Southwestern Holds Off Pesky Akron
With under two minutes to play in Friday night’s Section VI Class C quarterfinal matchup at Charles A. Lawson Field visiting Akron lined up for an onside kick, needing a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to force overtime. Despite the fact that the kick was recovered by the North’s No. 4 seed, it was ruled to not have gone 10 yards, allowing South No. 1 Southwestern (6-2) to run out the clock for a 28-20 win to begin the postseason.
The Trojans certainly would have liked for the victory to be more comfortable, after what looked to be a scoring drive to close out the first half ended in a Tigers’ interception in the end zone too keep the game deadlocked at 7-7.
Southwestern was able to overcome that miscue as well as a few long passes that fell through the hands of receivers to advance to a meeting with North No. 2 seed Wilson (5-3), which began the playoffs with a 57-43 win over South No. 3 Cassadaga Valley/Falconer.
“That was definitely playoff football,” Trojans coach Jehuu Caulcrick said. “We knew coming in, even though Akron was a No. 4 seed, they were a very good No. 4. They beat JFK who is the No. 2 seed up north there, they beat Fredonia, who beat Dunkirk. Everyone was beating up on each other all throughout the league in the North and in the South. So we knew coming in we had to buckle our chinstraps and get ready for a big game. They gave everything they had, they’re a well-coached team. They have a very good back. So we battled and I like the way our kids came out.”
A very good back to be sure. Senior Jacob Sarow would finish the night with 129 yards on 30 carries, with a bulk of those coming on the very first drive of the night by the Tigers.
Sarow looked nigh unstoppable to begin the night, pushing Akron forward from their own 27-yard line with chunks of 5, 51, 2, 4, 3 and finally 2 yards for the touchdown to put the Tigers up 7-0 early.
After Sarow’s hot start on the ground, it looked like Southwestern was in for a long night when, on the ensuing possession, Brian Burns gained a good chunk of yardage off a pitch by quarterback Cole Snyder but lost the football, which was recovered by Sarow.
With those early jitters out of the way, the Trojans finally settled into their groove, beginning on defense when Zishan Munir broke on a screen route and was just barely unable to pick off Akron quarterback Brandon Orr.
That play was followed up by a tackle for a loss by Cooper Pannes, who would go on to end the night leading the Trojan defense with 16 stops.
“We were talking about it on the sideline there, he came ready to play,” Caulcrick said of his standout sophomore. “He had the mindset of, no one is going to run over my side. He did that offensively and defensively. He’s a good kid that works his butt off every day in practice, every day on the field in the weight room and in the classroom.”
After the Trojans had picked up5 yards on their first drive of the night, Caulcrick called up the same play inside the 5-yard line, only this time Snyder handed the ball off up the middle to Luke Heil for the easy score to make it 7-7 after an Alex Card kick.
With the game tied, Akron once again got going on the ground, but after Sarow was forced to settle for small chunks of yardage it was Pannes who came up with another big tackle for a loss of three yards to stall the drive and force a punt.
It looked as though the Trojans would have a good chance to go up by a touchdown before the second half after Alex Calabrese was able to recover a fumble by Robbie Pequeen with 1:07 left on the clock.
Southwestern began that drive at midfield, where Burns picked up 8 yards on a catch while Snyder was able to move the chains following a scramble. After that it was Card with a slick catch and toe touch right at the left sideline for a gain of 12, but that was followed by another Snyder pass which was tipped into the end zone and into the waiting arms of a Tigers’ defensive back to end the half.
“We just gotta do a better job of protecting the football,” Caulcrick said. “It was a tipped ball in the back of the end zone. So it hurts when you don’t convert when you have a good drive like that to end the half, either a field goal or a touchdown. We kept our wits with us and battled back the second half.”
The Trojans did come out looking focused to begin the third quarter, and were able to overcome a delay of game on the opening drive as well as a dropped ball before Card was able to hang on to a 14-yard throw by Snyder to make it 14-7.
Akron wasted no time in responding with a 29-yard strike to Tim Longwell on a route that the junior was able to stretch upfield for the score. Unfortunately for Akron, Pequeen’s PAT would find the left post following that score.
As the night went on, Snyder only got more comfortable in the pocket thanks to the superb protection of his offense line, which resulted in plenty of time to find Heil on a 23-yard strike to give the Trojans a 21-13 lead.
Another good drive and short rushing touchdown from the Tigers would prove too little to late, as Akron was unable to convert on the onside kick attempt.
“We had to make adjustments at halftime, play assignment football defensively, and our playmakers on the offensive side of the ball had to come out and they had to perform,” Caulcrick said. “They just had to do their job, we had too many dropped balls in the first half, and in the second half I think we did a better job of securing the football with our running backs and our receivers catching the ball and getting what they can.”
NOTES: Orr’s night would end with 100 yards on seven throws. … Snyder finished 15 of 26 for 185 yards with two scores and a pick. … Vinny Certo added 13 tackles on defense for the Trojans.
Akron 7 0 6 7 — 20
Southwestern 7 0 14 7 — 28
Akr–Sarow 2 run (Pequeen kick)
Sou–Heil 1 run (Card kick)
Sou–Card 14 pass from Snyder (Card kick)
Akr–Longwell 29 pass from Orr (kick failed)
Sou–Heil 23 pass from Snyder (Card kick)
Akr–Sarow 1 run (Pequeen kick)
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