yard TD run for the Bobcats.

B-G is at Deposit for a Division VIII game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

"I told the kids to enjoy this win, but come Monday, we're thinking Deposit," Mattingly said. "I think the kids believe in each other and are feeling pretty good about how things are going so far, but we're just going to keep working them."

B-G 36, Oxford 15

FRIDAY

B-G16 8 6 6 _ 36

Oxford0 8 0 7 _ 15

B _ Dustin Ross 63 run (Justin Pepper run)

B _ Dustin Ross 65 run (Justin Pepper run)

B _ James Banta 15 pass from Justin Pepper (Justin Pepper run)

O _ Travis Frank 1 run (Travis Frank run)

B _ Justin Pepper 2 run (run failed)

O _ Travis Frank 4 run (Joe Whaley kick)

B _ Dustin Ross 55 run (run failed).

B-G rushing: Dustin Ross 18-223, Justin Pepper 10-22, Brad Hurlburt 6-15, Shane Cornish 1-(-4), Dustin Steigerwald 1-(-2).

Oxford rushing: Dylan Cole 13-53, Travis Frank 21-67, John Wonka 3-(-11), David Dunagan 1-2, Brandon Shaw 2-0.

B-G passing: Justin Pepper 3-for-5, 73 yards.

Oxford passing: John Wonka 5-for-13, 79 yards, int.

B-G receiving: James Banta 2-44, Justin Miller 1-29.

Oxford receiving: Jamie Smocnolp 1-5, Jeremy Nelson 4-74.

___

Dryden 27, Oneonta 20, OT

Friday's game

Oneonta6 14 0 0 0 _ 20

Dryden0 6 0 14 7 _ 27

O _ Matt Marcewicz 3 run (kick failed)

O _ Matt Marcewicz 50 run (pass failed)

D _ Barry Welch 36 pass from Cory Goodenough (kick failed)

O _ Matt Marcewicz 20 run (Dalton Smith run)

D _ Pat Finnerty 4 pass from Cory Goodenough (Colby Gee kick)

D _ Pat Finnerty 81 pass from Cory Goodenough (Colby Gee kick)

D _ Corry Goodenough 1 run (kick good)

Oneonta rushing: Marcewicz 19-185, Dalton Smith 16-65, Brendan Pidgeon 21-77, Dan Broe 3-(-7), Doug Dimartin 1-6.

Dryden rushing: Alex Freyburger 15-69, Cory Goodenough 7-14, Devon Cross 5-8, Pat Jenkins 2-(-3).

Oneonta passing: Broe 1-9, 42 yards.

Dryden passing: Cory Goodenough 9-for-14, 232 yards.

Oneonta receiving: Kasey Hogan 1-42.

Dryden receiving: Pat Finnerty 3-131, Barry Welch 3-85, Devon Cross 3-16.

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