RANDOLPH — Depleted by injuries in the backfield and trailing 12-0 in the first quarter of the playoffs, Randolph/Frewsburg’s football season looked very much in jeopardy Friday night.
But the Cardinals still had their imposing linemen and a bruising fullback in Skyler Wright to lean on in the Section 6 Class C quarterfinal against Akron. So after the visiting Tigers struck fast with a pair of touchdown runs in the first quarter, the Cardinals never allowed another point and rode Wright’s running all the way to a 21-12 victory at Raymond Van Wie Field.
Wright accounted for all but 37 of the Cardinals’ 308 total yards, running 39 times for 271 yards and a touchdowns.
“He had to be,” Cardinals coach Brent Brown said to a reporter who called Wright’s performance “incredible.” “We were without (Deter) Miinte and we were without (Nick) Marsh and we were without our quarterback (Ty Hind). So we move him from fullback to tailback and the kid played hard. I think our line kind of controlled the line of scrimmage; they had 11 in the box I think at one point. It was good. I’m happy for Skylar.”
Of Wright’s workload, Brown admitted his “hands are tied, really.”
“(We had a) new quarterback in there too,” Brown said, “and you’ve got to give hats off to the linemen. Holy cow, those guys.”
R/F (6-2, No. 2 Class C South) awaits the winner of Saturday’s Chautauqua Lake at Cleveland Hill quarterfinal. The Cardinals would play at Cleveland Hill if the Eagles (6-1), seeded first from C North, advance.
Senior 280-pound star right tackle Andrew Bernard left last week’s upset loss to Portville with a knee injury, but returned with a brace on it Friday against Akron.
“He didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday and we got a brace on him,” Brown said. “He played awesome. You would have never known it.”
Brown said he expects Miinte and Marsh to return to the lineup next week, while Tyler Hind’s status with a hamstring injury is more questionable.
“That’s going to be a tough one,” Brown said. “He said tonight, ‘I’ll be back,’ but I don’t know. He’s still limping around. He’s got a hammy right up at the top… I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Tyler’s backup, sophomore Isaac Hind, attempted just five passes but completed one for a seven-yard touchdown to tight end Josh Brown to take the lead, 14-12, in the fourth quarter. R/F stopped Akron on the ensuing possession with Zach Heberlein’s fourth-down pass deflection, then drove for Wright’s eight-yard score, which made it a nine-point game after Ty Rosengren’s extra-point kick with 4:24 to play.
Alex Finch scored the Cardinals’ first touchdown on a 19-yard option-pitch run in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 12-8 after a Wright two-point run.
Akron coach Andy Clouse said his Tigers weren’t surprised by the Cardinals’ running game.
“They were what we expected,” Clouse said. “They have a very big line. Our biggest lineman is the size of their smallest lineman, so that’s always going to be a tough battle, both offense and defense. So they pushed the line for sure.”
Running back Adam Mietz put Akron (4-4), the third seed from C North, on the board first with a 24-yard run. Speedy quarterback Brandon Orr made it 12-0 on the Tigers’ next possession with a 79-yard keeper. Orr finished with nine carries for 152 yards and Mietz had 19 for 97.
Hind, Wright and Peyton Hayes led the R/F defense with six tackles each. Bernard made five solo tackles and four assists.
“I’ve got to give credit to (defensive coordinator Nate) Armella,” Brown said. “They go down and score twice and he made some great adjustments to slow that down; they never scored again.”
Facing elimination with the early deficit, Brown said the Cardinals played to give their 13 seniors another chance to play.
“Because you’ve got some seniors, No. 1, if you don’t rally, you don’t get to play football again,” he said, “and we’ve got Miinte and Marsh, who if you do rally, get to play another game next week. All that and we just tried to rally around that and the kids played their butts off tonight.”
Akron 12 0 0 0 — 12
R/F 0 8 0 13 — 21
First Quarter
Akron – Adam Mietz 24 run (6 plays, 72 yards); kick failed, 6-0
Akron – Brandon Orr 79 run (4 plays, 92 yards); kick failed, 12-0
Second Quarter
R/F – Alex Finch 19 run (6 plays, 45 yards); Skylar Wright run, 12-8
Fourth Quarter
R/F – Josh Brown 7 pass from Isaac Hind (9 plays, 63 yards); pass failed, 12-14
R/F – Wright 8 run (5 plays, 56 yards); Ty Rosengren kick, 21-12
Team Statistics
Akron R/F
First Downs 12 17
Rushes-Yards 32-259 50-301
Passing Yards 17 7
Comp-Att.-Int. 3-17-0 1-5-0
Total Offense 276 308
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 4-0
Penalties-Yards 7-66 4-40
Punts-Avg. 3-33 2-43.5
Total Plays 49 55
