Victor shuts down Spencerport on home turf

By: Matt Hanes

SPENCERPORT, N.Y. – The Spencerport Rangers (0-1) entered their second straight home matchup at Ranger Field looking to seek vengeance after their first loss of the season against the Victor Blue Devils (1-0). The matchup was decided in the trenches as Victor was able to capitalize on a fatigued Spencerport defense in the second half, running their way to a 21-0 victory to start their season off with two straight wins.

Both offenses started off the first half struggling to get any movement going. For Spencerport, senior quarterback Cole Ciao relied on senior running back Noah Rodgers to progress the offense with a couple deep shots sprinkled in. Ciao also connected with junior wideout Nicolas Schiano on a slant towards the right hash marks for a chunk gain.

The Victor offense also started off slow. The first drive for the Blue Devils resulted in a three and out before their defense could set them up with possession in Spencerport territory on multiple occasions. Both the Rangers and the Blue Devils created strong pressure in the trenches, causing a stalemate until the late second quarter.

Victor marched down the field after starting in Spencerport territory for the second time in the matchup. Junior quarterback and captain for the Blue Devils Eli Ricci pushed the offense down the field in a two-minute drill that included multiple scrambles from the junior. After getting to the redzone, Ricci caught a low snap and rolled out left looking deep before breaking out and juking past two defenders before diving for the left pylon for a touchdown with :50 left on the clock.

After a successful extra point attempt from senior kicker Andre Poselovich, Victor ended the first half up 7-0.

The Spencerport Rangers received the ball at the start of the second half as Ciao and company looked to respond to the Blue Devils. After a stuffed up run from senior running back Dominic Sprague, Ciao looked towards the right sideline before Victor’s junior defensive back Antonio Martinez came down with the interception to kickstart the Blue Devils in the second half.

Ricci and the Blue Devils took the field for their first drive in the second half in a bunch formation with two fullbacks and one running back looking to work the run game and chew the clock. They remained in this formation for the entire second half as Victor marched down the field and senior running back and captain Carter Abbate found the endzone on an eight yard inside run.

Late into the fourth quarter after stopping the Rangers on multiple offensive drives, Abbate and sophomore running back Luke Johnson continued to pound the rock until reaching the Rangers’ redzone yet again. After a miraculous play action scramble from Ricci that saw him going left right and backwards, he fired a laser into the center of the field to find junior wideout Deshae Sheldon for his first varsity touchdown and put the Blue Devils up 21-0.

“Me and Deshae talked this week,” Ricci said. “Just trying to build confidence, build trust in the guys who are new to varsity football and I think we did just that. Deshae stepped up in the second half along with many others. Antonio got his first varsity pick tonight and that’s great. That’s what we need in this football team.”

The Rangers tried their best to respond and put some points up however a trio of dropped passes alongside a false start and two muffed snaps halted them from getting any points on the board as Victor closed it out with a 21-0 shutout victory on the road. The Victor Blue Devils improve their record to 2-0 on the season will be on the road again next Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. to battle Hilton.

“Hilton’s a great team. We have to flush this game out, this game means nothing,” Ricci said. “It’s still early in the season; we have to get ready for Hilton, hop on film and be prepared for that game.”

The Spencerport Rangers fall to 0-2 to start their season and will look to get their first win of the season on the road next Friday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. against Irondequoit.