Black Knights roll T’wolves in quarterfinals
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SILVER CREEK -- The Silver Creek/Forestville Black Knights picked up their fourth consecutive victory on Thursday, but it was more than just another win. It was a farewell for the seniors in one final home game, and one of those seniors had the game of his life.
Andrew Arnold scored three touchdowns on Thursday, surpassing 200 yards on the ground in the process, as the Black Knights defeated the Cattaraugus-Little Valley Timberwolves 32-16 in a Section VI Class D first-round playoff football game at Silver Creek High School.
"It feels great. These are things we dream of as kids," Arnold said. "When the opportunity comes, you've just got to execute."
Arnold stepped into the spotlight on Thursday with Manny Sanchez unavailable to play. Immediately after the victory, he shared the glory with his teammates, crediting the offensive line for his performance.
"It feels good to know my linemen always got me," Arnold said. "Knowing that they've got my back and I've got theirs makes it a lot easier."
Silver Creek/Forestville head coach Sean Helmer was not surprised by the performance he got from his running back on Thursday. To that degree, however, it was quite impressive.
"Andrew (Arnold) has been great the last few weeks. He's getting more and more confident with the football, and he knew he would have to carry it a ton tonight," Helmer said. "He did a nice job."
Silver Creek/Forestville (6-3, 3-seed) had three drives in the first half and scored touchdowns on all three. First was a 9-yard pass on a bubble screen from Will Duliba to Jake Anders on the opening possession of the game. Less than five minutes into play, the Black Knights led 6-0.
Cattaraugus-Little Valley (0-9, 6-seed) chewed up the rest of the first quarter on its opening possession, which set up a goal-to-go situation at the start of the second quarter. The Black Knights stuffed a pitch to Nyquon Boswell on 3rd-and-goal, then on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, quarterback Tucker Barrick was stood up at the goal line to force a turnover on downs.
Pinned against its own end zone, Silver Creek/Forestville got out of danger on a 3rd-and-long carry by Arnold for a first down. Duliba followed with a 20-yard scramble down the Silver Creek/Forestville sideline, then a 27-yard pitch to Jake Anders kept the momentum going.
Arnold brought the Black Knights down to the 5-yard line, then back-to-back keepers from Duliba resulted in the game's second touchdown, a 1-yard sneak to double the Silver Creek/Forestville lead.
After a penalty on the kickoff out of bounds, the Timberwolves started their next drive at their own 41-yard line. It didn't make matters any easier, though, as the Black Knights forced a fumble on the first play of the drive. It was recovered by Silver Creek/Forestville in enemy territory.
Jake Anders drew a pass interference call on the first play of the drive for the Black Knights, setting the offense up at the 26-yard line. Then, he followed up with a 21-yard reception, leading to 1st-and-goal. Arnold punched it in from six yards out on a carry up the middle. After Duliba completed a two-point conversion pass, the Black Knights led 20-0 with 1:23 left in the first half.
Through three drives, the scoreboard reflected what most would have expected when looking at the matchup on paper. In eight games coming into Thursday's contest, Cattaraugus-Little Valley was outscored 362-70. The Timberwolves allowed at least 38 points in each game and they were outscored by at least 26 points in every contest. Still, because there are only six teams in Class D, the Timberwolves were granted a playoff game. As it turned out, they responded with their best effort of the season.
"Credit to them. Those kids fought hard," Helmer said.
The Timberwolves finally found some good fortune on the ensuing drive, as a deep ball from Tucker Barrick was deflected, then caught by Caleb Aguiar. The 55-yard catch and run set the Timberwolves up at the 10-yard line with 1:08 left in the half.
"We should be behind that anyway," Helmer said, excusing the circus catch but holding his team responsible for the run after the catch. "At that time in the game, they know better, and we'll be better."
After three straight runs, the Timberwolves called a timeout with four seconds left. It set up one final play from the 1-yard line, and Barrick pushed his way across the goal line for a touchdown. He followed with a jump pass on a two-point conversion to cap an 8-point drive and put the Timberwolves back in the game at the break.
"We were pretty vocal at halftime about our physicality," Helmer said of his message to the Black Knights at the intermission.
The Timberwolves began with the ball to start the second half, but Collin Morabito took it back on an interception in the first minute. Silver Creek-Forestville gave the ball back a few minutes later, however, as Duliba was picked off by his counterpart, Barrick, on a deep ball in Timberwolves territory.
Cattaraugus-Little Valley drove back deep into Silver Creek-Forestville territory, set up with another goal-to-go scenario. But faced with a 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line, the Black Knights got the defensive stop they needed. A quick pass was batted down at the line by Jay Buffalo-Cortes to force a turnover on downs. It preserved a double-digit advantage for the Black Knights.
"Huge play," Helmer said of the deflection. "If we don't get that, talk about flipping momentum."
On the next drive, with the momentum in Silver Creek/Forestville's favor, Arnold landed a haymaker.
Faced with a 4th-and-short near midfield, Arnold broke free and took off down the field. With one man left to beat, Arnold spun him in circles and took it the distance for a 52-yard touchdown. The Silver Creek/Forestville sideline and stands lit up with excitement as Arnold took off downfield. He celebrated with Dom Anders lifting him in the air as he increased the Black Knights' lead to 26-8.
Silver Creek/Forestville forced another turnover on downs in the fourth quarter. Arnold capped off the ensuing drive with his third touchdown run of the game to put the game to bed. Even a late touchdown from the Timberwolves had no impact on the result.
"I told the seniors that I was happy for them. They won their last game here at home," Helmer said. "... It was fun. I'm happy for the community and the kids."
Up next, Silver Creek/Forestville advances to the Class D semifinals next week at Newfane, the 2-seed in Class D.
"Newfane is a great team," Helmer said, calling their offense a "three-headed monster." He added, "We'll have to play great, but that's what you do this for."
Arnold believes his team's four-game win streak could turn into more momentum next week.
"We're already on a win streak, so this is just more momentum, more fuel to the fire," Arnold said. "It's going to be fun to play with these boys again."