Credit the Diesel for not giving up

By Jeff Madigan

Olean Times Herald

            OLEAN – The Finger Lakes Impact entered last night’s game at Brander Stadium winners of seven straight and were outscoring opponents by a 304-39 margin.

            On the other hand, the Southern Tier Diesel came into the game following a bad 14-8 loss last week against Jamestown. They had lost more than they won and were certainly the underdogs, especially when the Impact have won games this season by scores of 42-0, 70-6, 40-6, 43-7 and most recently, 76-0.

            But much credit must go to the Diesel, who were in no way intimidated by the bigger and ‘better’ Impact. They stood toe-to-toe with them the Impact for 60 minutes of game time, and while the 34-14 loss to Finger Lakes might be a bummer, the Diesel showed they can hang with one of the best, if not the best teams in the league.

            The Impact, based out of Waterloo, are enjoying their rookie season in the Northeastern Football Alliance. With the win over the Diesel, they clinched the top seed in the league’s West Division, giving themselves a first-round playoff bye when the playoffs begin Aug. 10.

            The differences between the Impact and the Diesel are profound. With no disrespect to J.R. Bennion’s bunch here on the Southern Tier, the Impact have a solid coaching staff in place and their roster is nearly double that of the Diesel. The Diesel strive to be what the Impact are.

            In the teams’ previous meeting (June 18), the Impact scored a rushing touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and never looked back. They led 42-0 at halftime and coasted to victory.

            Last night’s game went much differently. After the Diesel punted to open the game, the Impact also punted. Another Diesel punt and the Impact found the scoreboard on a 43-yard pass from Jessie Higgins to a wide open Earl Hudson. Hudson corralled the ball and raced the rest of the way for the leadoff touchdown.

            In the second quarter, the Diesel punted again. The teams then traded interceptions on back-to-black plays before the Impact scored again, a 20-yard pass from Higgins to Newt Jones, giving the Impact a 14-0 lead with four minutes left in the second quarter.

            Following yet another Diesel punt, linebacker Donnie Moore stripped the ball from an Impact player and raced down the field for 42-yard play. That gave the Diesel good field position, and they capitalized, scoring on 5-yard pass from Shannon Knight to Jason Folland, bringing the Impact advantage to just 14-6 at halftime. Optimists could look at that as quite the moral victory.

            The Impact fumbled on the opening possession of the second half, allowing the Diesel a chance to return on offense with the chance to tie the game. Quite the opposite occurred, as the Diesel then struggled holding onto the ball as their next two possessions resulted in turnovers and touchdowns for the Impact, both by linebacker Will Collins.

            That put the Impact up 28-6 midway through the quarter. Again, the Diesel could have bent under the pressure of trailing by 22 points to the league leader. They didn’t, and despite punting on their next possession and again yielding a touchdown to the Impact, the Diesel still had drive, and drove down the field to score another touchdown, this one a 2-yard pass from Knight to Chad Hancock.

            So, yes, the Diesel were not supposed to win the game. They were clearly overmatched and outplayed. That happens when teams with full rosters and coaching staff come in to play teams that don’t have that. That’s the nature of the game in semi-professional football, in the Northeastern Football Alliance.

            The Diesel, who knew they were overmatched and outplayed, gave it their all on the field. Yes, the scoreboard didn’t read in their favor when the final buzzer sounded, but sadly for the Diesel it often doesn’t.

            If moral victories count in the game – and debates could be started on whether they do or not – perhaps the Diesel accomplished one last night. They held a team that had scored 76 points the week prior to just 34. Message boards say a big moral victory is when a team, who is struggling to wins games, loses by a narrow margin, to a team which is either undefeated or generally considered far superior.

            No, a moral victory won’t get the Diesel anywhere but 1-7 at this point. But without question it should guide them in their final two games against teams in front of them jockeying for playoff position. This could be a time where the Diesel could play spoiler and perhaps pick up some more ‘moral victories,’ or perhaps some on-field victories.