Just up the road from where the world’s best golfers were unleashing a barrage of birdies at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, the Vernon Verona Sherrill football team provided its own impressive effort.
In its last regular-season home game of 2009, the Red Devils controlled all aspects of the game against Solvay on a sunny Saturday afternoon, bashing the Bearcats 32-6 to improve its record to 4-1.
It was Homecoming at VVS, and that only provided a small part of the team’s motivation. The Red Devils were still seething at the way it had surrendered a double-digit lead and gave up 21 fourth-quarter points to Chittenango in its lone defeat of the season seven days earlier.
Determined not to let that happen again, VVS wasted little time exerting its will on Solvay, a team that used to rule in Class B West before Westhill’s recent domination.
Early in the first quarter, the Red Devils moved to the Bearcats’ 17-yard line, from where quarterback Tyler Mautner threw to the end zone and found Tyler Curtis for the touchdown.
Later in the period, VVS moved into Solvay territory again, then gave the ball to Colin Way, as the junior tailback tore up the middle 41 yards for a TD, making it 14-0. Cole Barbano hit on both of his extra points.
Mautner made just one mistake, in the second quarter, as an errant throw deep in Solvay territory got picked off, and Paul Clisson returned the interception 86 yards for the Bearcats’ lone touchdown.
It stayed 14-6 until the fourth quarter. Solvay could pull no closer because the VVS defense, particularly irked by the way Chittenango wore them down, gave an inspired performance, allowing no points and grounding the Bearcats’ running attack to a halt.
VVS stayed patient and, in the fourth quarter, put it away, using its depth to wear Solvay down on both sides of the ball.
Mautner threw his ninth and 10th TD passes of the season — 30 yards to Anthony Rocco, then 40 yards to Curtis — and Way returned to close out the scoring with a 25-yard run, his 10th touchdown of the fall.
The Red Devils have the Class B East regular-season fate in its own hands. All it has to do is win its two remaining games — but that means first going north, to Adams, to face South Jefferson (4-1) Friday, then prevailing at Oneida in its biggest rivalry game on Oct. 16.
