Sports & Entertainment FROM THE SIDELINES The Lancaster Sun / Saturday, October 18, 2014
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SECTION B
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2014
Janca, OP provide too much firepower for Lancaster
By Mike Petro SPORTS REPORTER
Dillon Janca has come to appreciate the playmakers around him on the Orchard Park football team. The sophomore quarterback may have been the one to put up the huge statistics in a Week 6 win but it was the many weapons around him that helped make the performance. Janca finished with 317 yards and six touchdown passes in the Quakers’ 5328 win over Lancaster in the Class AA South tilt on senior night in Orchard Park. He hit five different receivers for scores and was a few yards away from throwing a touchdown to a sixth different receiver in the fourth quarter. “I just got the ball to our playmakers and let them make plays,” said Janca, who also overcame throwing four interceptions. “That’s what they do best. We have a lot of guys who can do that. There are some plays that I made bad throws on but I’ll remember and learn from those. It’s great having all of those guys and know that I can trust them.” Junior Joe Losardo led the way for the large cast of notable Orchard Park receivers with 152 yards and two touchdowns on four catches. He caught a 69-yard score, the last of five Janca touchdown passes in the first half, and added a 26-yard catch that hit paydirt in the fourth quarter. Also with touchdown catches in the win were seniors Kevin Goltz, who scampered 48 yards for a score on a screen pass, Michael Bruno (29 yards) and Jack Crowley (10 yards), and junior Chris Liberatore (7 yards). Janca also hit Goltz on a 2-point play and ran one in successfully. “We made a lot of big plays and covered a lot of yardage,”
JEFFREY T. BARNES
Justin Hersey tries to juke a defender during a Week 5 victory. Hersey and his Lancaster teammates lost to Orchard Park in Week 6. Orchard Park head coach Gene Tundo said. “Lancaster throws the ball very well and had a great gameplan that they executed. I think we just had more big plays. I thought our kids kept playing hard and matched Lancaster’s intensity.” Billy Myers led the Quakers’ rushing attack with 111 yards and two scores, both in the second half. Junior standout Terius Wheatley had some early success on the ground and added an interception after missing last week’s game, but left Friday in the fourth quarter with an injured leg. “It’s different guys all the
time for us,” Tundo said. “I’ve never seen so much talent at the wide receiver and running back positions. It makes us hard to guard and when we go at a pretty good pace it just augments that.” Lancaster fought hard throughout the game, but Orchard Park’s big-play capabilities and firepower were too much. The Redskins overcame an early-game 14-0 deficit to tie things up but gave up 20 unanswered points and trailed, 34-14, at halftime.
See “Football” on page B2
JEFFREY T. BARNES
Dan Speyer had two touchdown passes and 243 yards against Orchard Park.
Molson making most of decision to stay at St. Mary’s By Jonah Bronstein SPORTS REPORTER
DAVE DELUCA
Quarterback Takal Molson has led St. Mary’s to a 4-2 start so far this season.
When he first took over as the St. Mary’s football coach in June, Chris Glenn spent quite a bit of time watching basketball games. Glenn had heard might find the dynamic, dual-threat quarterback he needed to run his spread offense playing for the Lancers’ summer hoops squad. The extra time in the gym turned out to be a wise investment for Glenn. Buffalo native Takal Molson has led the Lancers to a 4-2 start. He has passed for 966 yards and 11 touchdowns, ranking among
the top 10 quarterbacks in Western New York, while rushing for a team-high 453 yards and eight touchdowns. Molson’s stats would be even better if not for the fact that he has only played in the first half of St. Mary’s blowout wins the past two weeks. With three regular season games and at least one playoff game remaining, Molson is on pace to break Greg Justen’s school record of 1,439 passing yards in one season (2007). Molson played quarterback for the St. Mary’s junior varsity last year, and was called up to fill in at cornerback for the last three games of the varsity season. Molson was also a key reserve on the varsity basketball team as a sophomore, and was considering quitting football to focus on his floor game. He also wasn’t certain he would be
returning to St. Mary’s. Glenn convinced Molson to stay and play football, but having missed summer workouts, Molson was behind in learning the Lancers’ new offense. “There’s a lot of stress on the quarterback in this offense,” Glenn said. “A lot of pre-snap stuff we ask him to read.” St. Mary’s planned to start the season with senior Marc O’Neil at quarterback, and eventually make a midseason switch to Molson that would allow O’Neil to be the team’s top receiver. Molson’s athleticism and arm strength were apparent early on in practice, but it wasn’t until the Lancers’ preseason three-way scrimmage that Glenn realized how good Molson truly was.
See “Molson” on page B2