LE-ROY, NY--- The 13th ranked Le-Roy Oatkan Knights hosted the 1st ranked Attica Alexander Blue Devils for a classic Friday night lights rivalry. The Knights upset the top ranked Blue Devils 44-27.
The game started off hot as the Knights capitalized off unbelievable field position on their second drive. They would score just a couple plays after a bad snap for a punt which put the Knights on the Blue Devils five-yard-line. Senior running back Andrew Strollo punched it on third down from five yards out.
Strollo had a great day on both sides of the ball also having an interception in the second half.
The Blue Devils took a controlling 20-6 lead into the second quarter. Their first score came from Senior wide receiver/running back/quarterback Trent Woods by way of a rushing touchdown from inside the 10-yard-line. A 40-yard pick six for Senior linebacker Sam Strzelec would double the Blue Devil lead on the next Knights drive. a third first quarter touchdown by way of Senior running back Landyn Thomas, who had an electric performance making defenders miss every time he touched the ball.
"In that situation, you have to continue you can trust that you can play with this team." Head coach of the Le-Roy Knights Mike Humphrey said.
The d-lines would control the pace of the first half as offenses struggled to sustain drives. The scoring throughout came by way of big plays.
"We talked a lot offensively, A couple of different things but not a ton." Humphrey said.
Once the second quarter started the Knights and their sizeable homecoming crowd turned into high gear. The got going both on the air and on the ground.
Senior running back for Le-Roy Tony Piazza had another 200+ yard and four touchdown performance. His night was highlighted by a 90-yard touchdown run that looked completely bottled up at the line-of-scrimmage, but an extra effort from Piazza saw an escape lane open. All but three of the twenty-two players on the field were involved in this scrum. Piazza kept his legs moving and had just enough juice to make it to the end-zone with two Blue Devil defenders in close pursuit all the way down the right sideline and to the endzone.
"...There was a little mix-up in the backfield, but we made it work so it was all good." Piazza said.
His huge performance specifically in the second half saw the Knights score 28 unanswered points. Piazza had a massive workload along with Strollo who spearheaded the running attack for the Knights.
"I just have to keep going. I mean, I get tired but the drive to win the game is more important than being tired, it overpowers that." Piazza said.
Attica's two All-State first team linebackers from a year ago were kept relatively quiet on the defensive end. Seniors Clayton Bezon and Case Hill were expected to being massive impacts in run defense but the defense who gave up just nine points per game on average throughout their first four contests allowed 44 to the Le-Roy Oatkan Knights.
"It was like most games; we just want to win. That's our mentality. We just love winning, that's all we care about, but we thank everyone who came out to the game."
Le-Roy celebrated their homecoming verse a very tough opponent and were able to secure a massive win to make the extra celebrations all the more special. Le-Roy now claims top spot in the Section V class C standings and should expect a nice bump in the state rankings as well after defeating the No. 1 ranked Attica Alexander Blue Devils.
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