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NT Wins State
The Cubs let us down, again. The Bears are imploding. My Fantasy team is a disaster.
I found a glimmer of hope! My hometown football team became State Champs for the first time ever!
From the Tonawanda News, for the NTers in the crowd:
HS FOOTBALL: JACKS WIN STATE TITLE
By David J. Hill
E-mail David
The Tonawanda News
SYRACUSE — They left Saturday afternoon bound for this city, where state football champions are crowned — hoping to return with glory and a championship trophy in tow. Sunday evening, the North Tonawanda Lumberjacks did exactly that.
Darrik Bloomfield made perhaps the biggest catch, and Sean McDonough the biggest pass deflection, in NT football history as the Jacks claimed a nerve-wracking 14-7 victory over New Rochelle in the Class AA state final.
"It's unbelievable. It's one of the best days of my life other than when my wife and I had our two kids," said Lumberjacks coach Eric Jantzi. "It's a really special day and I can't be more proud of any group of kids that I've ever worked with."
It's the first state football championship for the Lumberjacks, who become only the third Section VI program to win a Class AA title, following Orchard Park (2008) and Jamestown (2000). NT's triumph made Western New York a perfect 4-0 in state title bids for the second straight year. Sweet Home, Randolph and Southwestern all won at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. For the Jacks, hoisting the championship plaque is the dream ending to a perfect 13-0 season for which NT had high hopes from the start. Along the way, the Jacks defeated some of the best programs in Western New York, including defending state champion Orchard Park as well as Lancaster, before toppling the best from the rest of the state.
"To be here in Syracuse, state champions, it's just a feeling like none other," said senior quarterback Mike Tuzzo, who was 11 of 16 passing for 105 yards and one touchdown. "These are my brothers forever, and I'm never going to forget these guys. This is the greatest team I've ever been on and it's the greatest team I'm ever going to be on."
North Tonawanda sealed its perfect season when, on third-and-7, Bloomfield made a spectacular grab over New Rochelle cornerback Jonny McGhee to haul in a 12-yard touchdown pass from junior Joe Montesanti, the Jacks' backup quarterback, on a halfback option pass. It gave NT a 14-7 lead with 8:49 left in the game, and was a much-needed response after New Rochelle gained tremendous momentum with Julian Griffin's 54-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. After that, the Huguenots forced the Jacks to go three-and-out. The NT defense, however, came up big on New Rochelle's next drive, when Dan Montesanti and McDonough stopped Xavier Walker on third down, forcing New Rochelle to punt.
Bloomfield's touchdown catch came after Tuzzo completed another clutch third-down pass to Bloomfield with under a minute left in the third quarter.
The Lumberjacks made the second-biggest defensive stop of the season on New Rochelle's ensuing drive following the Bloomfield touchdown. With the Huguenots in punt formation on fourth-and-6, the Jacks were called for encroachment. New Rochelle's offense returned to the field to try to convert a fourth-and-2, but the entire NT defensive line denied senior Sir-Tay Jackson.
The Jacks took over with 6:14 remaining in the game and killed four minutes off the game clock before a Tuzzo punt pinned the Huguenots on their own 8 with 2:07 left. That's when North Tonawanda's defense came up huge. Backup quarterback Khaliq Butts completed a pass to McGhee, but NT's Rob Wikierski grabbed him by the toe and held him up, allowing NT's defense to bring McGhee down, setting up a decisive fourth-and-3. Butts, who took over for starter Lewis Edney in the first half, dropped back and delivered a pass, but McDonough fought off his block, got his right hand up and deflected the pass, sending the Lumberjacks and their faithful in the stands into a frenzy, the likes of which North Tonawanda has never before experienced.
"That was huge. When they threw that short three-step drop at McDonough, I'm like, 'Oh please get your hands up,' and he got the hands up and that sideline of NT people went absolutely crazy over there," Jantzi said.
"That one play, I put my hand up and it hit me in the hand. I was just astonished. The game was over then," said McDonough, NT's most valuable defensive lineman. "I was just running around screaming. It's unbelievable."
"Once Sean swatted that ball I think I just lost it. I went nuts," said senior offensive lineman Kyle Shreve. "There's no better feeling in the world."
As they've been apt to do all season, the Jacks struck first, with Tuzzo hitting junior tight end Travis Charsley for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 6:33 left in the opening quarter. "The route we saw on the first touchdown they scored, we never saw that on film and they got that one in," said New Rochelle coach Lou DiRienzo, whose Huguenots finish the season 11-1. "They were a very well coached team in the second half. ... We lost to a better football team and I tip my cap to them."
While NT's offense wasn't quite as effective after that drive, the defense kept New Rochelle in check, holding the Huguenots scoreless for the game's first 24 minutes. Their best opportunity came late in the second quarter when they drove inside the Lumberjacks' 15 yard line, but Eric Reid's field goal attempt bounced off the right upright.
While NT's final statistics weren't the impressive numbers they typically put up this season — the Jacks rushed for only 138 yards and passed for 106 — the Jacks did enough things to throw off New Rochelle.
"They were doing some things we didn't see before," DiRienzo said.
Senior Tom Sell was NT's leading rusher, carrying 15 times for 73 yards.
"This is just a perfect end to a perfect season," Jantzi said. "We talked about being perfect and there's not a lot of things you can be perfect at in life but this was something — the 2009 Lumberjacks are absolutely perfect. To see their tears of joy at the end of the game is something I'll remember for the rest of my life, because I know the hard work and effort they put in."
"That feels great," senior Steve Kijowski said of finishing his senior season 13-0. "Coming in we knew we were one of the best teams in the state. We wanted to go out 13-0. We may not have played perfect, but we're perfect as a team."
November 30, 2009 in I live for this! | Permalink