Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Michael Schaaf crosses the goal line for a touchdown during the Eagles’ 49-6 Class C South victory over Eden/North Collins on Friday night in Mayville.
OBSERVER Photo by Jason Bower
MAYVILLE — The Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton football team could not have had a better start to Friday’s Class C South contest as Devin Hewes returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for the early lead against Eden/North Collins.
The Eagles never looked back in a 49-6 victory.
While Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s offense stole the show once again, the Eagles (4-1, 4-1) defense was ready for the task of containing Eden/North Collins (2-3, 1-3) quarterback Brady Waring, sacking him four times as they did not give him a chance to do anything. The lone Eden/North Collins touchdown came in the second quarter when a botched snap by the Eagles gave favorable field position inside the 10-yard line.
“That was the game plan,” Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton head coach Ryan Gibbs said about his defense’s performance. “I felt that if we could get him pressured and get him out of the pocket, force him to get rid of the ball quickly, our guys wouldn’t be in coverage as long. Watching film they were getting a lot of plays just by him scrambling around, so contain him and I thought we could win the game.”
Michael Keen punched in a 4-yard run as the Raiders’ response to Nick Jacobson’s 48-yard catch and run for a Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton touchdown. The Raiders failed on the 2-point conversion attempt by Keen and it was all Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton from there.
Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Yazan Abuhmedian attempts to take down Eden/North Collins quarterback Brady Waring during Friday’s Class C South football game in Mayville.
OBSERVER Photo by Jason Bower
In the final minutes of the first half, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton doubled its score with a pair of 20-yard touchdown catches with Asher Olson and Carson Fairbank both making defenders miss as they danced in for 6.
There was a scare running the two-minute drill when Hewes rolled his ankle after reeling in a catch for a big third-down conversion and fighting for yards. With a comfortable lead, Hewes did not return to the field in the second half while the injury does not appear like it will sideline him in any upcoming games.
“We decided to shut it down,” Gibbs said about Hewes’ injury. “I don’t think it’s a serious thing. We had a big lead at halftime, we’ve got another big league game next week at Southwestern. So let’s rest him and get him ready to roll next week.”
Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s pass rush gave Eden/North Collins fits all game long and on the first drive of the second half it saw Trent Houser scooping up a fumble.
“The defense has really stepped up,” Gibbs added. “We have given up one touchdown in the last four weeks, so the defense is playing tough.”
Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton quarterback Brayden Gibbs completes a pass Friday.
OBSERVER photo by Jason Bower
Without Hewes the Brayden Gibbs-led offense did not miss a beat as the Eagles showed depth is not a problem. Michael Schaaf collected the next touchdown for 20 yards and Jacobson made a big block giving him room down the sideline. Fairbank reeled in another 20-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, beating his defender easily for the catch and run.
“It was huge for Carson, he’s been battling a hamstring since before the regular season started,” Gibbs stated. “Really kind of just been able to kick on offense, it was really great to see him have his breakout game. We all exactly know what Carson Fairbank is, I think he now realizes he’s still got it.”
Then the final score came in the game’s final minutes when senior Mason Whitesell rumbled down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown rush.
“When I first took over the program there were two things that I preached,” Gibbs stated. “Culture change and depth. It’s understanding that everybody plays a role and they’re going to get an opportunity if they show effort. All these kids all week long showed that they could do it, it was great to see them have success in a game. It was beautiful.”
Gibbs had a field day under center for the Eagles as he finished 14 of 18 for 291 yards and five touchdowns.
“That was the message in the offseason,” Gibbs said about his quarterback. “As we get deeper into the year we can’t turn the ball over. Hitting our reads, trusting our reads, trusting we’re seeing what the defense is doing and when we get a read throwing a hell of a ball and he did that all day today.”
Eden/North Collins was set up perfectly to get on the board early in the fourth quarter reaching the 2-yard line. However, Asher Olson had different plans as he was quick into the backfield and ripped the ball right from the arms of the running back to send the play the other way.
“It was a good rebound, he wasn’t happy with his performance last week,” Gibbs said about Olson. “He was happy we got the team win, but wasn’t happy with his performance. That’s the Asher Olson we all know, we expect him to dominate on the defense. Offensively, he hadn’t made as many plays as last year, he answered the call today as well.”
Olson finished with a team-high 13 tackles and forced the turnover.
Eden/North Collins 0 6 0 0 — 6
Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 14 14 7 14 — 49
CL/W/B–Hewes 75 kick return (Fairbank kick)
CL/W/B–Jacobson 48 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)
E/NC–Keen 4 run (run failed)
CL/W/B–Olson 20 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)
CL/W/B–Fairbank 20 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)
CL/W/B–Schaaf 20 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)
CL/W/B–Fairbank 12 pass from Gibbs (Fairbank kick)
CL/W/B–Whitesell 60 run (Fairbank kick)