| BataviasBest.org
Saturday, October 4, 2014
In our Week 5 Game of the Week, the Alexander Trojans traveled to Oakfield to face-off with the Hornets in an important league matchup between two 2-2 teams.
The game on Friday night began with Oakfield setting the pace. Scoring first on a long drive put together by several passes down the field, the Hornets’ Allen Chatt found Reice Woodward for the score to cap off the possession. Following a successful two point try, the score was 8-0 OA with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
On the Trojans’ next drive, they would come right back to cut into the Oakfield lead, as Tristan Aldinger was able to take a short run to the left side for a score with 10:02 remaining the the first half. The touchdown and successful PAT pushed the score to 8-7 Hornets, with both sides proving they could move the football successfully in the early going.
On the ensuing possession, Oakfield would make their first big mistake of the night.
Early on in the drive, the Hornets continued to go to the air almost exclusively as they were unable to move the ball on the ground for much of the start of the game.
On a second down play, approaching midfield, the OA tight end was sent on an out route to the right side of the formation while matched up against Alexander linebacker Jake Wozniak. After breaking his route the Hornets’ TE appeared open, but with Wozniak trailing slightly, the pass was thrown and picked off by the Trojans’ linebacker. The turnover provided Alexander with a great chance to take the lead, and they would soon capitalize.
On the Trojans’ next drive, they continued to work their running game, specifically Tristan Aldinger, who ran hard for head coach Tim Sawyer all night long. Advancing the ball all the way inside the five yard line, Alexander could not get the ball into the end zone, but on a fourth down play they elected to kick a field goal and when the drive was over, they had the lead 10-8.
Unfortunately for the Hornets, following the field goal, rain started to fall in Oakfield and as a result the passing game of the home team began to struggle. This meant bad news for Oakfield, who up until then had relied heavily on the efforts of their quarterback, as they have all season long.
Lacking a true star at the running back position in 2014, although they possess several quality runners, OA has been forced to call several gadget plays this season in order to get their ground game going when they need to. Unable to find success from those unique play calls on Friday night, Oakfield was forced to keep throwing.
On the drive following the Alexander field goal, the Hornets were forced to punt and gave the ball back to the Trojans, who were unable to do anything with the change of possession and the two sides went into the half with the score still 10-8 with the Hornets trailing.
To open the second half in Oakfield, the rain began to fall with a little more purpose, causing the Trojans to continue their ground assault of the Hornets’ defense. Putting together a long drive using several big runs from Aldinger and Jake Wozniak, Alexander was able to score once again to extend their lead to 17-8 lead with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. Wozniak was the one who crossed the goal line this time for the Trojans, and with his early interception as well as the short score, the Junior was certainly making a case for Player of the Game.
On the ensuing drive, the Hornets would answer.
Again using an aerial attack to begin the drive, two plays in, OA’s Allen Chatt hit Sal Schwable on a long touchdown of 65 yards to cut into the Trojans’ lead. Following a successful two point attempt which came on a nice little option play to Ryan Emery, the score was now 17-16 and we had a ballgame on our hands.
Scoring next were the Trojans, as Jared Browne was able to connect with his brother Sam on a nice touchdown pass of 15 yards on the ensuing drive. The score was pushed to 24-16 with the TD, and with 11 minutes remaining in the game, Oakfield needed to answer quickly.
Failing to convert, however, the Hornets would give the ball back to the Trojans, who had a chance to extend their lead.
Using a trick play on the next drive, Alexander was able to do just that as Jared Browne threw to Sam Browne along the outside, who instead of running with the football, decided to step back and throw the ball down field to Derrick Busch who was open for the score. With the TD, the Trojans were now ahead by two possessions and were close to putting the game out of reach.
However, the Hornets were able to answer the trick play with a touchdown of their own and were faced with a must-stop if they hoped to come all the way back to win.
Getting the stop they needed, OA got the ball back with just under 30 seconds remaining and one last chance to pull off the miracle. However, after two consecutive Hail Mary attempts by the Hornets, the buzzer sounded and the game was over.
Alexander had won the game by a final of 31-24, in what was a hard fought battle between two top teams in the GR League.
Leading the effort for Oakfield was Allen Chatt who finished 16/32 passing with a total of 192 yards and 3 TDs (4, 5, 65) and 2 interceptions. Reice Woodward also had a solid day alongside Chatt finishing with 5 catches for 44 yards a touchdown of 4 yards.
Sal Schwable contributed to the OA effort as well, chipping in 7 catches for 116 yards and 1 touchdown of 65 yards.
Ryan Emery added 2 catches for 23 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively for the Hornets, Chatt, Emery, Jon Harris, and Jake Velletta all had 7 tackles a piece, while Emery and Harris added an interception and sack respectively.
For the victors, Aldinger finished the day with the high mark on the ground as the athletic running back totaled 123 yards rushing on 24 carries, while also scoring the 5 yard touchdown. Jake Wozniak also played well offensively for the Trojans, adding 41 yards on 7 carries and the 16 yard touchdown. Ty Laird chipped in 9 carries for 44 yards.
Defensively for Alexander, our Player of the Game Jake Wozniak contributed 3 tackles and the INT, while Jake Riggs also added 5 tackles and an INT of his own. Ty Laird and Derrick Busch each had 6 tackles while Busch added a sack (5).
Next up for the Trojans will be another league matchup with Pembroke a week from yesterday. For the Hornets, they will look to get back on track versus Holley in Week 6.
Other articles you may like:
Attica defeats Elba in lopsided contest; Blue Devils prove they are class of GR League
The GR Report: Week 5 features several quality match ups – including a fight for first place
Tim Sawyer pushing his Trojans to be great; Alexander off to 2-2 start
Our Week 4 MVP Sam Browne gives us an inside look at his last season in Alexander Green and Gold
