The Citizen
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Moravia senior Evy Thompson tries to get away from a tackle by Cato-Meridian senior Preston Dennison during Friday's game. Cato-Meridian won 30-12.
Moravia senior Evy Thompson tries to get away from a tackle by Cato-Meridian senior Preston Dennison during Friday's game. Cato-Meridian won 30-12.
CATO - Despite the fact they play their home games on opposite sides of Cayuga County and in different sections, there are a few big similarities between the Cato-Meridian and Moravia football teams.
Not only do the teams share the same nickname - Blue Devils - but they both have punishing ground games and stifling defenses. That was evident when they collided on the gridiron for the first time in 37 years on Friday night. After both teams exchanged first-possession touchdowns, the tempo of the game quickly slowed. That was, until Cato-Meridian quarterback Preston Dennison found his two favorite targets three times en route to a 30-12 win for the home team.
“We wanted to try and open it up a little bit more tonight,” Cato-Meridian head coach CJ Hannon said. “We wanted to see if we could loosen things up for Ethan. We had a feeling that they'd really try hard to stop him tonight and we wanted to be a little more balanced with our passing game.”
While the loss won't count in Moravia's bid for a Section IV, Class C spot, it would have counted as a tiebreaker if needed. The win, on the other hand, gave the Section III squad its fifth straight.
“We've been on a roll and we wanted to keep it on a roll,” Hannon said. “And we did that tonight against a real good Moravia team.”
“(A win) could have helped us in a tiebreaker scenario,” Moravia coach John Crossgrove said. “But hopefully, if we take care of business next week, it shouldn't matter (for the playoffs).”
Each team had a rusher gain over 100 yards, but for the first time in awhile, Cato-Meridian's Ethan Holt didn't score a touchdown. Moravia did a great job of keeping him out of the end zone, but Holt also fumbled twice - once inside Moravia's 10-yard line - to help his opponent's cause. For the fifth straight game, however, Holt eclipsed his goal of 120 yards in a game, finishing with 155. His absence in the end zone gave Dennison the chance to shine, which the senior quarterback did on his team's Senior Night. The 6-0, 175-pound signal caller went 7-for-13 for 134 yards and three touchdowns - all to his two favorite wide receivers.
A.J. Rothenburg muscled his way for three catches for 72 yards, his shortest grab came on a 3-yard touchdown catch to put Cato-Meridian up for good in the second quarter. Dillon Caswell came up with the two-point conversion catch after Rothenburg's score and then came up with his own highlight-reel catches. The 5-10 receiver came away with four grabs for 62 yards, and two scores from 11 and 25 yards out in the second half to seal the win for Cato-Meridian.
“Dillon and AJ always do a great job,” Dennison said. “The line too, it's not me, it's all them. I just hand the ball off to Ethan and throw it once in awhile.”
Dennison also showed his athletic ability on the ground, picking up 66 yards on eight carries, including a 31-yard run that gave Cato-Meridian the tie with 6:04 left in the first quarter after Evy Thompson scored for Moravia at the 8:41 mark. Moravia's extra point try was missed after it's first score, which gave Cato-Meridian the opportunity to take a small lead when Holt ran in a two-point conversion after Dennison's ensuing run.
After Moravia's first drive, Cato-Meridian sewed up all its defensive holes, not allowing Moravia to even convert a first down until its final drive in the third quarter.
“That's kind of been our pattern this year,” Hannon said. “It kind of takes us awhile for our defense to get used to the speed that the other team is bringing at us, and Moravia is a very fast team. I was happy that we were able to adjust and execute.”
Jeremy Stewart, though, ripped one open early in the fourth quarter for a 56-yard score. While Cato-Meridian found an answer for Thompson (seven carries, 31 yards), it allowed Stewart to break free for 125 yards on 12 carries. With Moravia down 18 with 2:22 left in the game, a comeback seemed possible until Dillon Langtry (2-for-9, 31 yards) hurled an ill-fated pass that Dennison picked off - his first interception of the year - to seal Cato-Meridian's win.
“It's about time,” Dennison said. “I just read the quarterback and dropped back in line, he threw it right to me.”
“We made a lot of mistakes to keep the score the way it ended,” Crossgrove said. “But I thought we played really well today. We hit really hard, we were really aggressive against a very good team.”
With one game remaining in the 2008 regular season, Cato-Meridian (5-1) will take it's show on the road to a struggling LaFayette squad on Friday night, while Moravia (3-3) hosts winless Odessa-Montour for its Senior Day next Saturday.
C-M 30
Moravia 12
Not only do the teams share the same nickname - Blue Devils - but they both have punishing ground games and stifling defenses. That was evident when they collided on the gridiron for the first time in 37 years on Friday night. After both teams exchanged first-possession touchdowns, the tempo of the game quickly slowed. That was, until Cato-Meridian quarterback Preston Dennison found his two favorite targets three times en route to a 30-12 win for the home team.
“We wanted to try and open it up a little bit more tonight,” Cato-Meridian head coach CJ Hannon said. “We wanted to see if we could loosen things up for Ethan. We had a feeling that they'd really try hard to stop him tonight and we wanted to be a little more balanced with our passing game.”
While the loss won't count in Moravia's bid for a Section IV, Class C spot, it would have counted as a tiebreaker if needed. The win, on the other hand, gave the Section III squad its fifth straight.
“We've been on a roll and we wanted to keep it on a roll,” Hannon said. “And we did that tonight against a real good Moravia team.”
“(A win) could have helped us in a tiebreaker scenario,” Moravia coach John Crossgrove said. “But hopefully, if we take care of business next week, it shouldn't matter (for the playoffs).”
Each team had a rusher gain over 100 yards, but for the first time in awhile, Cato-Meridian's Ethan Holt didn't score a touchdown. Moravia did a great job of keeping him out of the end zone, but Holt also fumbled twice - once inside Moravia's 10-yard line - to help his opponent's cause. For the fifth straight game, however, Holt eclipsed his goal of 120 yards in a game, finishing with 155. His absence in the end zone gave Dennison the chance to shine, which the senior quarterback did on his team's Senior Night. The 6-0, 175-pound signal caller went 7-for-13 for 134 yards and three touchdowns - all to his two favorite wide receivers.
A.J. Rothenburg muscled his way for three catches for 72 yards, his shortest grab came on a 3-yard touchdown catch to put Cato-Meridian up for good in the second quarter. Dillon Caswell came up with the two-point conversion catch after Rothenburg's score and then came up with his own highlight-reel catches. The 5-10 receiver came away with four grabs for 62 yards, and two scores from 11 and 25 yards out in the second half to seal the win for Cato-Meridian.
“Dillon and AJ always do a great job,” Dennison said. “The line too, it's not me, it's all them. I just hand the ball off to Ethan and throw it once in awhile.”
Dennison also showed his athletic ability on the ground, picking up 66 yards on eight carries, including a 31-yard run that gave Cato-Meridian the tie with 6:04 left in the first quarter after Evy Thompson scored for Moravia at the 8:41 mark. Moravia's extra point try was missed after it's first score, which gave Cato-Meridian the opportunity to take a small lead when Holt ran in a two-point conversion after Dennison's ensuing run.
After Moravia's first drive, Cato-Meridian sewed up all its defensive holes, not allowing Moravia to even convert a first down until its final drive in the third quarter.
“That's kind of been our pattern this year,” Hannon said. “It kind of takes us awhile for our defense to get used to the speed that the other team is bringing at us, and Moravia is a very fast team. I was happy that we were able to adjust and execute.”
Jeremy Stewart, though, ripped one open early in the fourth quarter for a 56-yard score. While Cato-Meridian found an answer for Thompson (seven carries, 31 yards), it allowed Stewart to break free for 125 yards on 12 carries. With Moravia down 18 with 2:22 left in the game, a comeback seemed possible until Dillon Langtry (2-for-9, 31 yards) hurled an ill-fated pass that Dennison picked off - his first interception of the year - to seal Cato-Meridian's win.
“It's about time,” Dennison said. “I just read the quarterback and dropped back in line, he threw it right to me.”
“We made a lot of mistakes to keep the score the way it ended,” Crossgrove said. “But I thought we played really well today. We hit really hard, we were really aggressive against a very good team.”
With one game remaining in the 2008 regular season, Cato-Meridian (5-1) will take it's show on the road to a struggling LaFayette squad on Friday night, while Moravia (3-3) hosts winless Odessa-Montour for its Senior Day next Saturday.
C-M 30
Moravia 12
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