Through the air and on the ground, the Oneida football team has become one of the prime offensive forces in the Section III ranks.
Anyone wanting to stop the Indians’ passing attack has to prepare for lots of Rick Rossi chewing up chunks of yardage. And any opponent that stacks the line of scrimmage for Rossi will get a heavy dose of Ryan Kramer throwing to his teammates deep.
In its third outing in 13 days (dating back to the Kickoff Classic romp of Ithaca in the Carrier Dome), Oneida once again lit up the board, this time toying with Class B East rival Holland Patent in a 45-13 destruction of the Golden Knights.
This means that, in three victories, the Indians have outscored its foes 142-33. What was different against HP was that Kramer and the passing game assumed a much larger role.
Kramer threw just 15 times, but completed 12 of those passes for 300 yards, an average of 25 yards per completion. Three of those passes went for touchdowns.
And whenever the Indians needed to run, Rossi was ready, getting 100 yards on 14 carries. He also had the game’s first touchdown, on a five-yard run, the only points either side scored in the opening period.
Up 7-0, Oneida really took charge in the second quarter, starting when Kramer went deep and found Jesse Christian on a 38-yard scoring strike. Minutes later, Joe McCormick scored from nine yards out, making it 21-0.
HP finally got on the board with Tyler Mann’s 27-yard TD pass to Steven Falk, but the Indians quickly answered, driving to the Golden Knights’ 18 before Kramer hit Brandon Miles for his second TD strike of the night.
Behind the line of Will Jones, Howie Schaal, Matt Gillmeister, Ryan Shene and Brad Inman, Oneida could do what it wanted — like blow open a big hole so that Christian could go 21 yards for his second TD in the third quarter.
Later, Kramer connected with Miles, a seven-yard TD strike that made it 42-13, and Miles returned in the fourth quarter to strike a 27-yard field goal.
Oneida puts that 3-0 mark on the line in its longest road trip of the season Friday when it plays South Jefferson at 7 p.m in Adams. The Spartans are also 3-0 after knocking off Vernon-Verona-Sherrill a week ago.
