Salamanca grabs ‘inspiring’ win over Randolph

By SPENCER BATES, Olean Times Herald

RANDOLPH — It’s not often that someone says they need to get punched.

But according to Salamanca football coach Chad Bartoszek, that was exactly what his team needed, and got, in its 33-8 non-league win over Randolph.

While the scoreline may not suggest the affair was kept all that close, Salamanca was unable to score through the first quarter after its first two drives were snuffed out in relatively quick fashion. But the challenges were not exclusively on offense. On the other side of the ball, the Warriors were left to deal with the Cardinals’ potent run game led by the triple-threat of returning 2023 Big 30 All-Star Connor Braley, Kevin McElwain and Jaxon Morrison.

GAME PHOTOS

“We knew we were going to get everything they had,” Bartoszek said. “(Randolph’s) had a heck of a month and I was really thankful for this game because we needed to get punched a little bit and Randolph was the team to do it. I was happy with the way we responded. They had control of the field position. … But just the way the team played with their attitude, effort and energy was inspiring.”

Randolph had great opportunities to jump ahead in the early goings of the game, but all that came of its first three drives were two fumbles, both on quarterback-option plays that were recovered by Salamanca, and a missed field goal. The costly turnovers were crucial to how the game played out according to Randolph coach Brent Brown.

“A big play for us is running the option and that’s the risk you take when you run it,” Brent Brown said. “We had got a few first downs and we were moving the football and (those turnovers) just turned the whole game right there.”

With the defense doing its job in keeping the hosts off the board, up stepped the offense which uncorked a massive scoring play on its first snap of the second quarter. Warriors’ quarterback Maddox Isaac threw a perfectly placed ball to Cory Holleran, racing down the sideline, and after maintaining his balance, took it to the house, capping the 80-yard play.

And the big plays did not stop there for Salamanca.

Xavier Peters broke off a 46-yard touchdown run, Holleran doubled up on touchdown receptions on the night, scoring his second from 70 yards out, Quinten Brown ran one in from 27 yards and even when Salamanca finally saw its first down inside the 10-yard line, negative plays brought them back out before Avery Brown caught a 15-yard pass for a touchdown on a fourth down attempt.

Up 19-0 at halftime, Bartoszek told his players to keep up the energy as he thought back to the Warriors’ previous contest against Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove in which they gave up a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, cutting their lead in half. He did not want the same thing to happen in back-to-back weeks.

“The energy came from us needing to stay up so we don’t get cold, we don’t get soft and we don’t get injured,” Bartoszek said. “We needed to keep that high intensity. … We told the guys … let’s just finish this thing right now and it worked.”

The Salamanca defense was not without its stars either. Zach Trietley carried a hefty workload for the visitors and made the most of it, leading the team with 15 total tackles, 12 of which were unassisted. Holleran and Warrick Kyler were also responsible for 12 and 10 tackles respectively.

“This was (Zach’s) game, they were running the ball right at him,” Bartoszek said. “He’s got to be one of the best defenders in the Big 30. He was just flying. … He’s that engine that we know is going to be there and is going to do his job. He’s taken such a prolific role on our defense that on offense he’s doing more of the dirty work … he’s a complete team player.”

Unfortunately for Randolph, after getting blanked through the first two quarters, it was left in a bit of a tailspin after its starting quarterback, Morrison, endured a hit before halftime that took him out of the game.

“Having a different quarterback in there shrinks your playbook,” Brent Brown said. “You only have so many things that he’s practiced, so that makes it tougher as well.”

But the Cards did manage to avoid the shutout and scored in the fourth quarter via a Reagan Smith 36-yard touchdown run. And while he did not manage to find the endzone on the night, Braley led the rushing attack for the hosts, racking up 87 yards from scrimmage.

Now all that separates the Warriors from an undefeated regular season is Eden/North Collins, who they will face next week. A milestone that they can now comfortably say they are aiming for with it in arms reach. But what the game against Randolph provided Salamanca meant more than just another tally in the win column according to Bartoszek.

“We were looking for a challenge and Randolph was ready for it,” Bartoszek said. “We were thankful for this game and that’s how we approached it. This was a game to help prep us for what we want to do.”

AT RANDOLPH

Salamanca 0 19 14 0 — 33

Randolph 0 0 0 8 — 8

Second Quarter

Salamanca — Cory Holleran 80 pass from Maddox Isaac; Easton Chudy extra-point good, 7-0

Salamanca — Xavier Peters 46 run; Chudy extra-point no good, 13-0

Salamanca — Holleran 70 pass from Isaac; two-point attempt no good, 19-0

Third Quarter

Salamanca — Quinten Brown 27 run; Chudy extra-point good, 26-0

Salamanca — Avery Brown 15 pass from Isaac; Chudy extra-point good, 33-0

Fourth Quarter

Randolph — Reagan Smith 36 run; two-point conversion good, 33-8