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Randolph romp

Cardinals stun Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 33-7

By Matt Spielman 5 min read

RANDOLPH - Despite controlling most of the first half, Randolph only led Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 6-0 late in the second quarter Friday night.

That all changed in the blink of an eye.

The Cardinals scored on what was essentially the final play of the first half and then ran back the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown to break open a 33-7 season-opening nonleague victory over the Eagles at Raymond Van Wie Stadium.

"Tonight, we challenged them to come out and be the aggressor. Let's hit them in the mouth and see how they respond," Randolph head coach Nate Armella said of his team. "They rose to the occasion."

Senior quarterback Davion Johnson, making his first career start for Randolph, showed off his speed with a pair of long runs -- one that went for a touchdown -- and finished with 143 yards on the ground while senior Alexander Garland had 11 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to the 83-yard kickoff return for a third score.

"Garland is usually the fastest kid on the field. He's put in work building his body up ... so now he can run between the tackles with confidence," Armella said. "That helps you get around the edge too."

Staked to a 6-0 lead after Johnson ran 51 yards for a touchdown on his team's second offensive play of the season, the Cardinals drove deep into Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton territory as the clock ticked down toward the end of the first half. Facing fourth down from the 24-yard line, Davion Johnson rolled to his right and threw toward the back corner of the end zone where his younger brother, Syrai, jumped into the air and caught the ball before getting his feet inbounds for a touchdown with 3 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

"Put it where we can get it and they can't. If we don't catch it, it is what it is," Armella said. "That was a big one."

Garland then received the second-half kickoff at his 17-yard line before racing to the edge of the Eagles' coverage team and beating them down the sideline for an 83-yard score to make it 19-0 after Isaac Pihlblad's point-after kick.

"We played really hard in the first half, especially on defense, but we didn't do enough to execute. We ran like 14 plays and gained 40 yards in the first half -- that's not going to get it done," Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton head coach Ty Harper said. "I thought we took some poor pursuit angles and sometimes we had guys in position to make tackles and we just didn't make tackles."

After a Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton three-and-out, the Cardinals took over at their own 9-yard line. Two plays later, Davion Johnson ran 86 yards down to the Eagles' 5-yard line before Garland scored on the next play to make it 26-0 after Pihlblad's second PAT.

"Credit goes to Randolph and Nate Armella. He had his team absolutely ready to play tonight. They were firing on all cylinders. They did every single conceivable thing better than we did," Harper said. "They were better at the line of scrimmage, they were more physical, they tackled better, they blocked better, they executed better. That is a credit to Nate, his coaching staff and his players."

Another three-and-out followed for the Eagles and when Randolph took over at the Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 41-yard line, it took just one play for Garland to run for his third score of the third quarter to make it 33-0 with Pihlblad's final PAT.

"I take full responsibility for what happened on this field tonight. I did not have our guys prepared enough. I have to do a better job," Harper said. "We have to get better in a lot of different ways."

With mostly backups in during the fourth quarter, the Eagles erased the shutout when Josh Swan threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Parker Covert. Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton converted just five first downs in the game.

Both teams will enter league play next week as Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton travels to Hinsdale to take on Allegany-Limestone/Hinsdale in Class C South while Randolph will visit defending Class D champion Newfane.

"We've got to get better. As good as we were tonight, the penalties are concerning," Armella said. "We were cramping like crazy and we're in shape, so I don't know what the answer is."

NOTES: Davion Johnson completed all seven passes he threw for 53 yards and a score while Cole Morris ran 18 times for 45 yards for Randolph. Syrai Johnson intercepted a pass for the Cardinals ... Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton ran 20 times for 64 yards as a team.

Randolph 6 6 21 0 -- 33

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 0 0 0 7 -- 7

Ran--DJohnson 51 run (run failed)

Ran--SJohnson 24 pass from DJohnson (run failed)

Ran--Garland 83 kickoff return (Pihlblad kick)

Ran--Garland 5 run (Pihlblad kick)

Ran--Garland 41 run (Pihlblad kick)

CL/W/B--Covert 25 pass from Swan (Meredith kick)

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