Finger Lakes Impact @ Southern Tier Diesel

By Jeff Madigan

Olean Times Herald

            OLEAN – The Finger Lakes Impact may be new to the Northeastern Football Alliance, but they are making quite the name for themselves in their rookie season.

            The Impact, based out of Waterloo, defeated the Southern Tier Diesel 34-14 Saturday night at Bradner Stadium, improving their record to 8-0 and clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFA’s West Division and a first-round bye when the playoffs begin Aug. 10.

            The Impact, based out of Waterloo, entered the game winners of seven straight and were outscoring opponents by a 304-39 margin. They are enjoying their rookie season in the NFA, repeatedly manhandling their division opponents.

            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.

            “I told my guys to go out and play with the same attitude we did when played the Warriors,” Bennion said, referring to the Diesel’s 20-13 win over the Southern Tier Warriors on July 16.

            “I told them that I was here to win. I wanted to play hard and go at them every play. I told my team, ‘come along with me or get the heck out of the way.’”

            Saturday night’s game started on a good note for the Diesel, who forced Finger Lakes to punt on its first possession. Another Diesel punt and the Impact then 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.

            “Finger Lakes came at us with some new offensive strategies and packages,” Bennion said. “We weren’t ready for it. Our safeties got confused and their receivers got passed us. They were wide open. They scored their three offensive touchdowns on three badly blown coverages.”

            Following yet another Diesel punt, linebacker Donnie Moore stripped the ball from an Impact player and raced down the field for 42-yard gain. 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.

            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.  Another Diesel punt, another Impact touchdown, as Hudson again scored. His 72-yard touchdown catch ended the third quarter.

            The Diesel then capped off the game’s scoring in the fourth quarter with a 2-yard pass play from Knight to Chad Hancock.

            Higgins finished the game 5-of-16 passing for 151 yards. Three of those five completions went for scores. He had one interception. Holland caught two passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. JoeRoy Baker carried the ball seven times for 92 yards.

            Shannon Knight finished 12-of-30 for 99 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. John Evner had five catches for 44 yards while Folland had four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Emley led the Diesel defensively with nine tackles.

            Finger Lakes coach Jeff Teed celebrated his 45^th birthday Saturday night, and his Impact were bigger and better, but the Diesel stood toe-to-toe with them for 60 minutes of game time. The Diesel showed they can hang with one of the best, if not the best team in the league.

            “We played a good football game against a very good football team,” Bennion said. “Finger Lakes is a very solid team. But our performance wasn’t good enough to win.”

            The differences between the Impact and the Diesel are profound. With no disrespect to 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.

            “I truly feel we are a couple football players and a coaching staff away from being a very good football team,” Bennion said.

            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 a 70-6 victory. Credit the Diesel defense for playing a decent game on Saturday, limiting a high-powered Impact offense to just three touchdowns (the Impact had the two defensive scores).

            “I’m thrilled we didn’t lay down for them,” Bennion said. “We lost to them big last time, and I was concerned we might do that. But we didn’t. We played tough the whole game.”

            The Diesel stay home next week to play Buffalo (4-4) on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. at Bradner Stadium. Buffalo is coming off a 40-0 win against the Southern Tier Warriors last week. Back in Week 4, the Diesel lost to the Gladiators, 23-8, in Buffalo. The Gladiators are jockeying for playoff position and sit one game behind Lyndonville and Jamestown (both 5-3) for the third spot in the division.

            “I’m looking to win and spoil somebody else’s fun,” Bennion said. “If Buffalo loses to us I think they are eliminated.”

            This game will be broadcast live on 105.9 WGWE-FM, its last broadcast of the season.