For a second week in a row, the Cheektowaga Warriors trailed their opponents at halftime, yet again this week, Eric Bartnik led his Warriors to a 22-21 win on homecoming. The Senior QB and 2016 Cheektowaga Homecoming King Eric Bartnik completed 31/48 passes in the victory over the Class A Iroquois Chiefs in a non-league contest at Warrior Field. Bartnik comments on the rally the Warriors had in the second half, saying “I trust the coach and we ended up getting the job done. I have to do my job and we all have to execute.”
The game was looking to be a tough one for the team ranked third in the state in Class B, as the Warriors defense could not contain Chiefs RB Brandon Yax in the first half for more than 3 drives. The senior for Iroquois ran for the team’s first touchdown 4:59 into the second quarter, giving the chiefs a 6-0 lead at that point, only to be added onto by Iroquois via a 20 yard field goal from Brayden Herdick five minutes later.
None points was the deficit the Warriors faced at halftime, as Head Coach Mike Fatta gave his players a pep talk to give them the motivation to hit harder than they did in the first half, run further than they had and truly embrace their motto of ‘+2′. “We told them to stay the course. The mistakes we made [in the first half] were either self inflicted or mental. Up or down, we expect our guys to play hard every play, regardless of the score, and that’s what we do here.”
The next scoring play came with 6:25 left in the third quarter, when Iroquois QB Jack Edwards found 6’1 TE Dan Quinn in the end zone for a short TD pass. This touchdown put the visitors up 15-0 halfway through the third, but Coach Fatta, Eric Bartnik and the Warriors were not going to give up on their homecoming game just yet.
There’s no hiding the fact that Cheektowaga is a pass-first team, as Bartnik did throw the ball 48 times, 31 completed for a total of 345 yards tonight, mainly aiming for his 6’5 receiver Stephan Parker, who had 125 yards on 11 receptions. This ‘in-the-air’ offense showed off with under 6 minutes left in the third quarter, as Bartnik found Saquil Heard, Stephan Parker, Tommy Zolnowski and DeMarion McGinnis all open to move the chains for the Warriors in a rapid, non-stop movement. Cheektowaga hustled down the field and punched in their first TD on the day before the third quarter came to a close. A 39-yard TD pass from Bartnik to McGinnis put CCHS on the board with six points, trailing by nine with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Tremendous tackles from Warriors’ defensive players John Sweat, Trevor Darlak, Adam Bellaus and Ja’Vaughn Williams among a host of other Warriors gave Central the ball back with two and a half remaining in the quarter. Cheektowaga, who is used to running a no-huddle, fast paced offense moved down the field as if they were a freight train in the air and on the ground. Steven Turpin would cap off a 2-minute drive for Cheektowaga that started from their own 10-yard line, with a 4-yard TD run, and a completed two-point conversion. 15-14 was the score in favor of the Chiefs heading into the final frame of play.
Just under two minutes into the fourth, Iroquois’ running back Brandon Yax seemed to have put the game away with a 3-yard TD run, giving his Chiefs a 21-14 lead with 10:15 left in regulation. This game, though, would be far from over at this point.
Cheektowaga, who couldn’t get anything going on their ground game, utilized their stud QB Bartnik and star WR Parker to consistently move the chain gang down the field, until ten yards away from the end zone, when Bartnik threw a pick to Iroquois’ Connor Day. The Chiefs would go 3 & out on that drive, not able to capitalize on yet another Warrior turnover. Coach Fatta’s Warriors would get the ball one more time for a final chance to tie the game, and his team converted. A 20-yard TD pass from Bartnik to Shaquil Heard got Cheektowaga within one point, and the Warriors went for 2.
46 seconds on the clock, down 21-20. Bartnik rolled out to his right and threw a bullet pass intended for McGinnis, instead tipping off an Iroquois DB to Warrior Jaquan Bush. Bush’s reception gave the Warriors the lead after successfully executing their 2-point conversion. “I just saw the ball, reached out and grabbed it. I knew I could get it, and I did,” says Jaquan Bush on his game winning two-point conversion catch.
Cheektowaga’s come-from-behind win puts them at 5-0 overall, 3-0 in league play, still sitting as the #1 ranked small school, number 3 in the state. This team is for real.
Next week, Cheektowaga heads to Lew-Port on Friday night to play in their fourth league game of the season before heading home to play Maryvale on rivalry week. The Iroquois Chiefs will host West Seneca East in a Class A matchup on Friday night.
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