By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — Despite showing signs of life early on, the Allegany-Limestone football team slowly watched as its game against Silver Creek/Forestville ran away from them, resulting in a lopsided 47-12 defeat.
Two consecutive touchdowns after the Black Knights’ game-opening score had momentum on the side of the Gators. Quarterback Dylan Schultz, who finished with 110 passing yards, showed off his accuracy with a dot of a 29-yard passing touchdown to Ryan Callen in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Nolan Zink and Aidan Coulter, who combined for 128 rushing yards, were a formidable duo all night. The latter of the two even garnered some acknowledgement from head coach Marcus Grove.
“We had to make a change somewhere,” Grove said. “At some point, offensively, we weren’t getting the production we wanted, that we were hoping for. So, earlier in the year, we moved Aidan Coulter from guard to running back, just to give us more of a power-run force. We’ve been working with him the last couple of weeks to get him to run behind his shoulder pads and to use his big frame to deliver a blow instead of receiving it. I think tonight, you finally saw him buy into that.”
But after A-L went up 12-8 early in the second quarter, the wind in its sails died down — and Silver Creek took advantage.
Scoring six unanswered touchdowns, the Black Knights’ ran away with the contest from the second quarter on. But still, Grove noted that he never saw the fighting spirit leave the eyes of his players, and for that, he commended them.
“Relentless effort, they didn’t quit,” Grove said. “There were a lot of opportunities in this game where (our players) could have quit. This year has been challenging. It’s been tough for our guys. It has involved a lot of growth, it’s involved a lot of lopsided losses, but each week this team shows up. They work hard, they give me 100% every single time I ask them to and that’s the true testament of a man. It’s a true testament of character. When stuff’s not going well, how do you respond? These guys don’t quit from the first whistle, no matter what the scoreboard says, they’re always battling. That’s something that you’re proud of as a coach.”
Allegany-Limestone Nolan Zink (3) looks to make a stop on defense. Zink scored one of the two touchdowns of the night for the Gators. (Spencer Bates)
It was not all doom and gloom for the Gators though, as throughout the latter quarters of the affair, they still found themselves with positive stretches. For example, Schultz threw a perfectly-placed pass late in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-long to keep a drive alive. A-L also managed to compile a 14-play drive that chewed up a grand majority of the third quarter. The only negative for Grove and his staff is that immediately after those two instances, the team’s drive was ended by an interception and a turnover on downs, respectively.
According to Grove, it is just a matter of stringing those good moments together.
“That’s something we talk about with this team, is that throughout games, there are moments where you can see how special this team can be,” Grove said. “It’s just a matter of, can we string one or two of those plays together? … Tonight, the ball didn’t bounce our way, it didn’t go in our favor, it went in Silver Creek’s favor, and that turned into some point-production for them. But yeah, offensively and defensively, we’ve got to string multiple plays together. I keep telling them, ‘we got to play four full quarters.’”
Allegany-Limestone’s Tayden Margeson (5) breaks ahead of the pack on a quarterback keeper. (Spencer Bates)
The Gators have just one game left in the regular season, an away trip to Cattaraugus Little Valley. And according to Grove, the message he is prepared to deliver to his players is no different than the one he has had for the entire season: continue to improve.
“Week by week we need to keep getting better,” Grove said. “We did positive things tonight, it’s just that we’ve got to continue to build on those positives, to put ourselves in the best position to go and try to get a win before the regular season ends. It’s high school sports, anything can happen in the playoffs and that’s what we’re trying to get to. (We want to) run into the playoffs with some confidence, get a win under our belt and get these guys believing this week.”
The Gators will face the Timberwolves in their season finale on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
AT ALLEGANY
Allegany-Limestone/Hinsdale: 6 6 0 0 — 12
Silver Creek/Forestville: 8 20 6 13 — 47
First Quarter:
SC/F — Kimmerly 11 run; two-point attempt good, 8-0
AL/H — Callen 29 pass from Schultz; two-point attempt no good, 8-6
Second Quarter:
AL/H — Zink 18 run; two-point attempt no good, 12-8
SC/F — Anders 23 pass from Duliba; two-point attempt no good, 14-12
SC/F — M. Sanchez 23 run; two-point attempt good, 22-12
SC/F — Anders 48 pass from Duliba; extra-point attempt no good, 28-12
Third Quarter:
SC/F — Delong 1 run; two-point attempt no good, 24-12
Fourth Quarter:
SC/F — J. Sanchez 41 run; two-point attempt no good, 40-12
SC/F — Tenamore 11 run; extra-point attempt good, 47-12
——
Team Statistics:
Allegany-Limestone/Hinsdale:
First Downs: 14
Rushes-Yards: 35-163
Passing Yards: 142
Comp-Att.-Int.: 10-20-1
Total Offense: 305
Fumbles-Lost: 1-1
Penalties-Yards: 2-32
Total Plays: 55
——
Silver Creek/Forestville:
First Downs: 22
Rushes-Yards: 38-320
Passing Yards: 148
Comp-Att.-Int.: 7-16-0
Total Offense: 468
Fumbles-Lost: 2-1
Penalties-Yards: 0-0Total Plays: 54
