ILION — The start of Class B football play is a week away in Section III and the Central Valley Academy Thunder tuned up with a 42-7 victory over Little Falls Friday, Sept. 19.
The Class B Thunder (2-1) shook off last week’s crossover loss to reigning sectional champion Indian River. Central Valley Academy pulled away from a 7-7 tie with three touchdowns in the second quarter and struck again on the opening drive of the second half.
Central Valley Academy scored first and led 7-0 after the first quarter. Class C Little Falls (1-2) tied the game with a short touchdown run by Nick Sylstra. The Thunder needed just over minute to regain the lead; starting from their own 15-yard line, Cal Jacquays ran 18 yards followed by a short run with a facemask penalty tacked on, then raced 50 yards for the second of his three touchdowns.
Quarterback Brayden Voorhees added a 49-yard touchdown run and a 34-yard scoring pass to Kolton Moncur-Hoke in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half.
“We got some confidence back,” Central Valley Academy coach Jon Cole said. “I think we played Week 1 with confidence, but Week 2 left some players wondering. … This should help with that and give us something to build on for league play.”
Jacquays ran for 214 yards and finished the scoring with a 48-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Voorhees added 90 yards rushing and capped the opening drive of the second half with a 17-yard touchdown.
“They made a bunch of big plays,” Little Falls coach Bryan Shepardson said, “and we didn’t do a good job executing tonight.”
The scoring drive to start the third quarter was a pick-me-up for the Thunder after last week’s loss. Central Valley Academy trailed Indian River 30-24 at halftime before being outscored 30-0 by the visiting Wolves in the second half.
“I thought we fought for a quarter and a half last week,” Cole said, “but in the second half we came flat. That was our talk at halftime this week; we wanted to dictate what we do.”
The league opener sends the Thunder on the road to play at unbeaten New Hartford Sept. 26.
Little Falls heads back home for its next game against Dolgeville.
New Hartford 27, Syracuse Institute of Technology 0
New Hartford’s defense pitched a shutout Friday while its offense stretched a lead in the fourth quarter of the Spartans’ 27-0 victory over the Syracuse Institute of Technology’s Eagles.
The Spartans (3-0) remain undefeated after dealing the Eagles (2-1) their first defeat in a crossover prior to next week’s start of league play in Class B.
Nick Martinez ran two yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and four for another in the third. Quarterback John Vitullo threw touchdown passes to Peyton Way covering 33 and 23 yards two minutes apart in the fourth quarter, taking the lead from 14-0 to the final 27-0 margin.
Vitullo completed 17 of 26 passes for 274 yards with Way catching nine passes for 134 yards, and Liam Noonan three for 97. Martinez led the team with 65 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Matt Morris led the New Hartford defense with nine tackles while Way had eight and forced a fumble. RJ Perna had two of the team’s four sacks.
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