By COURTNEY LEWIS
PLATTSBURGH — Plattsburgh High spread the ball around and ran all over Seton Catholic in a crossover football game Friday night.
Six different players rushed for touchdowns, led by James Stiger with two, as the Hornets closed the season with a 50-0 win over the Knights.
"I guess we just played with a lot of heart, and that's what we needed to do to win," Plattsburgh senior Dan Bennett said. "I know all these kids were trying all season. We had a tough time with all the kids dropping out. We had a really rough season.
"But we came through in the end, and I think it's the right way to finish the season."
Plattsburgh (3-6) ran for 318 yards on a windy, rainy night. Stiger totaled 149 yards. He scored on a 23-yard run in the second quarter and plowed in from the 1 in the fourth quarter after breaking free for a 43-yard run earlier on that drive.
"The line did a nice job sustaining their blocks, and James Stiger just ran behind them and ran hard," coach Pat Goodell said. "And Kyle Carpenter also got some runs in following his line."
Trey Bucci ran in an 11-yard touchdown on the Hornets' first drive, and Carpenter scored from the 2 for a 14-0 lead.
Nate Harrington, a freshman who was called up from the JV team this week, picked off a pass in the second quarter, setting up Stiger's touchdown run. Harrington later ran 17 yards to score a touchdown of his own, and the Hornets took a 37-0 advantage into halftime.
"It was nice to get him the ball and get him the score so he feels what that's like," Goodell said of Harrington. "And he had a nice interception early in the game, where they tried to beat him deep and he was in the right spot and reached up and picked it off."
Fullback Frank Hoang also had a first-half touchdown, on a 7-yard run, and finished with 107 yards on 12 carries. He had 114 yards heading into the game.
Hoang "is usually just in there banging away, blocking, leading a lot of plays like a guard," Goodell said. "But tonight we were able to get him the ball. Stiger being the key back that they were trying to stop, we were able to sneak Frankie through."
John Zayas cut to the far sideline in the fourth quarter and ran 14 yards for the Hornets' final score.
Bennett had the only catch of the game, a 27-yard play from Bucci late in the second quarter.
The game gave the two rivals a chance to play for real after Seton Catholic had to forfeit their scheduled regular-season meeting in Week 1.
The Knights' best chance to score was on a lengthy drive in the second quarter, when they reached Plattsburgh's 13-yard line before Devin Richards intercepted a pass. Seton Catholic (0-8) put together another long drive in the third, starting on their own 10 and reaching Plattsburgh's 31 before fumbling away the possession.
Zack Clar led Seton Catholic's offense with 48 yards on 13 carries, and Nate Bedell ran for 25 yards.
—
PHS 50, Seton Catholic 0
Seton Catholic0000—0
Plattsburgh High1423013—50
First quarter
PHS- Bucci 11 run (D. Richards pass from Bucci).
PHS- Carpenter 2 run (run failed).
Second quarter
PHS- Hoang 7 run (Carpenter run).
PHS- Stiger 23 run (Carpenter run).
PHS- Harrington 17 run (Kirkpatrick kick).
Fourth quarter
PHS- Stiger 1 run (Kirkpatrick kick).
PHS- Zayas 14 run (run failed).
Individual statistics
Rushing
SC- Clar 13-48; Bedell 8-25; Ryan 4-9; McLean 7-(-14); team 2-(-30). Totals: 34-38.
PHS- Stiger 11-149, 2 TD; Hoang 12-107, TD; Carpenter 5-21, TD; Harrington 1-17, TD; Zayas 1-14, TD; Bucci 2-10, TD. Totals: 32-318, 7 TD.
Passing
SC- McLean 0-6-2-0; Bridgeman 0-1-0-0. Totals: 0-7-2-0.
PHS- Bucci 1-1-0-27; Kirkpatrick 0-1-0-0. Totals: 1-2-0-27.
Receiving
PHS- Bennett 1-27.
Interceptions
PHS- Harrington, D. Richards.
E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com
