| BataviasBest.org
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Walking away with their second win of the season, the Alexander football team played a complete game against the Holley Hawks and look forward to climbing above .500 next week. Samuel Browne was unstoppable for the Trojans on Friday night, as the Alexander WR scored two touchdowns early in the first half to give his team a lead that they would never surrender.
Shortly after the opening kickoff, the Hawks were forced to punt due to a fantastic opening effort from the Trojan defense. With Browne back deep for the return team, little did everyone know something electric was about to happen.
Following a nice kick of about 40 yards, Browne was able field the ball cleanly and find space to the right sideline. With help from a few key blocks just past midfield, one of which knocking a Holley player out of the game with an injury, he broke through the open area and into the end zone for the 80-yard touchdown. Just like that the Trojans had seized the momentum and were on their way to a one-sided victory.
Although on their next possession Holley drove the length of the field and into the red zone, posing the threat of tying the game, the Hawks were unable to complete the drive and turned it back over to Alexander once again. Also stopped short of the end zone, however, the Trojans were forced to punt the ball back to Holley short of extending their one-score lead. The Hawks would do nothing with their possession, this time punting the ball away as the first quarter came to and end with the score 7-0 Alexander.
Just two minutes into the second quarter the Trojans would strike again, and again it was Browne doing the honors.
As he had done during the first few minutes of the game, Browne took another big play for a touchdown, catching a deep pass from his brother Jared Browne and doing the rest for the 75-yard score. Following the successful PAT the score was 14-0 Alexander with Holley now up a creek seemingly without a paddle.
To make matters worse for the Hawks, they would quickly be forced punt on their next drive. Fortunately for them, though, Alexander threw the ball away on their next possession, gift wrapping an interception for Holley to give them the ball back quickly with a chance to cut the lead in half. This was their chance.
However, as was the case for much of the night, they could not even muster a first down and again had to punt it away. This time, the Trojans didn’t even let the ball get to Browne for a chance at another return TD.
At the 5:44 mark of the second quarter, Alexander sent the house on the ensuing punt and came up with the clutch block, returning it 10 yards for their third touchdown of the night. It was Derrick Busch running the ball in for the Trojans, who scored his first touchdown of the game but was not done as we came to find out a bit later in the half.
On the next Holley possession, for what seemed like the tenth time, the Hawks were again forced to punt. As Alexander took over, they stuck with what had been working on offense: Getting the ball to Sam Browne.
Catching another deep pass to put his team within striking distance, the Trojans’ WR found space as he did all night and was able to out-muscle the Holley defensive back for the long gainer. Bringing the ball all the way down inside the red zone, Derrick Busch scored his second touchdown of the night on the next play, a ten yard pass to the right flat. The score was now an incredible 28-0 Alexander and the game had more or less been put to bed.
A few more minutes ticked off the clock and the half came to an end with Holley on the outside looking in to say the least, and the Trojans seemingly on Cloud Nine.
Coming out of the break, Holley was afforded a few chances early on to cut into the large deficit, but unable to do so each time quickly signaled that the game was indeed out of reach. Alexander completed the shutout, seized the victory, and went home as a .500 football team at the end of the night, which is what they set out to do at the start of the contest.
Other than Browne and Busch, who combined scored all four touchdowns for Alexander on Friday night, Tristan Aldinger and Zach Shilvock also put forth solid performances for head coach Tim Sawyer. Aldinger was Alexander’s leading rusher with 10 carries for 82 yards, while Shilvock was a perfect 4-4 on his extra point attempts. Defensively for the Trojans Tyler Laird had 8 tackles and 1/2 sack, Cody Trezcieski had 7 tackles and 1/2 sack, Jake Wozniak had an interception, and Aldinger also had an INT, his second on the season.
Moving to 2-2 on the year, the Trojans remain tied with Notre Dame for the fourth spot in the standings after the Irish were also able to pull out a victory over Pembroke last night. Next week, Alexander takes on Oakfield who may finish the week at 2-2 as well, unless they are to win their tilt with Elba this afternoon.
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Batavia’s Best Live Blog: Tonight, you can find live updates of the Alexander-Holley game RIGHT HERE
The GR Report: Week 4 begins with Attica in first place, followed closely by Elba and Oakfield
