Leyden lights it up against Fenton
Leyden's return to the lights of Friday night football was a glorious one as the Eagles shut out Fenton 46-0.
Leyden's offensive line successfully opened up big holes for the ground game to excel as the Golden Eagles piled up more than 200 rushing yards in the first half.
The rushing initiative was spearheaded by the senior tailback tandem of Donovan Brown and Fabian Vega.
"The line really opened things up for us," Vega said. "We had some first-game jitters with the penalties, but we will get our focus in check as we go into the season. As seniors we really have to show the juniors that varsity is a different game."
"We have to take one game at a time," Brown said. "Every game we play as if our record is 0-0."
Brown was the first to reach the end zone as he took a three-yard misdirection handoff into the corner of the end zone midway through the first half.
The Golden Eagles never looked back. They took a comfortable 39-0 lead into the locker room.
Fenton had issues on all three phases of the game.
Offensively, the Bison had trouble moving the chains with the ferocious front line of Leyden.
Although the young Bison had the first-half butterflies, they were able to penetrate for the first time before halftime led by sophomore quarterback Kyle Cacioppo and junior receiver Tyler Santagata.
However, as time ran out in the first half, the Bison found themselves scoreless after being stood up at the 3-yard line as halftime sirens went off.
"It all starts and stops at the line of scrimmage," said Fenton coach Mark Kos. "We have two sophomore linebackers. They'll get better throughout the season and up their game. (Cacioppo) had a tremendous game. Once he got settled in, he started to take some good shots at (the Leyden defense).
"We're going to work and get stronger on both sides of the ball for Shepherd next week."
The Golden Eagle defensive performance, led by senior linebackers Kevin Nevarez, Brian Szopinski and lineman Azu Whigham, resulted in 3 fumble recoveries, 4 forced fumbles. Fenton posted 104 total yards.
"It's a good game for us to get tempo," said Leyden coach Tom Cerasani. "The running game and the 'D' looked strong. When we needed to throw, we did well. I'm happy with the result."
"Nevarez and Szopinski did very well. When Azu (Whigham) plays, he's a force to be reckoned with. These guys are all returners and their experience shows. They know how to get things done."
Other touchdowns posted by the Golden Eagles included senior receiver Jalen Moore and senior quarterback Michael Wilms tossing a 14-yard pass to senior receiver Joshua Cubon.
In order for the Golden Eagles to continue celebrating with unique mid-air high fives and force the cheerleaders to an extensive push-up workout, they must maintain their successes and cut down penalties for a dangerous York team in the following week.
"We got a tough task against York," Ceresani said. "York is bigger and well-coached. The kids know them well. We will prepare and get ready to go.