Game 5 - 2011 Chenango Forks Varsity Football

Game 5 vs Seton Catholic Central
Blue Devils roll the Saints 47-6

Articles courtesy of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

Lukas Aston, Chenango Forks power past Seton Catholic Central in football

Written by

Kevin Stevens

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- Chenango Forks thumped Seton Catholic Central for 496 yards of offense Saturday in a 47-6 non-league football rout at Alumni Stadium.

Fullback Lukas Aston rushed for 203 yards and Zach Jeske turned in his finest outing as starting quarterback for the Blue Devils, who held leads of 34-0 at halftime and 47-0 one play into the final quarter.

"We definitely needed this," said coach David Hogan, whose Forks team improved to a 3-2 record one weekend after falling by 20-7 at Norwich. "You could say it's a non-league game and all this other stuff, it was a non-league game but one that we desperately needed.

"We played well in all phases of the game, that's what we needed more than anything else."

By halftime, the Blue Devils had outgained Seton CC (2-2) by 328-38. At that juncture, Aston's 17 rushes were good for 125 yards and his teammates' collective efforts tacked on another 134 on the ground. Meanwhile, the Saints were limited to two first downs.

Jeske closed the game with 87 rushing yards and two TDs, and his 2-for-3, 69-yard, two-TD passing total was logged in the first half. Especially noteworthy was an exquisitely delivered 45-yard scoring pass to Adam Bronson with 54.7 seconds to play in the second quarter, one play after Seton CC turned the ball over on downs.

"Our line did a good job with protection, Zach came back and set his feet, and A-Bron did such a good job of selling the run and then taking off. That was a nice play," Hogan said.

The first of Jeske's rushing touchdowns came from 39 yards out with 7:01 remaining in the second quarter, one play after having an apparent 45-yard score negated by a holding penalty. Each time, he craftily faked an inside handoff to spring himself into running room.

That score along with Isaiah Zimmer's PAT kick left Forks a 21-0 advantage, and following a three-and-out Saints possession the Devils set up at their 15-yard line.

The 10-play drive that ensued began with a 12-yard option keeper by Jeske, included an 18-yard gain by Aston to Seton CC's 17-yard line, and concluded with Jeske keeping over the right side from 2 yards. It was 28-0 with 99 seconds to play in the half.

The Saints soon faced fourth-and-3 from their 44-yard line, and gave up possession when quarterback Caleb Scepaniak was stopped after a 1-yard gain, setting up the Jeske-to-Bronson beauty.

Seton CC recovered an onside kick to open second-half play, only to have Forks' Richard Faith intercept a pass three downs later. The Saints were intercepted again, this time by freshman Ryan Bronson, on the third play of their next possession.

Bronson returned 12 yards to SCC's 19, and Aston bullied his way across the goal line on first down. Zimmer's PAT stretched the difference to 41-0 with 5:33 left in the third period.

Ryan Bronson took a short toss inside and completed a 5-yard scoring run to open the final quarter. Seton CC's points came when Scepaniak hit Pat Gosney with a 3-yard pass in the final minute of play to finish a 48-yard drive on which Scepaniak was 4-for-4 for 44 yards.