PERU — Tim Remillard was a force to be reckon with on the ground, while the Peru defense was a wall all game long as the Indians rolled past Saranac, 51-0, in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference football action Saturday.
With injuries in the backfield, Remillard was inserted as halfback this week and the senior made the most of his opportunity.
Remillard rushed for 200 yards and the first three touchdowns of the game.
“I saw some big holes.” Remillard said. “My offensive line did a good job today. We wanted to move the ball on the ground and through the air to keep it balanced.”
On its second possession of the game, Peru got the ball on Saranac’s 17-yard line and Remillard scooped up all 17 yards on three carries, culminating on a two-yard touchdown.
As the second quarter opened, Remillard again found an opening, this time for a 16-yard touchdown just 44 seconds into the quarter.
Remillard made it three trips to the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown scamper, which he setup with a 63-yard run on the play before.
“We were able to execute offensively,” Indians coach Nick Damiani said. “Timmy did a nice job filling in. We have been slowly working him in, but with (McKethan) Mackenzie banged up he was going to get most of the carries.
“He did a great job. He ran hard, broke some tackles and did what we expect from him.”
Bret Boyer, who connected on six extra points on the afternoon, wrapped up the first half scoring with a 33-yard field goal to give Peru a 24-0 lead.
In the second half, the Indians turned to their fast-improving sophomore quarterback, Blake Altizer.
Altizer finished the third quarter with three touchdown passes to three different receivers. He connected with Zane Bazzano on a 45-yard scoring strike at the 1:23 mark. Boye then hauled in a pass for an 18-yard touchdown, and two minutes later Nick Uliva pulled in a short pass and took it the distance from 51-yards out.
Altizer finished with 181 yards passing and three scores.
Scoring on the day would finish after Rivelino Hendricks, on his only carry of the day, took a pitch, bolted to the right and took the ball 79 yards for the touchdown.
“We’re getting better,” Remillard said. “Each week the offense is getting better.
“We came into today knowing that they run a lot and we wanted to shut them down.”
And, shut them down the Indians did.
With leading rusher Matt McCasland out due to injury, Saranac could only muster 109 yards rushing on the afternoon and 14 yards passing.
“Saranac was banged up a little coming in and we knew that their depth just wasn’t there,” Damiani said. “They definitely battled until the end, and with Saranac I would expect nothing less. I think we were just able to wear them down.
“The defense has really been playing well, led by Hunter Bruno, he sets up the defense for us. The last three weeks they have really kept the opposing offense from being able to do a lot.”
Saranac was led by Paul Herrera, who finished with 30 yards rushing. Ethan Goslin added 28 yards on the ground, while Michael Bernardi added another 27.
After a season opening loss to Saranac Lake, Peru is now on a four-game winning streak and has outscored its opponents 148-19.
“We have to limit our mistakes and continue to get better,” Damiani said. “We now know who want where, our young quarterback is coming along and our rotating tailbacks are coming together.
“We are going in the right direction.”
—
Peru 51, Saranac 0
Saranac 0 0 0 0 — 0
Peru 7 17 21 6 — 51
First quarter
P- Remillard 2 run (Boyer kick), 8:52.
Second quarter
P- Remillard 16 run (Boyer kick), 0:44.
P- Remillard 8 run (Boyer kick), 6:59.
P- Boyer 33 FG, 11:05.
Third quarter
P- Bazzano 45 pass from Altizer (Boyer kick), 1:23.
P- Boyer 18 pass from Altizer (Boyer kick), 9:45.
P- Uliva 51 pass from Altizer (Boyer kick), 11:54.
Fourth quarter
P- Hendricks 79 run (run failed), 8:02.
Individual statistics
Rushing
S- Herrera, 6-30; Goslin, 4-28; Bernardi, 10-27; Maye, 9-23; Lareau, 4-3; Jordan, 3-1; Rascoe, 2-(-1); Hackett, 3-(-2). Totals: 41-109.
P- Remillard, 16-200, 3 TD; Hendricks, 1-79, TD; Bruno, 3-25; Bazzano, 2-2; Sarazen, 1-1; R. Mason, 1-0; Phillips, 2-(-2); Altizer, 3-(-21). Totals: 29-284, 4 TD.
Passing
S- Goslin, 3-9-1-(-4); Lareau, 1-1-0-18. Totals: 4-10-1-14.
P- Altizer, 6-10-1-181, 3 TD; Remillard 0-1-0-0. Totals: 6-11-1-181, 3 TD.
Receiving
S- Kneussle, 2-16; Hackett, 1-0; Rascoe, 1-(-2).
P- Uliva, 1-51, TD; Bazzano, 1-45, TD; Boyer, 2-31, TD; Phillips, 1-15; Bruno, 1-9.
Interceptions
S- Rascoe.
P- Bruno.
