Semipro football: Smith provides early spark as Red and Black roll to victory to clinch playoff berth

• Story byWatertown Daily Times, N.Y.
• Semipro football: Smith provides early spark as Red and Black roll to victory to clinch playoff berth

WATERTOWN — Cory Smith gets fired up and is locked in when he gets a chance to play on defense for the Watertown Red and Black.

Given that opportunity, Smith provided the Red and Black with an early spark on Saturday night and they never looked back in recording a crucial win.

Smith intercepted a pass and then ran for a touchdown on the ensuing drive for the game’s first score and Watertown went on to roll to a 40-0 triumph over the Genesee County Spartans to win a key Northeastern Football Alliance game played on George Ashcraft Field at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

“Hell yeah, it felt good to be back on defense for a little bit,” Smith said. “But you know, I just do what my team allows me to do, they put me in the right positions to make plays and that’s all I can ask for and all I can do.”

Quarterback Nick Cavellier threw three touchdown passes, with two of them to Keegan Queior, to help propel the Red and Black.

With the victory in its home finale in the regular season, Watertown improved to 5-2 on the season and also clinched a playoff berth in the NFA.

“I’m very proud, we played a great game on both sides of the ball,” Watertown coach George Ashcraft said. “Now we have to stay on course and keep winning.”

The Red and Black, who bounced back after a loss at Southern Tier last week, also recorded their second shutout in the past three games.

“I mean it sucked last week, but we got back to work on Tuesday and just got locked in and did what we do, nothing special,” Smith said.

“It’s a tough battle when you get to the playoffs, so this win was big,” Cavellier said. “This game was big to bounce back.”

Smith got things going on the first possession of the game when he stepped in front of a Levi Wright pass for an interception and returned the ball for an apparent touchdown, but the score was wiped out because of a penalty.

But three plays later and aided by a Genesee County penalty, Smith powered his way to score on a five-yard touchdown run and Watertown led 8-0 after Semaj James hauled in the conversion pass.

“I play a little bit of everything, whatever I got to do to win,” said Smith, who played at outside linebacker as well as at running back on the night.

Then after the Spartans turned the ball over in Red and Black territory on a botched punt snap, Derrick Sciarabba finished off a six-play drive with a touchdown of his own on a two-yard scoring rumble and Watertown led 15-0.

The Red and Black would go on to total three rushing touchdowns on the night, a season-high in a game for the team this season.

“It felt good, we actually finally got the run game going a little bit,” Smith said. “Last week, we started getting it going a little bit which was nice, so it just shows the progress that we have been making over the season.”

“I think the biggest take away is our (offensive), line” Cavellier said. “Our o-line moved where ever they wanted to go. Like our line was dominating up front and it showed on the scoreboard with the three rushing touchdowns we had. They were doing everything and it started up there.”

Later, Cavellier would connect with a wide-open Queior for a 13-yard touchdown reception to cap a 10-play drive with 30 seconds remaining in the first half. The Red and Black led 21-0 after the pass-conversion attempt failed.

The two hooked up again as Queior hauled in a 62-yard strike from Cavellier with 5:20 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 27-0.

Cavellier would then find Semaj James for a 19-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 33-0 with 7:)6 left.

Later, newcomer Kamarja Hewitt, who is new to the team, finished off the win by scoring on a seven-yard run for his first touchdown with the Red and Black.

Cavellier, making his second start of the season in place of injured quarterback Jason Williams, completed eight of 21 passes for 114 yards, with no interceptions.

“I don’t think it was too bad of a start, I’ll take it,” Cavellier said. “Started off a little slow, but we got it together in the ground game, they brought us back in it.”

Cavellier has now thrown for seven touchdowns in his past two starts, guiding Watertown to victory both times.

“Your No. 1 quarterback goes down and your backup (Cavellier) goes into the game and can make it happen the way he did tonight, I’m proud of him,” Ashcraft said.

Queior totaled 60 receiving yards on two catches, while James hauled in 40 yards on four receptions.

On defense, the Red and Black forced five turnovers, including four interceptions, including one each from Smith, Reshawn Prince, Kelvin White and Tyon Skannal, who returned his interception for a touchdown, but the score was wiped out because of a penalty.

Joshua Lear made two sacks, while Devin Hicks registered one, while Machia and Lear totaled seven and six tackles, respectively.

“There were a lot guys in, a lot of guys got playing time,” said Machia, who is one of the team’s key leaders on defense. “A lot of guys made me happy with the way they played, when they got their chance they stepped up and did what they needed to do out there.”

Sciarabba ran for 42 yards on six carries, Cavellier rushed for 39 yards on four carries and Smith totaled 29 yards on four touches. The statistics might not be flashy, but the Red and Black showed signs of executing an effective running game after struggling for much of the season.

“I think we can put together a running game now,” Ashcraft said. “I really believe we can run the ball, if the running backs do what they’re supposed to do. We don’t need 50 running plays, we need four or five good ones along with the passing game that we’ve got.

“Even Nick, he should have run the ball more … Once he gets that mindset, it will be great. He can run the ball well.”

“Our o-line did a good job tonight, it was a good effort,” longtime Watertown offensive coach Jerry Levine said. “Our two emphases tonight were getting to run the ball a little bit and No. 2 to get guys in. We wanted to get some guys in that haven’t played much and try to build some morale. And we got off to a good start.”

Levine potentially coached his last home game, as he’s retiring from the team after the season.

With this week’s win, Watertown now occupies third place in the league and still has an outside shot at securing a home game for the playoffs.

The Red and Black would have to win their regular-season finale at Charlotte next Saturday and then hope for some help as the league wraps up its regular season that night.

“Very important,” Smith added about the win. “It gives us that confidence back, it gives us that little chip on our shoulder that we needed after that big loss last week. But getting that confidence going back into the playoffs, it’s good for us.”