When the Section 5 football schedule came out in January, a lot of people eagerly awaited week one, where two of the top programs would face off in Henrietta as R-H battled Hilton. The first half lived up to the hype, producing a back-and-fourth contest where neither team had the advantage.
The only thing the first half didn’t feature; points.
“It took both of us a while to get comfortable,” said Joe Montesano, Rush-Henrietta head coach. “We made a lot of mistakes, but a lot of that has to do with Hilton.”
Neither team’s offense lit it up in the second half. Fortunately for the Royal Comets, their offense provided enough help to their talented defense.
Two second half touchdowns gave R-H a 14-6 win over Hilton on Saturday. In a matchup of two of the top teams in the Monroe County League and Class AA, defense dominated for most of the afternoon.
“We had opportunities in the first half, we didn’t cash in,” said Rich Lipani, Cadets head coach. “The most important thing is that I don’t think we played the best we could, but we played as hard as we could. We made a few costly mistakes.”
The Royal Comets went deep in the play book to break the scoreless tie, as running back Bay Barley hit Chase Weichman on a halfback pass for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:17 left in the third quarter. The touchdown capped the team’s best drive of the game (79-yards in 12-plays).
R-H’s first touchdown appeared to inspire Hilton, as the Cadets had their best drive of the game on the ensuing possession. Hilton cut the deficit to one when DJ Logory hit Nicholas Prince for a 7-yard touchdown with 9:02 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Every game is going to be a battle,” Barley said. “Some people said we were the number one team, but that doesn’t mean anything. We know every week is going to be a dog fight, and everyone is going to come with their best. We have to keep working.”
Leading 7-6 with under nine minutes remaining, Chauncey Scissum gave the Royal Comets a spark when he ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run 17 seconds after Prince’s score. The senior quarterback finished with 114 yards on 16 carries.
The Cadets responded on their next drive as they moved deep into R-H territory. The drive stalled when Comet defensive lineman Danny Drummond recovered a fumble on the R-H 25 with 5:41 remaining.
When the Section 5 football schedule came out in January, a lot of people eagerly awaited week one, where two of the top programs would face off in Henrietta as R-H battled Hilton. The first half lived up to the hype, producing a back-and-fourth contest where neither team had the advantage.
The only thing the first half didn’t feature; points.
“It took both of us a while to get comfortable,” said Joe Montesano, Rush-Henrietta head coach. “We made a lot of mistakes, but a lot of that has to do with Hilton.”
Neither team’s offense lit it up in the second half. Fortunately for the Royal Comets, their offense provided enough help to their talented defense.
Two second half touchdowns gave R-H a 14-6 win over Hilton on Saturday. In a matchup of two of the top teams in the Monroe County League and Class AA, defense dominated for most of the afternoon.
“We had opportunities in the first half, we didn’t cash in,” said Rich Lipani, Cadets head coach. “The most important thing is that I don’t think we played the best we could, but we played as hard as we could. We made a few costly mistakes.”
The Royal Comets went deep in the play book to break the scoreless tie, as running back Bay Barley hit Chase Weichman on a halfback pass for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:17 left in the third quarter. The touchdown capped the team’s best drive of the game (79-yards in 12-plays).
R-H’s first touchdown appeared to inspire Hilton, as the Cadets had their best drive of the game on the ensuing possession. Hilton cut the deficit to one when DJ Logory hit Nicholas Prince for a 7-yard touchdown with 9:02 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Every game is going to be a battle,” Barley said. “Some people said we were the number one team, but that doesn’t mean anything. We know every week is going to be a dog fight, and everyone is going to come with their best. We have to keep working.”
Leading 7-6 with under nine minutes remaining, Chauncey Scissum gave the Royal Comets a spark when he ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run 17 seconds after Prince’s score. The senior quarterback finished with 114 yards on 16 carries.
The Cadets responded on their next drive as they moved deep into R-H territory. The drive stalled when Comet defensive lineman Danny Drummond recovered a fumble on the R-H 25 with 5:41 remaining.
The Royal Comets ran out the clock to ensure the victory.
“It was a defensive game, and we knew Hilton was going to come to play,” Scissum said. “We just did a better job of finishing blocks and creating holes for our running backs in the second half.”
The R-H offense didn’t exactly produce the kind of start to the season they wanted as they punted on three of their first four possessions.
Hilton had chances in the first half, taking their first drive deep into Royal Comet territory before turning it over on downs. Facing 4th and goal from the 16 on their second possession, Logory connected with Andrew Miller on a pass inside the five, but Miller fell just short of the goal line.
Miller led the Cadets defensively with 10 tackles, while Drummond finished with nine for the Royal Comets.
“We’ve got some good players, and our guys ran to the ball and they played physical,” Lipani said.
