RANDOLPH — The Randolph football team checked the next box in its quest for a repeat league title and more, downing fellow perennial Class D power Clymer/Sherman/Panama, 35-18, on Friday night.
The Cardinals (2-0) found themselves in a tight game for much of the way, holding a 14-10 edge at halftime following a C/S/P score late in the second quarter. But coach Brent Brown's team scored consecutive touchdowns over the third and fourth quarters — on a Carson Conley run and a Xander Hind 18-yard TD reception from Conley — to take a two-score lead and maintain it from there.
Hind has another monster individual effort, rushing 39 times for 340 yards (8.7 per rush) and two touchdowns. Conley completed 4-of-7 passes for 44 yards and a TD and ran for another score. Payton Slade carried eight times for 44 yards and a touchdown.
The Cardinals were hurt in the passing game as C/S/P quarterback Tate Catanese finished 24-of-40 for 344 yards, a TD and two picks. Bryce Hinsdale had an impressive 13 receptions for 146 yards and Alex Barmore caught four passes for 106 yards.
But Randolph made up for that in the run game, rushing for 421 yards while holding the Wolfpack to minus-14 yards on 15 carries. With that methodical approach, they piled up 28 first downs to C/S/P's 18 and ran 10 more plays than the Wolfpack.
Franklinville/Ellicottville 36, Wilson 16
WILSON — Gian Nuzzo had a memorable first start under center last week, rushing for 184 yards and a touchdown.
The senior signal-caller was even better in Week 2.
Given an opportunity to throw a bit more, Nuzzo completed 7-of-13 passes for 156 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and had another tremendous outing on the ground, rushing 18 times for 94 yards and two more scores to propel Franklinville/Ellicottville (2-0).
“He had to take what they were giving us, and he did a good job with that,” F/E coach Jason Marsh said. “They were loading the box, so we really had to put it up in the air a little bit to loosen it up. Gian did a great job and we had some great individual efforts in the receiving game.”
Beau Bielecki caught five passes for 121 yards and a touchdown and Noah Shenk had a 23-yard TD reception. Christian Swalcy added a four-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter. Tied 8-8 early in the second quarter, F/E scored the next two touchdowns, two on either side of halftime, to turn a tight contest into a commanding 36-8 advantage.
“Overall, the effort was tremendous,” Marsh said. “We still need to clean some things up execution-wise, but the kids played really hard, they really gave us a great effort. We just need to keep working to clean some things up and execute a little better.”
The Titans’ defense also played a big role in the win, intercepting Wilson quarterback Conner Ernest four times. Shenk led the way with two picks while Bielecki and Ben Brol each had one. Hunter Smith had a team-best seven tackles as F/E won convincingly against what had been a pretty good Class C program from last season.
“The defense, again a couple things that we can clean up off the start, but the kids responded,” Marsh went on. “They really stepped up to the challenge. Wilson came out and played pretty physically, but the kids really responded to that.”
