Warriors Wrap Up C South Title
Scott Kindberg, Sports Editor, (skindberg@post-journal.com)
Salamanca clinched its third straight Class C South football championship Friday night, knocking off Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove 48-21 at Bill Race Field.
Fittingly, Maddox Isaac found himself in the middle of just about all the Warriors’ offensive fireworks.
The senior quarterback rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and completed 6 of 7 passes for 102 yards and a TD to lead Salamanca to the win. For good measure, senior Xavier Peters added 100 yards on the ground and found the end zone on runs of 3, 32 and 5 yards; and sophomore Quentin Brown chipped in a 5-yard burst for another score.
Salamanca’s Maddox Isaac looks for room to run during Friday’s game against Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove at Bill Race Field in Falconer. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey
The division-clinching win improved the Warriors, the state’s second-ranked Class C team, to 6-0 overall and 6-0 in the division, and left head coach Chad Bartoszek pretty happy as he answered questions postgame.
“I’m just so proud,” Bartoszek said. ” … We want to do things at such a high level and we have that ability to do it. We’re striving to be as perfect as we can get. These guys have just set the bar really high over the last couple years.”
Much of his satisfaction came from the way Maddox has grown behind center.
“We tend to not give him one read or one thing, because that takes away from his natural play-making ability,” Bartoszek said. “We’re giving him some freedom to make some decisions and that’s when you really start to see his game expand.”
A varsity signal-caller for four seasons, Maddox ripped off a 65-yard TD run in the first quarter in which he ran from sideline to sideline; and added a 1-yard run for another score and connected with Zach Trietley on a 13-yard scoring strike in the second period to help Salamanca build a 28-7 lead at halftime.
After the break, Peters scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, and Brown added one.
“We’ve got a good punch back there,” Bartoszek said.
For injury-riddled Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove (4-2, 3-2), senior Charlie Reichenbach ripped off TD runs of 42 and 43 yards in the third quarter. Junior Taylor Jones scored the Herd’s first touchdown — set up by a Salamanca fumble — with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Despite the loss, Herd head coach Curt Fischer was happy with how his short-handed team performed and was quite impressed with the Warriors, who he first started coaching against when he was a junior varsity coach at Falconer under then head coach Bill Race more than 30 years ago.
“They have so many special players and I truly believe it’s almost like the George Whitcher (years),” Fischer said. “When Chad came back (to coach), he brought the Salamanca pride back.”
NOTES: Trietley led Salamanca’s defense with 16 tackles, Cory Holleran had nine and Avery Brown chipped in eight. … Waylon Dowdy intercepted a pass and Evan Spruce Jr. recovered a fumble. … Falconer/Cassadaga Valley rushed for 248 yards, most of them by Reichenbach, although Jones and Noah Brant also were effective when given the opportunity.
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