When the Tamarac football team tried to contain Pat Jones, other Voorheesville Blackbirds took flight.
And when Tamarac tried to contain the rest of Voorheesville’s offense, Jones took off for a pair of touchdown runs that sealed the Blackbirds’ 35-0 victory in Friday’s class C South Division game.
I’m really pleased, said Voorheesville coach Joe Sapienza. `I said to the kids that I found their play tonight inspiring.`
Tamarac (0-2) did a good job of containing Jones in the first half, but that only opened things up for the rest of the offense. Quarterback Jay Conde capped a 77-yard opening drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Evan Christner. Then after intercepting a Tamarac pass, Voorheesville (2-0) marched down the field again with a mix of passes and runs. Adam Duncan ended the series with a one-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-0.
`Tamarac came out and said, ‘We’re going to take Jones away from you,’ and other guys stepped up,` said Sapienza. `We spread the ball around.`
The Bengals denied Voorheesville a touchdown on the Blackbirds’ third series, but it set up a scoring opportunity for the Blackbirds’ defense. Starting from its own 11-yard line, Tamarac was forced backward twice before Dan Flynn sacked David Fox in the end zone for a safety.
The rest of the first half was a defensive battle. Voorheesville drove into Tamarac territory two more times in the second half, only to have those series ended by an interception and a failed fourth down conversion. But the Blackbirds defense forced two more Bengal turnovers to maintain their 16-0 lead into halftime.
Voorheesville’s offense got back in gear in the third quarter. Starting from their 23-yard line, the Blackbirds marched through Tamarac’s defense with the same blend of runs and passes that led to two scoring drives in the first quarter. Duncan finished the series with an 11-yard touchdown run that put Voorheesville ahead 22-0.
Jones ` who had been limited to 59 yards through the first three quarters ` broke free in the fourth quarter. He started with an 18-yard touchdown run and finished with a 56-yard scoring run to provide the exclamation point on Voorheesville’s victory.
`I don’t know if (Tamarac’s defense) gave up or not. I know we didn’t,` said Jones, who finished with 133 yards on 18 carries. `We wanted to be relentless.`
Meanwhile, Voorheesville’s defense never let Tamarac get its offense going. The Bengals crossed midfield only three times, with each drive ending in a turnover. Tamarac finished with 120 total yards.
`That’s how we play defense,` said Sapienza. `With Dan Flynn and Sean Fitzmaurice, you’re not going to run up the middle against us. Those guys controlled the defensive line of scrimmage.`
Duncan contributed 77 rushing yards, while Conde passed for 122 yards and ran for 41 yards to help Voorheesville remain undefeated as it heads into Saturday’s home game against Watervliet (2-0), which downed defending class C champion Chatham 26-7 last weekend.
`This is a key game,` said Sapienza of Saturday’s showdown. `In my estimation, it’s two of the better teams in the division.“
