FROM PRESS ROW: CORNING, ELMIRA, HORSEHEADS RUN WILD IN OPENING WINS (2021-09-13)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
Coming into the year it was expected that Corning, Elmira and Horseheads would have strong run games.

In week one they showed just how dominant they all are capable of being as the three teams combined to rush for 1,182 yards in their victories.

All three teams looked dominant in their openers, and two of the teams square off this week as Horseheads plays host to Elmira.

OPENING THE STADIUM IN STYLE
For Horseheads Friday was a special night. They were in their new stadium, playing under the Friday night lights for the first time in a home game, and playing for the first time on a home turf field.

While the offense took a little while to get going, the defense was dominant all night. Horseheads forced three turnovers and had three sacks in a 20-0 shutout win over Vestal.

Riley Loomis was a force all night for the Blue Raiders. Defensively he had 12 tackles and a sack. But, offensively he was absolutely dominant down the stretch.

Loomis ran for 211 yards in the game, and in crunch time the senior stepped up big, with 15 carries on the final two drives of the game.

Quarterback Alex Chrisman was a nice counter punch to Loomis, running for 42 yards in the contest.

Defensively the Blue Raiders were dominant up front, with Gannon Johnston leading the way with nine tackles and a fumble recovery.

A LEGEND IN THE HOUSE
As Horseheads opened their new stadium a number of former players were in attendance for the game.

Few players had more success than Guilian Gary, who was in town for the game and out on the field with the captains for the coin toss on Friday night.

Gary is a 1998 Horseheads graduate who went on to star at Maryland where he was a second-team all-ACC selection in 2001 at wide receiver.

In college Gary was the first Maryland player to lead the team in punt return yards all four years of his career, and the first player since 1961 to lead the team in receiving yards for three straight years.

He had a last minute touchdown for Maryland during the 2001 season against North Carolina State to lock up the ACC title.


CORNING RUNS WILD
524 yards on 64 carries was quite the way to start the season for the Corning run game in a 47-7 win over Ithaca.

Three different players ran for over 100 yards in the Hawks victory, with Mason Smith leading the way with 188 yards on the ground.

Smith, Logan Booker and Dillon Kennedy combined for 437 yards and six touchdowns between them in the victory.

It wasn’t just the offense that made big plays for Corning. Will Kibler had two interceptions in the game and Lucas Zawko had 11 tackles and forced two fuumbles in the win over Ithaca.

The Hawks were supposed to have a marquee matchup in Rochester against Aquinas this week, but Section 5 stopped games against teams from other sections, so now Corning is left with a bye week.

SPECIAL TEAMS, RUN GAME LIFTS ELMIRA
Elmira started the game with an onside kick that seemed to catch Binghamton off-guard. The Express recovered and quickly scored. They turned around and kicked another onside kick, that Binghamton bobbled and the Express recovered. Just like that it was a 16-0 lead on the way to a big win for the Elmira football team on Saturday 53-8 over Ithaca.

The Express ran for 405 yards in the game, but what’s even more impressive, they did it without a single player going over 100 yards in the game.

Four players ran for over 50 yards in the game and six players went for 30 plus yards in the contest.

Jelani Muhammad led the Elmira attack with 97 yards and two scores and Brady Keefe had 75 yards and a score. Taylon Johnson ran for 53 yards and a touchdown and Tyler Marks had 53 yards on the ground. Damion Griffin ran for 34 yards and a touchdown and Johnnie Garcia had 33 yards on the ground.

The Express also turned up the defense in the win, getting a pick six by Terrell Swan to cap their scoring in the game.

Elmira hits the road to take on Horseheads this week.

EDISON AND NOTRE DAME WILL EACH LOOK FOR BOUNCE BACK AS THEY MEET
The area’s two eight-man teams, Edison and Notre Dame, will square off this week in a Saturday game at Edison.

Both will be looking for their first wins after tough losses to start the year.

Edison had a rare Wednesday afternoon game at Newfield. While they lost 25-6, they showed some positives, including 97 yards on just eight carries from Noah Bennett in the game.

Edison had chances in the matchup, but penalties and turnovers hurt the in week one.

It was a similar story for the Notre Dame football team. The Crusaders led 8-6 after one quarter, but Trumansburg scored 36 second-quarter points in the game.

Owen Stewart threw for 78 yards and ran for 65 yards in the first half, but an injury took him out of the contest in the second half






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