Aquinas runs over Sweet Home
Panthers lose Class A Far West Regional, end season 10-1
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home's Noah Nwachukwu hauls in a pass between Aquinas defenders Casey Vog (7) and Anthony Bianchi (10) during the Panthers' 28-7 Class A Far West Regional loss last Friday at Paetec Park in Rochester. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Aquinas' ability to run the football and Sweet Home's inability to stop them was the biggest reason why the Panthers' season ended last Friday at Paetec Park.

Aquinas, the No. 1 Class A team in New York State, had six different rushers combine for 319 yards in the Little Irish's 28-7 victory over Sweet Home, ranked fourth in the state, in the Class A Far West Regionals.

"I think we got momentum going in the second half," said Aquinas coach Chris Battaglia. "We played our game. We were able to run the ball and take it to them."

Aquinas (11-0) will face Section III's Carthage (11-0) at 8 p.m. on Friday in the state semifinals at Paetec.

Ahead 14-7 at halftime, Aquinas forced Sweet Home to punt on the opening drive of the third quarter. Aquinas then chewed up seven minutes of the clock with a 12-play, 59 drive to the end zone, capped off by an 11-yard run by senior Cedric Barber (14 carries, 74 yards). Ten of the 12 plays were runs.

Barber scored on a 4-yard TD with 1:29 left in the third. Aquinas gained possession at the Sweet Home 28 after a light wind and rain, combined with a bad roll, held a Michael Lewandus punt to nine yards.

"I thought we had good momentum going into the second half," said Sweet Home coach John Faller. "We got by with some mistakes in the first half where it could have been 21-7, but in the second half their line (three linemen weight over 300 pounds) hit us and pushed us around a little bit. I think that was the difference."

"They were the better team," he added. "There's no question about it."

Sweet Home's best chance to score in the second half came early in the fourth quarter. The Panthers were at the Aquinas 4-yard line but junior quarterback Casey Kacz threw two incomplete passes in the end zone.

It didn't take long for Aquinas to take the lead over Sweet Home. Just fifty-six seconds into the first quarter, senior Anthony Fitts, who led all rushers with 185 yards on 23 carries, busted through the arms of a couple of Sweet Home tacklers and scored a 76-yard TD.

The Little Irish made it 14-0 with 1:51 left in the first quarter when quarterback Ben Bostick scored on a 1-yard keeper. Bostick only completed 1 of 5 passes in the game for five yards. Aquinas' drive started at the Sweet Home 6 after punter Nathaniel Moore mishandled the snap and was tackled by Aquinas' Devin Worthington.

Starting from its own 17, Sweet Home engineered a 17-play scoring drive, culminated by a 5-yard shuffle pass from Kacz to running back Marcus Johnson. Kacz completed 7 of 7 passes for 72 yards on the drive.

"We made some good plays on offense, but it was hard to keep drives going in the coverage they were running," said Kacz. "They were dropping back pretty far and stopping our run game so we couldn't get any deep passes."

"When it was 14-7, I thought we had a chance but couldn't finish them off," he added.

Kacz threw well in the weather conditions, finishing 15 of 27 for 122 yards. He also fumbled once and threw an interception. Kacz was coming off a lower right leg injury, which kept him out of Sweet Home's 31-6 Section VI Class A title win over Cheektowaga on Nov. 2.

"He made some mistakes but overall, I couldn't ask any more of the kid," said Faller.

Kacz threw to six different receivers. William Reese and Noah Nwachukwu each caught five passes; Reese for 55 yards, Nwachukwu for 41 yards.

Sweet Home's run game was ineffective. Johnson led the Panthers with 29 yards on 11 carries. Sweet Home was outgained on offense, 324-161.

Panthers' defensive tackle Nick Christman earned defensive MVP honors with two tackles and nine assisted tackles. Morris added four solo tackles and seven assisted tackles.

Worthington had four solo tackles and four assisted tackles to lead Aquinas. Anthony Bianchi intercepted a pass and returned it 17 yards. Matt Jones recovered a fumble.

It was only Sweet Home's second Far West Regional appearance. They lost to Aquinas, 56-27, in 2002 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"I'm proud of the kids, but you're always disappointed with a loss," said Faller. "We wanted to keep on going. The last time we played them they ended up being state champions. These are the games you have to come out and play and we didn't have it."

Sweet Home finishes 10-1 and only loses a few starters, including Johnson, and Christman and Andrew Hopkins on the line.

"We only lose four or five starters," said Faller. "We'll be back."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com