MMAA Football Report – Week 1

LANCERS WIN BIG, DEFEAT MARAUDERS

A close game that eventually turned into a convincing triumph went in favor of the St. Mary’s Lancers as they defeated the St. Joe’s Marauders 30-16 on Saturday. The first half – characterized by an early rushing touchdown by senior running back Christian Lewis and a 35-yard field goal by Brendan Peccia – was also marred by penalties and turnovers. But according to Lancers coach Matt Ard, despite the early mistakes his team was able to focus on the task at hand. “I tell our guys this all time – in the first and second quarter they’re going to be there to tackle you. But in the third and fourth quarter? Not so much anymore,” Ard said. “Christian ran so hard and the second half was his. He really dominated the third and fourth quarter.” Lewis continued his strong play with three more rushing touchdowns in the second half – giving him 26 carries for 171 yards and four scores on the day. As great of a day as Lewis had, however, Ard pointed out that his offensive line had just as impressive an afternoon. “I’ve got two seniors on the right side of our line in Will Rhodes and Shalion Scott, and those two guys with their experience is paying dividends for us,” Ard said. “We’ve got Jamari Coleman transiting to us from Cleveland Hill and he’s added a whole new dimension to our offensive line – his ability to pull and get out on people has changed what we do. “And we also have two juniors in Nate Wisniewski and Owen Zito at tackle and center. The five of them did a fantastic job against a very big and physical St. Joe’s team.” St. Joe’s spoiled the shutout with a pair of touchdowns by senior running back Dion Anderson – one on the ground, one through the air. They and the Lancers will take on Eden/North Collins and Holy Trinity, respectively, next week.

TIGERS MAULED BY MUSTANGS

The Bishop Timon-St. Jude Tigers didn’t quite open the 2021 season the way they wanted to by dropping their opener against the Medina Mustangs 54-6. The Mustangs rode a three-touchdown passing performance from quarterback Xander Payne, a five catch, 103 yard and two scores display from wide receiver Jarin Rhim and 29 carries for 184 yards and three scoring tallies from six different runners to stake themselves to a 32-0 lead in the first quarter. After a second stanza in which Makari Inabenett got the Tigers on the board with a rushing touchdown, Medina scored another 22 points to seal the deal. Chris Meadows led the Tigers with six receptions and Gerald McCloud paced them in tackles with eight. The Tigers will take on Portville from Section VI’s Class D next week.

RED RAIDERS RUN WILD OVER WARRIORS Conversely, a first half that saw the St. Francis Red Raiders drop 37 points was the catalyst behind a 44-13 opening day win over Liverpool of Section III AA. The win was paced offensively by the Red Raiders’ running game, which saw eight different rushers combine for 36 carries, 223 yards and five scores on the ground. Leading the group was Ricardo Kidd, who tallied 106 yards on nine carries and a score. Coach Jerry Smith’s squad will look to improve to 2-0 on September 18 when they take on St. Joe’s.

Canisius Crusaders Opponent Bails

The Crusaders learned earlier in the week that their first game of the season scheduled vs Section V’s McQuaid would be cancelled. The Section released a statement over the weekend that due to a number of reasons, they would have to redraft a schedule and that the Canisius game would be a casualty.

Head Coach Bryan Gorman said the team scrimmaged this past Friday and are looking forward to next Saturday’s game against WNY Maritime-Health Sciences (0-1). WNYAthletics will be streaming the game from Stransky Field.

Cardinal O’Hara Idle Until 9/17

The Shawn Mangold era at O’Hara is underway but the program won’t play their first game until Friday night September 17th when they host Class D Franklinville/Ellicottville.  That could work in the Hawks favor considering they had low numbers early on. They currently have a roster size of 18 (per sectionvifootball.com). Mangold does have the support of six assistants on his staff.

O’Hara had a game previously scheduled with St. Andrews, a team from Canada. Due to the ongoing pandemic, they are unable to cross the border.