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Closing In: Hornell football Red Raiders one win from doing 'Dome Work'

Hornell Evening Tribune

Rochester, N.Y. ­ When Erik Werner learned of the Red Raiders NYS Class C Final Four opponent late last Saturday an “ol’ ball coach” likely came to mind.

Nope, not Steve Spurrier. Not Bill Yeoman, the “Father of Veer-Option Football.” Not Bobby Bowden, or even Jack Lengyel ­ a pair of coaches with deep roots in the Veer run game.

Hello, old friend. Hello, Chenango Forks. Hello, Gene Mastin.

Who better than Hornell’s former head coach, another legend with option roots, who led the Red Raiders to their first two NYS Final Four trips ­ both against, you guessed it, Chenango Forks?

“We’re going to have our hands full, but I believe that we’ve put together a good defensive plan,” Werner, Hornell’s first-year head coach hand-picked by Mastin, said. “We’ve learned from our experiences in the past against option teams and coach Mastin has taught myself and coach (Steve) Donlon extremely well considering his roots were in option football. We kind of know a thing or two about it and hopefully our plan can neutralize that.

“We definitely have some history with Chenango Forks. I was here as an assistant coach then, but I can still remember those games as if they were yesterday,” Werner added. “They haven’t changed and we haven’t changed. Two great programs, two great traditions. It’s going to lead to a great game Saturday.”

The veer-option was made famous by Yeoman in the mid 1960s. As referred to as the triple-option, the veer was originally designed as a four-back attack with one player taking a dive course, one taking a pitch course and another being a lead blocker on the perimeter of the offensive formation. The quarterback then makes a read on the defensive players before distributes the ball according to the defensive reaction to the offense.

“It’s a read-option,” Werner further explained. “The quarterback does a great job of riding the fullback through and either handing it off or keeping it himself. Then, if he keeps it, he’ll make a second read and either keep it or pitch it. They’re very good at it and it forces you to play assignment football. That’s what we’ve worked on this week.

“They have several formations they run the veer out of. And they’ve run some spread this year, too. We haven’t seen them in recent years because they dropped to C and we stayed in B, so I’m not sure of that’s new this year or from the past. But it’s option-based and they’re very good at it. It’s easy to see that they are coached tremendously well, they are very fundamentally sound and they don’t make mistakes ­ they patiently wait for you to make mistakes.”

Mastin is a disciple of the wish-bone option, used primarily during his early coaching days in Pennsylvania. And while Werner isn’t entirely schooled in option offenses, Mastin would seemingly be “more up to speed” ­ making him a great resource for Saturday’s state semifinal at Sahlen’s Stadium.

“No idea. And I don’t know what the word veer is all about either,” Werner said when asked about the origins of the veer-option. “Again, it’s a read-option ­ reading the different gaps in the defense and that dictates what you are supposed to do. This is Forks’ main play ­ they put a lot of time into making the correct reads. They don’t have a huge playbook, but you don’t need to when you run this type of system. It puts defenders on islands, forcing them to play assignment football.

“The pressure’s on defensively. But again, I think we’ve installed a good plan if it’s executed properly. The kids know that, too. And I think they’re excited to put the plan in place.”

That plan will include containing both fullback Isaiah Zimmer and quarterback John Sweeney.

“Low to ground, low center of gravity. A tough, hard-nosed kid,” Werner said on Zimmer. “A powerful runner, who won’t go down on the first hit or first tackle. We have to account for him.

“He doesn’t throw the ball a whole lot, but when he does he has an excellent arm,” Werner added on the quarterback, Sweeney. “He puts the ball where it needs to be and his receivers do a good job of getting open and making receptions. They’ve had interceptions in nearly every game and I can only guess as to how those occurred. They don’t throw often, but he’s a very capable passer. We have to honor the pass. And you don’t want to play a whole lot of man against an option team. We’ll change our coverages and do a lot of different things because of the challenge this offense presents.

“You can’t just stack the box against a team such as this because they have a lot of experience on the coaching staff,” Werner went on. “Their former head coach, Kelsey Greene, is on the staff, their defensive coordinator has been there forever. And they’re both retired so I’m sure that they can devote a few extra hours in the week to watching film and finding opponents’ weaknesses. You have to make sure that you’re playing your best football across the board on every single down.”

On the flip side, the Blue Devils employ a 5-2, Cover 3 or a hybrid Cover 2. The also rely on some man-to-man coverage, with movement and blitzing along the D line and from the linebackers.

“They’re good tacklers. Again, very sound fundamentally,” Werner said. “They don’t make many coverage mistakes. They force you to beat them, and that’s what a great team does. We hope that we’re seen in that fashion as well. We hope that opponents see us a team that has to be beaten versus beating ourselves, and they’re in the same mold.”

Countering that defense will be the 1-2 punch of “bulldozer back” Zack Bacon and the shifty, speedy Luke Morgan. Bacon has amassed 1,199 yards this season, while Morgan is inching closer to the 1,000-yard mark at 887. The junior, however, is second on the team in touchdowns behind quarterback Richie Harkenrider with 15. Bacon comes in just behind with 12.

“I think we have the ability to run the ball. I say that with a glimmer of hope because I know that we have to run the ball in order to be successful,” Werner said. “Passing-wise, we’ll try to create some match-up problems with some formations and motion. We always want to be a run-first team, very similar to their style. We have to be able to run the ball and that’s the emphasis. We want to play physical football. Fast and physical.

“We have to be content with getting four yards per carry. Three times four is 12. You do that a whole bunch of times, eventually you’re going to punch it in the end zone. We’re going to go right at them in that fashion, but we won’t be afraid to throw the ball either. We’re very capable in that regard and we’re not going to go away with bullets left in the gun.”

Still, that doesn’t mean starting over from scratch and re-tooling the entire offensive and defensive system. As we know well, a leopard can never change its spots.

“It came from Mike Monacelli at Cal-Mum. To be successful, you can’t just up and change everything you do,” Werner said. “We’re a power-running team. I’ve always believed that to be the strength of this team, considering the line and big fullback. That’s the team we need to be.

“We won’t play any new fronts, but we have four, five, six of those to chose from. We have a lot of weapons that we’ve used before. We don’t want to change our spots. Not by any means, but maybe we’ll be a leopard that puts a mask on from time to time.”

HHS averages 37 points per game compared with 33.8 for Forks. Defensively, HHS is allowing a meager 10.5 points per game, while Forks is less stingy at 12.5. Werner isn’t expecting a shoot-out at the O.K. Corral so to speak. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

“In my mind, it’s going to be a one-score game,” he said. “If one team wins this game by three or four touchdowns it would shock me. Both these teams are very disciplined on defense and very sound on defense. I don’t think the offense can put up a ton of points on either side. I would say it’s going to be three scores to two scores, somewhere along those lines.

“This is a team that does not make mistakes. We have to change that, we have to force them into making mistakes. We have to force some type of miscue in some aspect of the game. In a game such as this, there aren’t going to be many mistakes so you have to capitalize on them if they do occur. If both teams play their best football, I honestly believe we come out on top. That’s the thing ­ one team is going to make a mistake or mistakes in this game and the other team is going to capitalize on them. We’re hoping to be the team that capitalizes.”

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Hornell looks to extend football winning streak

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

The goal for Hornell’s football team is to keep going, of course.

Each win by the Red Raiders moves the only Section V champion still in postseason play closer to another state title. Hornell lines up against the Chenango Forks Blue Devils at noon today in the Class C high school football state semifinals at Sahlen’s Stadium.

Each win by the Red Raiders (11-0) extends a streak never seen before in Section V football, a record 50 consecutive games without a loss ­ third-longest in the nation, according to Calpreps.com.

Each win means more practices and rounds of meetings and what most players on undefeated team enjoy most, another game.

“I just don’t want it to end,” Hornell senior running back/linebacker Zack Bacon said. “People think about (the streak), but don’t really bring it up, to jinx it.

“When we win it’s, ‘It’s here, we’ve still got it.’ ”

Chenango Forks (10-0) is the latest team that seems capable of taking it away.

The Blue Devils slowed a high-scoring passing game last week during their quarterfinal versus Skaneateles. Hornell held back Cleveland Hill, a team from the Buffalo area capable of turning small gains into long-scoring plays.

“Those kids were some of the most athletic we’ve seen this year,” Hornell senior receiver/defensive back Brendan Buisch said. “Once we established our running game, that helped lead us into our passing game.”

Hornell, more known for its power running game, brought out its no-huddle offense again and found passing lanes in the middle of the field. Senior quarterback Richie Harkenrider finished 8 of 13 passing for 128 yards, including short touchdown throws to Buisch and Julian Reinhart.

“We’ve practiced it every week,” Harkenrider said. “We like to switch it up to give the defense something to prepare for.”

Preparation seems to be something else the Blue Devils from Section IV excel at, just like the Red Raiders. Chenango Forks plays tough defense, keeps mistakes to a minimum and capitalizes on opponents’ miscues.

How well does the approach work?

The Blue Devils have six state final appearances since 2001, and this is their second state semifinal berth in four seasons. It is notice that the Blue Devils are back, so to speak, after a six-win season in 2011 that left them out of the Section IV playoffs.

When it comes to the game-winning plays, the Chenango Forks back who delivers the most seems to be 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior Isaiah Zimmer, who carried 39 times last week.

It is probably safe to assume that a few of the 1,404 rushing yards for Zimmer came because of his power, just like yards gained by Bacon.

Hornell’s defense can hold the upper hand by limiting Zimmer and other ballcarriers to four yards total on first and second down and see what happens if the Blue Devils are all but forced to throw.

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