BRADFORD, Pa. — When Jameson Walsh injured his leg on the second play of New York’s third offensive possession, it ambushed coach Josh Brooks’ plan to challenge the Pennsylvania defense with both of his dual-threat quarterbacks.
The loss of the Southwestern standout, however, did not derail the Empire State’s side from thoroughly moving the ball.
Michael Frederick, NY’s other QB, was up to the task of leading the offense most of the way. And, thanks to the support of a three-headed running attack of Portville’s Kaedon Holcomb, Pioneer’s Dalton Giboo and Salamanca’s Carmine Hoag, New York’s offense had little trouble putting up points in a 39-18 victory in the Big 30 Charities Classic on Saturday night at Parkway Field.
On a night Frederick expected to only play about half the game and alternate in and out with his unit of 10 teammates, he was under center for all but 11 of NY’s 78 offensive plays.
No matter, the three-year starter at Allegany-Limestone led five scoring drives – four touchdowns and a field goal – in nine possessions.
“I think I was good,” Frederick said when asked about taking the reins for the balance of the contest when Walsh was lost early in the second quarter.
“I was practicing with everybody the whole time (in practice),” he added. “I was ready to go. With Jameson, we were all working together. It wasn’t a set QB with each team. We were ready to go no matter who was where.”
Frederick’s numbers don’t pop off the screen. He completed 8-of-14 passes for 82 yards and added 33 rushing yards, but some of the plays he made were game changing and helped New York control the clock and keep the PA offense off the field.
NY’s preparation in two weeks of practice leading up to the game, helped Frederick and the Empire State offense thrive in less than ideal circumstances.
“The first week we made sure everybody was playing with everybody,” Brooks said. “We wanted to see who meshed best with each other.”
“Michael is good both in shotgun and under center where Jameson is more of a spread shotgun guy,” he added.
Frederick’s first possession – beginning with 7 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter – set the tone for New York. NY marched 67 yards in 15 plays – overcoming two penalties and converting a pair of fourth downs – to complete the drive with a Hoag 12-yard touchdown reception 36 seconds into the second quarter.
Frederick found Hoag for 6 yards on 4th-and-4 from the PA 32 and finished things with a 4th-and-6 conversion to the fullback/receiver that gave NY the game’s first points and a lead it would never give back.
“From the second I scored, the crowd went crazy, the team went crazy,” Hoag said. “I knew it was going to be a good night from there.”
Frederick completed each of his four attempts on the drive for 37 yards — all going to Hoag. The TD came after a run fake that fooled the PA defense.
“It was a play action to the left,” Frederick said. “All the flow was to the left side, so all the linebackers were moving, all the corners were moving to the left side. Carmine was coming back on a crosser to the right. He was wide open. No one was in the area. I just had to make sure the ball was to him in the right spot.”
“I snuck out of the backfield and got right behind the linebackers,” Hoag added. “Everything was going the other way and I was on the (other side). I was wide open.”
Frederick’s next most important throw went to Giboo on a sideline pattern that converted a 4th-and-11 midway through the fourth quarter. Giboo’s scoring run five plays later followed by Frederick’s two-point conversion run sealed the victory.
The Empire State offense converted five fourth downs in all.
“We worked on a lot of fakes with fourth-down conversions and down and distance situations,” said Brooks, the Portville/Cuba-Rushford coach. “You can do that stuff right away with a group of all-stars, where when we start here in a couple weeks, we need to get back to fundamentals because those kids are still learning the game. We practiced a ton of situations. We knew we were going to be aggressive on fourth down. The kids did a nice job executing, especially that 4th-and-11 late with Dalton.”
Walsh was injured on a 21-yard run. Still in the game on the next play, he handed to Giboo, who scored from 28 yards out for a 14-0 lead.
“We had a lot of stuff for Jameson,” Brooks said. “We were just scratching the surface with him. He has a cannon for an arm – he’s going to play baseball at Albany – but he’s also a great runner. He only played quarterback for them a few times at Southwestern. He was more of their running back. He had a really good two weeks. He picked up the system. Our system is kind of designed for a running quarterback as it is. It was definitely a bummer to lose him early, but Michael did a great job picking him.”
Besides the TD pass to Hoag, Frederick ran for a score, and would have had another from 10 yards out if not for a penalty.
Frederick thanked the NY offensive line, which helped pave the way for Holcomb’s 143 rushing yards and the team’s 325. The only real miscue for New York was a center snap over Frederick’s head that Pennsylvania recovered early in the fourth quarter and NY leading 31-18.
“We made an error to make it interesting there,” Brooks said, “but our defense stepped up to make a stop.”
In the end, Frederick, who flourished as a runner and passer in 8-man football for A-L this past fall, had little trouble adapting to the 11-man game Saturday.
“I think in practice getting used to it was definitely a little different,” said Frederick, who will continue his playing career at Washington & Jefferson College. “Once you get into the speed of it and everything, it’s all the same thing I think.”
