Peru ground game outpaces Moriah
· Yahoo Sports
MINEVILLE — Peru senior Brody Blaise- Smith led the charge, complemented by Ausable Valley’s Deon Lawyer, as the Nighthawks’ running game proved too much for the Moriah Vikings Friday night at Linney Field.
Blaise-Smith ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, while Lawyer racked up 75 yards in Peru’s 28-6 win in Mineville. Logan Porter also ran for 41 yards and a touchdown on just three carries.
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It was a dramatic change from the previous week’s win over Saranac Lake, in which the Nighthawks relied on the arm of quarterback Drew Engstrom for four touchdowns and the running game was held to 130 yards and no points before an 82-yard David Nwadike run in the dying seconds.
“Our rush game was working amazingly today,” Engstrom said. “Our pass game was a little off in the first half. I was missing easy throws. [Moriah] came out in something that we’ve never seen before, so it was a little different, and we got used to it in the second half.”
Head coach Ryon O’Connell was happy with how his team adapted.
“Yes, it wasn’t as explosive as weeks past, but I’m fine with that,” O’Connell said. “If you’re going to be a good football team, you have to find ways to win in different ways.”
The Nighthawks didn’t just control the ground game on offense. Their defense held the Vikings’ Skyler Frasier-led run game to just 2.5 yards per carry.
While the story of the game largely played out on the ground, the first points on the board actually came through the air, as Engstrom completed a pass to Isaiah Hendrix, who beat a couple tacklers and dove into a full stretch to get to the goal line.
“We realized that they were playing 10 yards off the ball and not looking at me, so we could get him on a quick curl,” Engstrom said. “Isaiah is a hard guy to tackle, so we knew that he had a great matchup against that kid, and we trusted him.”
Blaise-Smith doubled the lead midway through the second quarter. In a 4th&11 play on the 35 yard line, the Nighthawks went with a draw play that set Blaise-Smith free up the middle all the way to the end zone.
“We knew that they thought we were going to pass, so we spread them out,” Engstrom said. “Then, we knew we could run it down their throat, so we did.”
On the ensuing drive, Moriah mixed things up with some snaps directly to Frasier and, after a 10-play drive, found the end zone.
“Give credit to Moriah, that was a great drive,” O’Connell said. “They came out in a formation we weren’t ready for, and they did a great job driving the ball”
With just 36 seconds remaining before halftime, it seemed likely that would be the final score of the half, but the Nighthawks had other ideas.
Four plays and 28 seconds later, Peru responded with a touchdown of their own.
“We practice two-minutes, we practice one-minute drills, we practice one-time-out drills,” O’Connell said. “The kids were calm, they were collected, and that was a big drive to get points.”
The drive was capped off by another Blaise-Smith touchdown, this time from 31 yards out.
“The blocking was perfect,” Blaise-Smith said. “I went untouched on both [touchdowns], so that’s all on my linemen.”
In the second half, Lawyer largely took over the running duties, coupled with some big chunk plays by Porter.
On Peru’s last full drive of the game, they handed the ball to Lawyer on six straight plays, and he got within a yard of the goal line before fumbling it. Despite Lawyer not scoring, Blaise-Smith praised the way Lawyer contributed to the win.
“He played great,” Blaise-Smith said. “It’s awesome to be able to have a two-back approach like that, where they don’t know what to expect with either of us. He’s a really good addition to our team.”
With the win, the Nighthawks improve to 5-0, 4-0 in the CVAC, and will prepare for a fierce rivalry game this weekend. Friday, Peru will host Beekmantown, who had a bye week this week but will be looking to carry some momentum from a win over Plattsburgh School the weekend before.
The game will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday in Peru.
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Peru 28, Moriah 6
PCS 7 14 7 0 - 28
MCS 0 6 0 0 - 6
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
P- Hendrix 22 pass from Engstrom (MacDougal kick) 1:51
Second Quarter
P- Blaise-Smith 35 run (MacDougal kick) 4:51
M- Frasier 1 run (Pass failed) :26
P- Blaise-Smith 31 run (Macdougal kick) :08
Third Quarter
P- Porter 12 run (MacDougal kick) 6:15
Individual Stats
Rushing
P- Blaise-Smith 13-157, 2 TD. Porter 3-42, Engstrom 4-(-8), Lawyer 15-76, Amato 1-(-3), Giroux 1-3, Nelson 1-2. TOTALS: 38-269, 3 TD
M- Frasier 17-63, TD. Kazlo 4-(-9), Mandy 4-15, Hughes 4-8, Chappell 1-2, Team 1-(-1). TOTALS: 31-78, TD
Passing
P- Engstrom 9-14-0-74, TD
M- Kazlo 4-10-1-45. Frasier 1-1-0-20
Receiving
P- Coon 2-24. Hendrix 2-31, TD. Giroux 4-17, Amato 1-2.
M- McGinness 2-28, Hughes 1-(-1), Sargent 1-19, Kazlo 1-28.
Interceptions
P- Coon