Two quick scores and tight defense lights Salamanca past Catt-LV

The two schools are separated by no more than 20 miles, and last Friday night they were separated by 14 points as Salamanca defeated Catta raugus-Little Valley, 20-6, in a Class C South matchup at Veteran's Park in Salamanca.

Jevon Battle returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a score, as Salamanca led 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game. Next, following a botched punt snap from Cattaraugus-Little Valley on the next drive, Cameron Caputi plunged in from 1 yard out, giving Salamanca a 14-0 lead in the game's first three-and-a-half minutes.

"When you can set the tone by taking the opening kickoff for a touchdown, it's huge," Salamanca coach Jason Marsh said. "That's the first time we've done that in my seven-year career here. I felt we were one block away a couple times in Springville, and I said that we would be able to return one if we kept working at it."

Noted Cattaraugus-Little Valley boss Tim Miller, "The first three minutes of the game we built ourselves a hole. The kick return and the bad punt snap had us momentarily staggered. We were down 14-0. That's a tough hole to dig out of, but we battled hard and got a score. We were right in it."

After the Warriors went up 14-0, the rest of the game was even, as each team mustered just one score. Cattaraugus-Little Valley got a 10-yard touchdown pass from Sam Agnew to Pat McGlew on 4th-and-goal late in the first quarter, and Salamanca scored late in the third quarter on a Ron Smith 14-yard pass reception from Tanner John.

"That series they pushed it down our throats, but after that we made a couple adjustments and changes," Marsh said. "We did a pretty good job in coming up with three turnovers," Marsh said. "Those three interceptions were huge for us. Without those, it's a different ballgame."

* This is a partial story. The full story will be in the Sept. 22 edition of The Salamanca Press and online in the e-edition. *

http://www.salamancapress.com/sports/two-quick-scores-and-tight-defense-lights-salamanca-past-catt/article_91b56616-e3c1-11e0-bd59-001cc4c03286.html