Bulldogs win 1st-ever title

11/7/2007

By Jim Poole

Bulldogs win 1st-ever title

Having beaten everyone in sight around here, the Bulldogs are heading north.
Cobleskill-Richmondville won its first sectional football title ever by pounding Ravena 14-3 Saturday in Amsterdam, and now the Bulldogs advance to regional competition in Plattsburgh Friday night.
“We don’t really know what to expect,” said Bulldog Coach Ed Hantho, whose team will face Peru Friday. “But we do know that other teams don’t get to this point without being pretty good.”
Ravena, a longtime rival that’s beaten C-R more often than not, proved to be pretty good, too.
The Indians pinned the Bulldogs deep in their own territory early in the game, got a passing attack going and jumped on two C-R turnovers in the first quarter.
The Indians also moved the ball inside the Bulldog one, but two penalties and the C-R defense kept them from scoring.
Ravena did come away with a field goal after a drive early in the third quarter.
“It seems like this team has to get smacked in the mouth before they play, and this time they came back with a vengeance,” Coach Hantho said. “Our guys were complaining about the field goal, but really, it could have been a lot worse.”
After that, the Bulldogs took control.
Quarterback Josh Keller (large photo) hit Charles Willoughby with a long pass down the right sideline, good for 41 yards, and a 15-yard pass Chase Calabrano set up Aaron Christman’s one-yard touchdown plunge.
“That was just a great pass to Willoughby,” Coach Hantho said. “Josh looked off his other receivers, looked back and found him wide open.”
As they have almost all season, the Bulldogs scored on their first possession of the second half. An eight-play drive, the key being a Keller pass to Chris McHargue that went for 29 yards, ended in another one-yard TD dive by Christman.
“McHargue had a great run after he caught that ball,” Coach Hantho said. “That really made it for us.”
C-R had a scare early in the first half when Keller went down with an ankle injury. Besides driving the offense, he also helps the dominating Bulldog secondary on defense.
“He could barely walk,” Coach Hantho said of Keller. “But then we called a timeout to give him a minute, and he gets up and goes back in the game. He said he just didn’t think about it. That’s guts, pure guts.”
The second half was all Bulldogs, who completely controlled the clock and could have put more points on the board.
Ravena’s total second-half offense was six yards on three carries. The Indians threw the ball but completed none, while Keller intercepted two passes.
Coach Hantho praised his defensive front: Kevin Duffy, Zach Pfohl, Chad Brust, Andrew Bartholomew and Jon Miner.
“They did a standout job, stellar,” he said. “Duffy in the middle just owned that center. People say he doesn’t get many stats, but he’s the reason other people do.”
Coach Hantho also pointed to his “Lightning Group,” a squad of especially-quick players Assistant Coach John Henry assembled.
“Our big guys needed a break, so we put them in for a series,” Coach Henry said. “They just did a great job.”
Christman led the defensive stats, with four tackles, one for a loss, nine assists and one deflected pass. Pete Radliff, Zack Schaffer, Bartholomew, Keller, Pfohl, Miner, Brust and Willoughby also helped the Bulldogs dominate, Coach Hantho said.
Facing a tough Ravena offense, the Bulldogs didn’t put up the numbers they usually do. But Keller still completed 13 of 23 attempts for 184 yards, and Christman led the running backs with 62 yards on 15 carries, getting 56 on 10 tries in the second half.
Calabrano led the receivers, catching six passes for 70 yards.
“It’s great to have him back,” Coach Hantho said of Calabrano, who missed several games because of an injury. “You get him the ball and see what he can do.”
The Bulldogs’ game against Peru is at Plattsburgh High School at 7pm Friday.