NEW BERLIN – Unatego and Unadilla Valley-Edmeston each saw their week six matchup on Saturday as the best opportunity to break into the win column this season.
On UV-E’s homecoming weekend, it was the Spartans who found the winning formula, prevailing 41-6.
Cody Komenda passed for 120 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Unatego offense. Jacob Jones (62 yards), Evan Kiss (60 yards), and Josh Lambrecht (56 yards) paced a balanced running game that found most of its success on the perimeter.
Unatego, just like UV-Edmeston, tackled a brutal schedule the first month of the season losing to powerhouses Chenango Forks, Greene, and Class B Oneonta among others. “The kids executed well today,” said Unatego coach Art Rigas. “Defensively, when you play that many good teams in a row, your head is spinning a little bit. We spent the week regrouping and working on fundamentals. The kids played well today.”
With the prevailing wind at its back to start the game, Unatego was able to keep the host Storm (0-6) pinned in their own end the entire first quarter.
After a 17-yard UV-E punt, Unatego commenced its opening possession with a 22-yard run outside by Jacob Jones. Two plays later, Komenda connected on his first TD pass of the game. He hit David Carman in the back left of the endzone. Carman juggled the ball before pulling it in for six points.
Two UV-E penalties on the next possession left it at the 10-yard line. Another 17-yard punt set the stage for the second TD of the game. Jones, again attacking the UV-E outside, rambled 17 yards, then added an eight-yard run. Evan Kiss put a bow tie on the drive with a two-yard scoring plunge.
Getting to the outside to exploit the UV-E defense was a recurring theme that worked with the running game, and also set up wide-open passing lanes. “Our strength all year has been stopping things up the middle, and we’ve worked so hard all season on shutting down the outside,” said UV-E coach Jack Loeffler. “For some reason, they’re still getting out there.”
A 15-yard face-mask penalty early in the second quarter set up Komenda’s second TD pass, a16-yard fade to the left corner that was hauled in successfully by Dale Rifenbark.
UV-E, found some passing magic later in the second quarter. Quarterback Ryan Harrington found John Lopez on a quick-hitter in the middle of the field. Lopez split the Unatego defense and raced 51 yards for the Storm’s first touchdown scored by the offense this season.
Unatego answered back quickly on the ensuing play from scrimmage. Komenda hit Carman on a screen pass in which Carman came across the middle of the field at the line of scrimmage. He cut upfield and scored on a 67-yard play for the 27-6 halftime lead.
Jones hit paydirt on a one-yard TD run in the third, and Lambrecht busted a 44-yard TD to complete the scoring.
The Storm’s quarterbacks, Harrington and Austin Glidden, combined for 113 yards passing – 100 for Harrington and 13 for Glidden. Unfortunately, the Storm running game was limited to just 22 yards on 18 carries.
“Our opening play, we worked on in practice, and it worked all week,” Loeffler said. “We just didn’t get the execution we needed. Guys were tentative. We’re not tentative in practice, we’re a good practice team. There is just no sense of urgency, and we’re slow off the ball.”
Score by quarters
Una. 14 13 14 0–41
UV-E 0 6 0 0–0
Scoring Summary
First quarter
U: David Carman 15 pass from Cody Komenda (Will May kick)
