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Golden Cougars come up just short

Cassadaga Valley/Falconer free safety Mack Mikula, left, breaks up a pass intended for Red Jacket's Chase Rizzo during Saturday's nonleague football game at Bill Race Field on Saturday. Photo by Scott Kindberg.

FALCONER — The Cassadaga Valley/Falconer football team came ever so close Saturday afternoon to christening its newly renovated athletic complex with a victory. But two golden scoring opportunities, including one in the closing minutes, came up empty and the Golden Cougars suffered an 18-13 nonleague setback to Section V’s Red Jacket.

Matthew Record tossed touchdown passes of 40 and 3 yards to Jarrett LeGault and Chase Rizzo respectively, and Logan Keifer ran 51 yards for the other score as the Indians raised their record to 2-0. The loss dropped Cassadaga Valley/Falconer’s record to 0-2.

“We’re young, inexperienced,” Golden Cougars coach Joel Sopak said. “I think we improved today. Obviously, we’re disappointed, but we’ll move on.”

With any luck, however, the hosts could have sent the near-capacity crowd home with a come-from-behind win on the day Bill Race Field was rededicated. But after stopping Red Jacket on downs with under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and a short field to a potentially go-ahead touchdown, the Golden Cougars ended up so close, yet so far from its first victory of the young season.

Taking over at the Indians’ 39 and trailing 18-13, Cassadaga Valley/Falconer put together two first downs and found itself at the Red Jacket 7 with just under a minute remaining. But a third-down play was stuffed for no gain, and on fourth-and-3, running back Noah Abram was stopped short of the first down. Two Red Jacket kneel-downs ran out the clock.

Cassadaga Valley/Falconer running back Noah Abram looks for running room during Saturday's nonleague football game at Bill Race Field. Photo by Scott Kindberg.

That Golden Cougars’ near miss was their second one on a beautiful late-summer afternoon. The first came in the first half. After tying the game, 6-6, following Brock Johnson’s 9-yard touchdown burst early in the second quarter, Cassadaga Valley/Falconer appeared almost assured of a TD moments later when linebacker Collin Mower intercepted a Record pass and nearly returned it to the house for a go-ahead score, but was brought down at the 2. With a first and goal, however, the Golden Cougars never found the end zone as four plays netted zero yards.

“That was a huge momentum thing, too,” Sopak said. “If we could score there, things were going our way, but it’s high school football.”

Cassadaga Valley/Falconer did put together a long drive early in the fourth quarter, with Abram (31 carries, 136 yards) doing much of the work. Keyed by his 40-yard run, the hosts got into the end zone when he scored on a 1-yard dive with 7:47 remaining. Drake Pierce booted the extra point to pull the hosts to within 18-13, but that was as close as the Golden Cougars would get.

“It’s going to be a tough year for us,” Sopak said. “We’re trying to grind it out. Inexperience is hurting us right now, but at least they came to play.”

NOTES: Record completed 10 of 20 passes for 128 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. … Keifer led Red Jacket on the ground with 110 yards on 17 carries and a TD. … Landen Mower had a pick for the Golden Cougars. … The intersectional game was made necessary when both teams had holes in their schedules. Cassadaga Valley/Falconer was originally supposed to play Maple Grove, but the Red Dragons decided to play eight-man football in late August. … Red Jacket is located in Shortsville, which is 28 miles southeast of Rochester.

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