Behind big plays, Salamanca romps over Fredonia

By SPENCER BATES, Sports Editor

FREDONIA — By the end of the first quarter, the Salamanca football team held a 21-0 lead over Fredonia and had only run a total of four plays.

Once again, the Warriors’ explosiveness proved to be one of their biggest weapons as they cruised to a 49-7 Section 6 Class C South road victory over the Hillbillies on Friday night.

In fact, Salamanca managed to get on the board before either team snapped the ball, with Cory Holleran bringing the opening kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. After forcing a Fredonia punt on its opening drive, Holleran, who Salamanca coach Chad Bartoszek referred to as “an elite returner,” flashed his speed once again. This time, he did so with an 83-yard punt return touchdown. And with new addition Easton Chudy knocking in the extra points after both scores, the Warriors held a 14-0 lead without running a play from scrimmage.

GAME PHOTOS

As for what it has taken Bartoszek and his coaching staff to get success out of the special teams, he said it’s all about putting things into perspective. The fact that he has a couple speedy weapons doesn’t hurt either.

“We hammer it every week, every practice,” Bartoszek said. “Coach Furlong does a great job and when you have a couple weapons back there, we got a lot of speed, we can get to our blocks and we may find a seam. Corey is doing a lot of great things. So, I think it’s just taking pride in what that play means, even if it’s one more first down. … Going from the 30 to the 40 is one less first down we got to get offensively, so we kind of stress it that way.”

The third Salamanca score in the first quarter did not come from Holleran, nor the punt return team, but instead one of the other speedsters that has been able to produce in great quantity this season in Xavier Peters. On Salamanca’s first snap from scrimmage, quarterback Maddox Isaac handed off to Peters and he did the rest, bolting ahead for a 65-yard touchdown run.

After a cushion had been established and the kick returns stopped yielding housecalls, Bartoszek made the decision to mix in a few passing plays for Isaac, something he said he has not been able to do a ton of in the early goings of the season.

“We wanted to dial up some pocket plays,” Bartoszek said. “We know he can roll out and throw on the run, but we wanted him to sit in the pocket. … It’s just part of the season-long plan here. We’re going to need it so we keep going.”

Part of what allowed the Warriors to experiment against the Hillbillies was the offensive and defensive lines for the visitors. Two of the last four touchdowns Salamanca scored were both through the run game with Isaac ripping off a 64-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Peters chugging along for a 94-yard touchdown sprint in the fourth.

“It’s a tough group right now because there’s not a lot of them,” Bartoszek laughed. “They’re getting a lot of reps in practice. We’re trying to build depth, but really it’s shoring up a lot of different schematics, we’re going inside, we’re going outside … So it takes some time for them to get in the groove and I really think, even last week, we really saw some holes opening up inside with the inside run-game, and if we can add that as a weapon (it’ll be great).”

The other two touchdowns the Warriors scored were through the air. One, a one-yard screen pass to Kyle Lecceardone, the other a 15-yard pass to tight end Payton Bradley.

Fredonia’s only touchdown of the night came in the fourth quarter via a quarterback-keeper from Donovan Dowdy as the Salamanca defense once again proved to be formidable. Zach Trietley led the team with seven tackles, with Holleran, Bradley and Avery Brown right behind with six apiece. Peters also managed to pick up a seven-yard sack.

“The physical, aggressive, fast defensive style creates a headache for the offense,” Bartoszek said. “I wouldn’t want to deal with it as a coordinator. You might catch us once in a while, because we are moving, but we’re just playing at such a fast rate that there’s not a lot of holes. It’s a point of pride, we’ve had some pretty darn good weeks on defense, so we always know we’re going to be in it with tight games.”

AT FREDONIA

Fredonia 0 0 0 7 — 7

Salamanca 21 14 14 0 — 49

First Quarter

Salamanca — Cory Holleran 82 kickoff return; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 7-0

Salamanca — Holleran 83 punt return; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 14-0

Salamanca — Xavier Peters 64 run; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 21-0

Second Quarter

Salamanca — Kyle Lecceardone 1 pass from Maddox Isaac; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 28-0

Salamanca — Payton Bradley 15 pass from Isaac; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 35-0

Third Quarter

Salamanca — Isaac 65 run; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 42-0