Published: September 06, 2008 12:13 am            

H.S. FOOTBALL: Warriors beat Newfane going away

TONAWANDA — A few rain drops were all that could cool the Tonawanda Warriors on Friday night at Clinton Small Stadium.

Jason Beckman’s tenure as head coach went as planned, as the Warriors had five different players score rushing touchdowns in a 35-0 defeat of Newfane in the Class B North opener for both schools.

“That definitely is the way you hope things go,” Beckman said. “You get into that first game, and I thought we had a pretty good team and I know we have some good leadership, but you just don’t know what you’re going to get.”

What he got was a rushing attack that piled up nearly 300 yards on the ground, led by senior captain Mike Carson’s 14 carries for 100 yards. Fellow senior Anthony Lands, voted an honorary captain for the game for his commitment during the offseason, was next, rushing four times for 83 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

“We’re trying to be as team-oriented as we can and we’re looking for guys who, when their opportunity comes, take full advantage of it,” Beckman said. “We know we’ve got guys we can plug into different spots, and we need that.”

Newfane returned the opening kick into Tonawanda territory, but the drive stalled when Brandon Moshenko, a senior transfer from Cardinal O’Hara, came up with an interception for the Warriors. On the ensuing drive, Moshenko raced in from 23 yards out to give Tonawanda a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. After Lands’ score as time expired in the first quarter, it was 14-0.

“They killed us up the middle. Their offensive line dominated at the point of attack,” Newfane coach Vic Thibault said.

Tonawanda quarterback Scott Foster didn’t attempt a pass during the game. There was no need when the Warriors’ double-win offense was hitting on all cylinders.

“It’s real tough. You don’t see it anywhere else,” Thibault said of defending the Warriors offense. “You can’t even really practice against it when you’re using second-team kids who have never played that before. It’s hard to get a good look in practice. They really came out and ran it to perfection.”

The Warriors added two more scores in the second quarter to make it 28-0 at halftime. First, Tyler Lorich scored from 5 yards out, then Carson got into the end zone from a yard away. Carson added all four extra points in the first half. Not counting a drive that started with about 20 seconds to play, Tonawanda scored a touchdown each time it had the ball in the first half.

Ed Miller’s 1-yard touchdown and extra point from Alex Pickel in the third quarter completed the scoring.

        

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