More than anything it just felt good to get back to normal.
Senior QB Zac Boyes passed for 231 yards and five touchdowns as Kenmore West breezed to a 53-0 win over North Tonawanda in their Section VI Class A-1 game that was played at Crosby Field, Saturday afternoon.
It was the Blue Devils’ first game since last Friday’s game against McKinley was postponed late in the day amid threats of potential violence taking place during the game.
“Yeah it was a weird week. Probably nothing like we’ll ever experience again,” Zac Boyes said. “That just talks about our focus and how much these guys have bought in to one game at a time. That’s really all our focus is. It was a great day to come out and beat NT. Now we’re on to Will-East.”
From missing a week of game action to dealing with outside voices for a week about the postponement and ultimate fate of the game against McKinley – Kenmore West head coach Johnny Haynes said his boys conducted themselves like true professionals as they prepared for NT.
“I thought it was a great team effort. They really paid attention to detail and were focused from start to finish today,” Haynes said. “They responded very well. I was proud of them and happy for them. It was a great team win.”
Posting their first win over North Tonawanda since 2010, it was clear from the word ‘go’ that the Blue Devils (2-0) were ready for this game.
Eddie Vona opened the scoring with a two yard TD run up the middle early in the game.
While the Blue Devils offense was cooking it was the defense that set the table as they forced four fumbles.
“We’re very aggressive and we put a lot of pressure on teams,” Haynes said. “It’s high school football and that’s what we’re gonna do. That’s what we preach and that’s what we want to do and we’ll continue to do that.”
Kenny Mosley ran the first one back 70 yards for the Blue Devils’ second touchdown.
Matt Chimera’s recovery led to Boyes’ 46-yard TD pass to Eddie Vona.
Gary Michael Kelly’s fumble recovery set the tone for a Boyes TD pass to Jacob Alvarez, making it 39-0.
Jabari Lee scooped the fourth fumble recovery which led to Boyes’ (9 for 11) second TD pass to Pat Gerbec.
“We were fired up to play last Friday,” Boyes said. “Of course what happened, that was kind of annoying. We were all pretty mad. So we came out here fired up. It just talks about our defense. Coming into the year we thought ‘oh, we lost a lot of guys’ and all that kind of stuff but guys have stepped in great. I can’t say enough about them. They’re one of the main reasons why we are where we are.”
Alvarez capped off the scoring with a 35-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
Whether it was a conscious decision or not on the Blue Devils part there was a sense that they took out their frustration on NT as they were absolutely relentless in every facet of the game. The Blue Devils completely understand and agree with why the game was put on held. That feeling of frustration simmered even more when the game was not made up within the first couple days as the Blue Devils had hoped.
“They were very upset going into the week because we wanted to play either Monday or Tuesday,” Haynes said. “We wanted to show McKinley and the rest of Western New York that Kenmore West is on the map and that we have a good football team and a good football program.”
As of press time, no make up date had been secured.
For the Lumberjacks, who fall to 1-2, this afternoon was a case of ‘whatever could go wrong, did.’ From blown plays to turnovers to way too many penalties the Jacks know they have a lot to work on.
“What’s upsetting is it looks like, at times, that we don’t practice,” NT head coach Rick Tomm said. “You preach ball security, you can’t turn the ball over. You can’t have penalties. You can’t have blown coverages. We’re not good enough to make up for that. Right now our effort and our care level is there, but our football knowledge is developing.”
Eddie Vona had five receptions for 124 yards and six tackles on defense.
Eric Nicotera had six tackles and a sack.
The Blue Devils travel to Will-East Friday at 7; NT will host McKinley.
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