By Jeff Madigan
Olean Times Herald
JAMESTOWN – Gary Kum’s two first-half touchdowns led the Jamestown Chiefs to a 14-8 win over the Southern Tier Diesel in Northeastern Football Alliance action at Strider Field in Jamestown on Saturday.
The loss comes a week after the Diesel picked up their first win of the season by defeating the Southern Tier Warriors, 20-13. Diesel linebacker and captain JR Bennion said he hoped the team could build from that momentum against the Chiefs, but later said the opposite occurred.
“It was a tough loss,” Bennion said. “We took a step or two backward from where we were last week. We had a chance to win this game, but we made some poor decisions on offense that cost us. We were a different team against Jamestown than we were against Southern Tier. We have to play as a team and put our egos aside. We cannot play as a group of selective individuals because we are undermanned.”
A big problem for the Diesel was their inability to pick up Jamestown fumbles. Chiefs players had five fumbles on the game, but the Diesel only corralled two of them.
After the teams traded possessions throughout the first quarter, the Chiefs hit the scoreboard with one minute to play in the opening frame. Joe Orosz hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Gary Kum, putting the Chiefs up 7-0.
The Diesel threw an interception on their next drive, and Jamestown responded by scoring its second touchdown of the game. Brian Hardy caught a pass along the right sideline, made a juke move to beat Diesel defender Ben Whitmore, and ran the rest of the way for a 48-yard touchdown reception.
“They hit us on the outside near the sidelines,” Bennion said. “I told my team where Jamestown was going, but we couldn’t stop it. Our defensive backs were playing on both offense and defense and got tired. Jamestown picked on those two cornerbacks.”
Just like the week prior, the Diesel found themselves down by two scores early in the second quarter. Last week, they answered by scoring 20 straight points to pick up a 20-13 win. This week’s game was different, as the Diesel could muster no offense despite repeated attempts inside Jamestown territory.
Also like last week, the Diesel were up against a quarterback who could make plays with his feet, as Kum often found room to run, both towards the sideline and through the gaps, which Bennion attributed to a lack of defensive line pressure.
“We have to control the gaps,” he said. “Next week Finger Lakes is going to come at us with three or four running backs, and we have to be ready for that. Kum had huge runback lanes to run through.”
Right before the half, Fred Knight caught a 30-yard pass, stopping the clock with one second left. On the final play, the pass tipped off Knight’s hands and fell incomplete in the end zone.
The teams swapped the ball several times in the second half before the Diesel, down 14-0, drove deep into Jamestown territory as time was winding down. A tipped pass was intercepted by Jamestown, and all the Chiefs had to do was run out the clock to preserve the shutout.
But the game wasn’t over yet.
The Diesel were the recipients of a little bit of luck in the closing minute, as Kum was hit by linebacker Chad Hancock and fumbled the ball in the endzone. The ball was recovered by Diesel lineman Bill Johnston, bringing the Diesel to within 14-8 with 56 seconds left.
That set the stage for an onside kick, which the Diesel nearly recovered. The ball squirted away from two Diesel players and the Chiefs recovered. A few kneeldowns later and the game went to the Chiefs, which improved their record to 4-3 and moved them into sole possession of third place after Buffalo lost at Lyndonville.
“I’m sick and disgusted of losing to teams I know we can beat,” Bennion said. “We’re 1-6, but there are so many variables that could have us at 5-2.”
Turnovers again hurt the Diesel, as Shannon Knight threw two interceptions. He finished the game 8-for-22 with 104 yards and no touchdowns to two interceptions. Running back Fred Knight had 13 rushes for 80 yards. Jason Folland led the receivers with four catches for 61 yards.
The Diesel return home next week to play Finger Lakes (7-0) on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. at Bradner Stadium. Finger Lakes is coming off a 76-0 win at the Southern Tier Warriors last week. Back in Week 3, the Diesel lost to the Impact, 70-6. It is the Impact’s first year in the NFA, and they will clinch the NFA’s West Division with a victory.
This game will be broadcast live on 105.9 WGWE-FM
