Before it could make its late-season pursuit of the Class C South division regular-season championship, the Canastota football team had one more small matter of business to deal with.
That would be the Raiders’ annual Saturday-night home special, this one involving Herkimer, who like Canastota took a 4-1 record into the month of October.
The Magicians made some early noise – but then the Raiders drowned them out with big plays on offense, defense and special teams, not stopping until it had put away a 47-10 victory.
Early on, Canastota and Herkimer traded touchdowns, Zack Zupan giving his side a 7-0 lead on a seven-yard run, Herkimer going right back down the field and scoring on Gio Aceto’s five-yard scamper.
But the Raiders began to win this game on the kickoff following Aceto’s TD. Jaimie Meade, also Canastota’s kicker (he made five of seven extra points on the night), took that kick at his own six-yard line, got a few blocks and used his speed to outrace the Magicians 94 yards to the other end zone.
Canastota led for good, and aside from Teddy Borek’s field goal late in that first period that made it 14-10, the Raiders would not allow anything more.
Turning once again to its big, physical running attack, Canastota twice put together scoring drives in the second period as Zupan went 20 yards for his second TD and Alex Foster scored from 10 yards out, making it 28-10 at the half.
Right after the break, Canastota put things away, first driving to Herkimer’s 29-yard line and having Foster hit Richard Mitchell for his only TD pass of the night.
Jeff Merrrell then provided highlights on both sides of the ball. He took a Magicians interception back 44 yards for one TD and, on offense, contributed a 15-yard scoring run late in the third quarter.Merrell finished with 113 yards on 15 carries, while Zupan nearly reached the century mark, too, finishing with 97 yards.
Tied for first with Westmoreland in Class C South, the Raiders still need to win at Sauquoit Valley (who just lost to Westmoreland 22-0) this Friday to make sure that its season-ending duel with the Bulldogs is for league title honors.