By Mike Wertman
The Journal-Register
LYNDONVILLE —
Ignited by a pair of early touchdowns, the Lyndonville Tigers went on to defeat the Oneida County Titans 39-9 here Saturday in a Northeastern Football Alliance game.
Regaining the .500 mark at 2-2, the Tigers got two touchdowns each on the night from Mike Bond and Ricky McVay as Derek Adams and Morgan Stirk each scored once.
The Lyndonville defense, led by key stops for losses by Ian Weatherbee, Joe Sands, Jon Ostrander, Nate Wright and Joey Suhr. set the tone at the outset by quickly stopping Oneida County’s first two drives.
The Tigers offense kept the momentum by scoring touchdowns after both of those stops.
First, Adams scored on a nine-yard run capping a drive highlighted by an18-yard run by Royce Haynes and a big 28-yard fourth down pass completion from McVay to Bond. Mat Whiting added the extra point kick.
The Tigers then made it 13-0 on the first play of the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Bond. Haynes keyed that drive with a 30-yard run and a 20-yard pass reception from McVay.
“Our defense backed them up right away and our offense got points early,” said Tigers owner/coach Harold Suhr. “And that was big because we didn’t want to let them in the game.”
Lyndonville upped the advantage to 19-0 by putting together a 10 minute plus, 14 play scoring drive to open the second half.
A five-yard touchdown pass from McVay to Stirk capped off that marathon march which featured a 16-yard run by Adams and a 23-yard McVay to Adams pass completion.
The Tigers then capped off the victory with three fourth quarter touchdowns on a one-yard run by McVay, a 31 yard pass from Chris Chugg to McVay and a 60-yard pass from McVay to Bond. McVay also hooked up with Bond for a two-point conversion after the first TD.
The Lyndonville defensive unit also came up with three big plays down the stretch on interceptions by Gary LeFrois and Jason Hanna and a sack by Eric Blount.
“That was one game we had to win,” said Harold Suhr whose Tigers were rebounding from an overtime loss to the front-running Buffalo Gladiators. “If we had lost this one the rest of the season really wouldn’t have mattered.”
The Titans scoring all came in the fourth quarter on a 53-yard touchdown pass and a 32-yard field goal.
The loss drops Oneida County to 1-2.
Lyndonville next hosts the Jamestown Chiefs on July 31.
