SYRACUSE - This season, the Weedsport football team has seen its fair share of great teams. The previously undefeated Warriors had faced tough defenses, quick running backs and sturdy offensive lines.
But a passing game like Westmoreland's? Not even close.
The good news for the Warriors is that they were also able to surprise their opponents, letting the ball fly more times than they had in any game all season in their 43-20 loss.
Going into the Section III, Class D finals at the Carrier Dome on Friday night, the Warriors were well aware of the Bulldogs' arsenal of offensive threats. For one, running back Justin Becker had 30 touchdowns alone entering the contest. Despite the Bulldogs' top rusher adding four more scores onto his already gaudy season total, it was Westmoreland's air assault that was on full display.
The same can be said for the Warriors, a team that didn't get to the sectional finals through by passing attack.
“The game plan was to slow them down running the ball and then they could throw,” Westmoreland head coach Tim Gates said. “They got behind, so then they had to throw. That was kind of what we were trying to do. We took them out of their comfort zone.”
Each half saw the ball being hurled through the air a ton of times, though the team doing the throwing was not consistent. Westmoreland's signal caller, Dan Smith, took all of his passing opportunities in the first 24 minutes, as the Bulldogs didn't throw the ball once in the final two quarters.
“He's as good of a quarterback as we've seen,” Weedsport head coach Greg Michaels said. “In Class C or Class D - he's a good player. They have nice schemes.”
Abe Jordan looked comfortable passing from the pocket and on the run - finishing with 11 completions on 16 attempts for 134 yards - just 45 yards short of Smith's total.
“We wanted to mix in more passes,” Michaels said. “We knew we'd have trouble running the ball against them. We got into some situations where we threw some on first down,and we had good success.”
“We don't pass a lot,” said senior quarterback Jordan. “Usually we like to run.”
It didn't seem to matter how many times the Bulldogs threw the ball though, it was all about the quality. All eight completions were for more than 10 yards - to three targets in tight end Mark Russell, wide receiver Jason Colburn and Becker.
“We knew they were going to give us some one-on-one matchups,” Gates said. “That one ball he threw up to Russell (for a touchdown) was perfect. He put it in the perfect place and Russell made a great catch. (Smith) did a great job, and so did the (offensive) line.”
“They know that we can run the option, they were expecting that,” Smith said. “It seemed to be working. We slipped by them for a little while.”
A big problem, literally, for the Warriors was the 6-foot-6 Colburn who finished with three catches for 59 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion catch.
“We played our best secondary on (Colburn),” Michaels said. “He's hard to stop. If we doubled up on him, then we weaken up inside.”
Weedsport's 5-5 defensive back, Will Whittmer, made a great attempt to intercept the ball from Colburn in the end zone at the end of the first half, but the end result pulled the Bulldogs away for good.
“We knew he'd be a mismatch with just about anyone on their team,” Smith said. “He's a big guy, we knew they might switch back to Becker, so we just kept throwing to him. I saw the mismatch (on the touchdown) when he was going up against the shorter guy, so I just threw it up and let Jason do what he had to do.”
“They keyed in on our weakness,” Weedsport running back and defensive back Brian Quigley said. “They passed on us - it's been our weakness all season. We couldn't handle their 6-6 receiver. We haven't seen anyone of that height, or that quick, all year.”
Weedsport (9-1)
Sept. 4 vs. Hannibal W 40-12
Sept. 12 at Port Byron W 21-12
Sept. 19 at Bishop Grimes W 46-19
Sept. 25 vs. Onondaga W 52-21
Oct. 2 at Jordan-Elbridge W 52-13
Oct. 9 vs. Cato-Meridian W 56-0
Oct. 16* vs. Pulaski W 34-6
Oct. 23* vs. Sandy Creek W 34-22
Oct. 30* vs. Watertown IHC W 20-14
Nov. 6* vs. Westmoreland L 20-43
* Section III playoffs
The good news for the Warriors is that they were also able to surprise their opponents, letting the ball fly more times than they had in any game all season in their 43-20 loss.
Going into the Section III, Class D finals at the Carrier Dome on Friday night, the Warriors were well aware of the Bulldogs' arsenal of offensive threats. For one, running back Justin Becker had 30 touchdowns alone entering the contest. Despite the Bulldogs' top rusher adding four more scores onto his already gaudy season total, it was Westmoreland's air assault that was on full display.
The same can be said for the Warriors, a team that didn't get to the sectional finals through by passing attack.
“The game plan was to slow them down running the ball and then they could throw,” Westmoreland head coach Tim Gates said. “They got behind, so then they had to throw. That was kind of what we were trying to do. We took them out of their comfort zone.”
Each half saw the ball being hurled through the air a ton of times, though the team doing the throwing was not consistent. Westmoreland's signal caller, Dan Smith, took all of his passing opportunities in the first 24 minutes, as the Bulldogs didn't throw the ball once in the final two quarters.
“He's as good of a quarterback as we've seen,” Weedsport head coach Greg Michaels said. “In Class C or Class D - he's a good player. They have nice schemes.”
Abe Jordan looked comfortable passing from the pocket and on the run - finishing with 11 completions on 16 attempts for 134 yards - just 45 yards short of Smith's total.
“We wanted to mix in more passes,” Michaels said. “We knew we'd have trouble running the ball against them. We got into some situations where we threw some on first down,and we had good success.”
“We don't pass a lot,” said senior quarterback Jordan. “Usually we like to run.”
It didn't seem to matter how many times the Bulldogs threw the ball though, it was all about the quality. All eight completions were for more than 10 yards - to three targets in tight end Mark Russell, wide receiver Jason Colburn and Becker.
“We knew they were going to give us some one-on-one matchups,” Gates said. “That one ball he threw up to Russell (for a touchdown) was perfect. He put it in the perfect place and Russell made a great catch. (Smith) did a great job, and so did the (offensive) line.”
“They know that we can run the option, they were expecting that,” Smith said. “It seemed to be working. We slipped by them for a little while.”
A big problem, literally, for the Warriors was the 6-foot-6 Colburn who finished with three catches for 59 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion catch.
“We played our best secondary on (Colburn),” Michaels said. “He's hard to stop. If we doubled up on him, then we weaken up inside.”
Weedsport's 5-5 defensive back, Will Whittmer, made a great attempt to intercept the ball from Colburn in the end zone at the end of the first half, but the end result pulled the Bulldogs away for good.
“We knew he'd be a mismatch with just about anyone on their team,” Smith said. “He's a big guy, we knew they might switch back to Becker, so we just kept throwing to him. I saw the mismatch (on the touchdown) when he was going up against the shorter guy, so I just threw it up and let Jason do what he had to do.”
“They keyed in on our weakness,” Weedsport running back and defensive back Brian Quigley said. “They passed on us - it's been our weakness all season. We couldn't handle their 6-6 receiver. We haven't seen anyone of that height, or that quick, all year.”
Weedsport (9-1)
Sept. 4 vs. Hannibal W 40-12
Sept. 12 at Port Byron W 21-12
Sept. 19 at Bishop Grimes W 46-19
Sept. 25 vs. Onondaga W 52-21
Oct. 2 at Jordan-Elbridge W 52-13
Oct. 9 vs. Cato-Meridian W 56-0
Oct. 16* vs. Pulaski W 34-6
Oct. 23* vs. Sandy Creek W 34-22
Oct. 30* vs. Watertown IHC W 20-14
Nov. 6* vs. Westmoreland L 20-43
* Section III playoffs
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