OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown
Fredonia defensive back Joey Lancaster attempts to break up a pass to Eden/North Collins wide receiver Silas Nellis in Section VI Class C South football action Friday at the Orange Bowl.
When the Fredonia Hillbillies score 30 points at the Orange Bowl, including a four-touchdown performance from running back Luca Gullo, they expect to win the game.
Eden/North Collins quarterback Brady Waring had other plans.
With seven touchdowns — six through the air and a 25-yard scramble on fourth-and-15 — Waring carried the visiting Raiders to a 50-30 win over Fredonia on Friday night in a Class C South football game at the Orange Bowl.
“It felt great to be in rhythm,” Waring said. “Early in the game, I was a little frustrated. We had some missed plays, but in the second half, we got it together, made some big plays and scored a lot of touchdowns.”
Waring, a junior, is in his first season with the Raiders after spending last year at St. Francis, where he made the jump to the varsity program at the end of last year before deciding to transfer. He also played lacrosse while at St. Francis.
OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown
Fredonia’s Markel Davis looks for room to run.
“It’s been an easy transition. The team here is all great kids. They just accepted me in,” Waring said.
St. Francis’ loss is the Raiders’ gain, and Friday night showed just what a boost to the program Waring’s arrival truly is.
“He can move around, he extends plays. We saw that. We weren’t getting to him, and if we did get to him, he could break free,” Fredonia head coach Greg Sherlock said.
All night long, Waring and the Raiders (2-1, 1-1) got whatever they wanted through the air. Fredonia’s defensive backs had no answers for the Eden/North Collins wide receivers who constantly got behind the ‘Billies (1-2, 1-2) for big gains down the field. Waring bought his receivers time downfield by eluding blitzes with speed on bootlegs that baffled the Fredonia defenders.
“My wide receivers were getting open and I was just getting them the ball,” Waring said. “My o-line did a great job blocking, picked up the blitzes, and we just threw good passes and made good catches. We made plays all day.”
OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown
Fredonia’s Luca Gullo reaches forward for a touchdown against Eden/North Collins in Friday’s Section VI Class C South football game at the Orange Bowl.
What did work for Fredonia was giving the ball to Luca Gullo. The Hillbillies workhorse in the backfield rushed for two touchdowns in the first half, and would have had a third if not for a tough 38-yard rush being called back for a holding penalty against the Fredonia offensive line.
Gullo scored his third rushing touchdown just over four minutes into the second half, which he set up with his own big kick return. Gullo dashed through a gaping hole created by the right side of the offensive line en route to the score. A two-point conversion followed as Fredonia drew to within eight points, 30-22.
Suddenly in a one-score game, after a crucial pass interference call on Gullo extended the Raiders’ drive, Eden-North Collins faced a 4th-and-15 from the Fredonia 25-yard line. Waring put his wheels on display again and improvised on a scramble down the Fredonia sideline. Waring beat the ‘Billies to the corner and reached the end zone to extend the lead to 36-22.
The Hillbillies took another body blow on the ensuing kickoff, as the ball was fumbled and recovered by the Raiders. Fredonia struggled to secure the ball on kickoffs throughout the evening, and the final instance set the Raiders up in prime field position yet again, already holding a two-touchdown advantage.
To no one’s surprise, the Raiders capitalized again with another passing touchdown on a deep ball from beyond 30 yards out. Waring’s fifth passing touchdown — and sixth overall — extended the Raiders’ lead to 44-22 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
On the next drive, Gullo continued his stellar day with a fourth rushing touchdown, as he dashed down the Fredonia sideline for a 43-yard score. He added a two-point conversion run to cut the deficit to 14 points, 44-30, leading into the fourth quarter.
Waring notched his sixth passing touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter on a 71-yard pass to Isaiah Nellis. Waring’s seventh total touchdown hit the 50-point mark for the Raiders offense.
From that point, the result was not in question as neither team scored the rest of the night.
“We’re very young, and some of our issue is we’re not disciplined enough behind our lineman. I think our linemen do a great job, but I think our experience is catching up to us,” Sherlock said.
Up next, the Hillbillies host Salamanca next Friday in another Class C South matchup. Eden/North Collins hosts Portville next Friday.
“It’s going to come back to another week of teaching and seeing if we can’t get these kids so they are doing the right things 90 percent of the time,” Sherlock said with a smile. “I’m not asking for 100 percent, but I’d like to get closer to 90 than 50.”