McCormick runs wild as Eldred shuts out Liberty

Eldred comes on strong in non-league win

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY - Despite being battered by Burke to the tune of 68-0 last week, Coach Jim O’Connor’s Liberty Indians were upbeat and positive.

A good week of practice had the team hopeful that they could be competitive with Class D Eldred on September 30.

“We just want to be in this game at the end of the first quarter,” O’Connor said prior to the game. He has watched his team get steamrolled in the opening minutes week after week.

O’Connor and company figured if Liberty could play mistake-free football, things might just go right this time.

Things did go right, but for Eldred, not Liberty.

The Yellowjackets had a similar agenda: get out to a fast start and stop playing from behind. Last week, the defending Class D champs had to dig themselves out of a 12-0 hole against up-and-coming Webutuck. This week, the Yellowjackets wanted no part of such late-game heroics.

Eldred received to start the game and required only three plays to cover 59 yards for their first score, a 50-yard end sweep by quarterback Nick McCormick. It was the first of four rushing touchdowns by the senior phenom. Phil Talley’s PAT failed and Eldred led 6-0 with less than two minutes gone by.

Liberty tried to shake it off and get something going on offense, but in a strange play quarterback Andre Brand threw a pass behind him, which was actually batted backwards by a Liberty receiver, and resulted in a fumble. Eldred’s Kevin Prunka picked it up and ran 28 yards for a touchdown. Talley recorded his day’s only PAT and Eldred led 13-0 at 8:48.

Liberty was unable to move the ball on Eldred’s gang-tackling defense. The Indians never penetrated beyond Eldred’s 40-yard line.

Eldred got poor field position at their own 12 to start the ensuing drive. But with Liberty having trouble tackling Eldred ball carriers, the distance didn’t seem to matter. Prunka ripped off a 26-yard carry and McCormick and Hilton Johnson combined on a big play with the quarterback pitching back to the bruising fullback who gained more ground. McCormick scored his second touchdown with a one-yard keeper, and Eldred led 19-0 with 4:43 to go in the first quarter.

Brand tried to go to the air, but was hurried and sacked often. An Eldred penalty gave Liberty one of its few first downs. The Indians lost yardage and had to punt.

McCormick threw a screen pass to Johnson, who barreled for 12 yards. Prunka advanced the pigskin to the Liberty 35, but Eldred lost five yards on a penalty as the first quarter ended.

With 10:31 to go in the second quarter, McCormick meandered through a sea of Liberty would-be tacklers on his way to a 28-yard touchdown to make it 25-0. A pass to Kojo Williams added the two-point conversion to make it 27-0.

Liberty went three-and-out and McCormick returned a Trevor Tompkins punt to the Liberty 11. Two plays later, McCormick hit Sean Colley with an eight-yard touchdown pass to make it 33-0. Talley’s kick sailed wide right.

Brand tried to bootleg the ball on the Indians’ next series and took a big hit on the sideline. The big QB got right up, complimented the Eldred tackler with “nice hit” and grinned. There was little else for Liberty to smile about.

Eldred capped off the first half with McCormick’s final touchdown run, a 22-yard romp with 1:49 remaining. Eldred took a 39-0 lead into halftime as coach Frank Kean resolved to play his junior varsity kids for the remainder of the game. A few starters filled out the defense, but Kean kept his word and played his youngsters.

The Liberty sideline was quiet and lifeless, with coaches and players feeling disappointment and surprise at the team’s listless performance.

In the second half, Eldred junior Brian Henry took over for McCormick at quarterback and Chris Martinez and Sean Donnelly came in as running backs. Liberty inserted Joe Ruiz to call the signals and he had a few nice completions, including one to Rajan Patel. The overall results were the same as the first half.

Eldred’s youngsters got their turn as Donnelly recorded his first-ever touchdown on a seven-yard run. Martinez ran in the two-point conversion for the day’s final tally as Eldred (4-1) defeated Liberty (0-5) by the score of 47-0.

Kean was pleased with his team’s vigor from the start. “We wanted to come out and play hard from the beginning and we did that this week. Next week, we have a tough opponent in Tri-Valley and we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.

O’Connor was clearly disappointed with his team’s effort. “We tried to prepare for this game but it looked as if we never practiced,” he said. Liberty takes on winless LMR at home next weekend.

Stat line: Eldred rushing: Prunka, eight carries for 92 yards; McCormick, seven for 114 with four TDs; Johnson, two carries for 20 yards; Tom Compasso, two carries for six yards.

McCormick was four-for-seven for 67 yards in the air. He threw for an 11-yard touchdown.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of game photos.