Salamanca Falls Short In Class C Title Game
Christian Storms, cstorms@observertoday.com - Post Journal
SYRACUSE — In the last decade, the Schuylerville Horses had come up short in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship game three times and on Saturday afternoon it looked like it could be a fourth setback.
Then, Luke Griffen made a play.
The senior free safety’s “red zone” sack of Salamanca quarterback Maddox Isaac as time expired secured a dramatic 26-20 victory in the Class C championship game at the JMA Wireless Dome.
The win gave the fourth-ranked Horses their 13th win in 14 games, highlighted by three second-half touchdowns by senior Landen Cumm, including the go-ahead score on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Ollie Bolduc with just over a minute remaining.
The Warriors, who led 20-7, early in the third quarter, ended their season 13-1.
But the Cattaraugus County school nearly pulled off a drive to remember.
The Warriors drove 57 yards into scoring position and, with the ball on the Schuylerville 8 and five seconds remaining, Salamanca had a final shot, but the Horses blitzed Isaac and forced him to peel out of the pocket. Attempting to evade the rush, he rolled left, but Griffen took him down to deliver Schuylerville its elusive title.
While Griffen’s tackle secured the victory, arguably the biggest play was a gutsy decision by head coach John Bowen that led to the Horses taking the lead.
After tying the game on a 44-yard run by Cumm, the Horses did not want to give the ball back to Salamanca with around four minutes remaining and opted for an onside kick.
In a game of inches, the kick just slipped under a Salamanca player’s fingers into open field for the Horses to recover at the Warriors 39. Schuylerville marched in the remaining distance and even received some help from another Salamanca penalty before Cumm secured his third touchdown of the game on the short pass from Bolduc.
Schuylerville nearly made it a 7-point game, but the PAT was blocked by a diving Cory Holleran. On the play kicker Silas Schulte-Lindhorst was injured and was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Needing a score to tie, the undefeated Warriors had 1:05 to save their perfect season and secure the program’s first state title.
It looked like the Warriors were going to pull it off, but the game of inches was not on their side. A play-action pass inside the final 30 seconds saw Xavier Peters wheel out wide open down the sideline and Isaac threw a perfect pass, but it bounced off Peters’ fingertips on the would-be touchdown.
That was not the first time a Peters touchdown was just missed or taken away, in the third quarter the senior running back broke free for a 55-yard touchdown that was brought back on a holding. However, Peters, who finished with 117 yards on 16 carries, would not be denied as the Warriors top rusher scored a highlight-reel touchdown just a few plays later when he first ran right before seeing his gap close and cutting back across the field to receive a block from Isaac to dart in for a 28-yard touchdown.
The TD gave Salamanca a 20-7 lead, but the Warriors wouldn’t score again.
They got off to a fast start, though.
On Schuylerville’s first play of the game resulted in a fumble that Evan Spruce Jr. recovered. Then, in the blink of an eye, Isaac connected with Holleran for a 27-yard catch and then a 6-yard touchdown pass to go up 6-0.
Salamanca got the exact start it wanted, but Schuylerville did not back down and mustered up quite the response, driving for a 13-yard touchdown catch by Joe Headen from Bolduc. Schulte-Lindhorst’s extra-point kick gave the Horses a 7-6 lead.
Salamanca regained the lead at halftime when it finished off a gritty drive, working with a short field, needing to convert on a couple fourth downs to maintain possession. Zach Trietley who shined in several moments for the Warriors, caught an 8-yard touchdown pass before halftime to make it 12-7.
Salamanca received the ball to start the second half and it culminated with the Peters touchdown. Schuylerville got the most out of its stars when it needed them, scoring 19 unanswered points in the second half with all three touchdowns from Cumm.
Schuylerville 7 0 7 12 — 26
Salamanca 6 6 8 0 — 20
Sal–Holleran 6 pass from Isaac (Kick failed)
Sch–Headen 13 pass from Bolduc (Schulte-Lindhorst kick)
Sal–Trietley 8 pass from Isaac (Pass failed)
Sal–Peters 28 run (Holleran catch)
Sch–Cumm 6 run (Schulte-Lindhorst kick)
Sch–Cumm 44 run (Kick blocked)
Sch–Cumm 7 pass from Bolduc (Pass failed)
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