ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On any other weekend in any other football season, the big story out of New York would have been the stellar performance by Section V, which qualified four teams for the NYSPHSAA championships on Thanksgiving weekend.
Forget all that, though, because there is only one story in the Rochester area these days:
Ashton Broyld.
The dazzling senior quarterback from
Rush-Henrietta (Henrietta) continued a stellar postseason run Saturday night by rushing for four touchdowns and throwing for two as the Royal Comets defeated Baldwinsville 55-28 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA semifinals.
Click here to view MaxPreps' New York football playoff brackets.Broyld rushed 15 times for 136 yards and threw for 300 yards on 10-for-17 accuracy on a night in which the Royal Comets set a state tournament record with 606 yards of total offense. For the second week in a row, R-H put up 35 first-half points, and the unbeaten Royal Comets are averaging 50.2 points in six postseason games heading into Sunday's final vs. Troy of Section II.
Baldwinsville sophomore
Tyler Rouse opening the scoring with a 66-yard touchdown run on the night's first possession and finished with 30 carries for 171 yards. The Royal Comets were leading 21-14 midway through the second quarter before Broyld threw scoring passes of 20 and 77 yards to
Devon Maio (five catches, 201 yards) to leave the Bees in the dust.
"We stick with our guns," Broyld said. "Whatever is working we're going to stick to it. Devon is a special player. I got him the ball and he made plays."
Making plays has been Broyld's specialty since the start of the playoffs. In the five games leading up to the victory against Baldwinsville, he had:
* Gone 11-for-13 for 211 yards and four touchdown passes vs. Rochester Wilson.
* Thrown for 153 yards and ran for 97 to beat Gates Chili.
* Completed 9 of 13 attempts for 174 yards and two scores vs. Pittsford.
* Rushed for 225 yards and four touchdowns against Irondequoit.
* Rushed for 299 yards and two touchdowns to KO Clarence in the state quarterfinals.
"That's him, man, that's him," R-H coach Joe Montesano said. "I don't have to talk to him or motivate him. He's the reason our team is motivated. He's a great leader. People don't see what we see when we're around him. He's a great leader."
Broyld is also on the doorstep of a rare statistical achievement. Already well into quadruple figures on the ground, he needs only 135 passing yards in the state final to become the second quarterback in state history to rush for 1,000 and throw for 2,000 in the same season. St. Joseph's Collegiate junior
Chad Kelly, the nephew of former NFL great Jim Kelly, accomplished the feat this season with a 1,057/2,159 effort in 11 games.
That will make the final even more intriguing, but Broyld doesn't intend to get caught up in statistics or in the atmosphere of the Carrier Dome this weekend.
"That's exciting, but we're back to work on Monday," he said. "When that moment comes, if we prevail it'll be exciting. If you don't win, nobody remembers the second-place team. It's all about winning. If we win, then I'll be excited.
"For now, it's on to the next game. To move on with the guys I love is the most important thing. We'll probably never have this feeling again and we're not done yet."
R-H vs.
Troy shapes up as a high-scoring affair even though the Flying Horses won 20-19 over New Rochelle.
Troy senior Jordan Canzeri (23 carries, 183 yards) scored his second touchdown of the game on a 50-yard run with 11:10 to play, but New Rochelle's
Jordan Lucas returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for the go-ahead score.
The teams traded fumbles in their subsequent possessions, but Troy then drove eight plays and 50 yards to an 8-yard touchdown run by Brian Marsh (13 carries, 74 yards) with 1:54 to go. New Rochelle reached the Troy 34 before turning the ball over on downs.
New Rochelle ran just eight plays in the first half — but gained 161 yards of total offense. Troy ran off 36 plays for 205 yards in the first two quarters.
MORE NYSPHSAA SEMIFINALS* Class A: Senior
Alex Acompora scored two long second-half touchdowns to spark
Harrison past Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 17-7 and end the Spartans' bid for a third straight trip to the final. Acompora fumbled away a third-quarter pitch, but Harrison's defense faced down the threat. Harrison then drove 88 yards on five plays, capped by a 46-yard run by Acompora midway through the period. Early in the fourth, Acompora caught a pass from
Vincent Nicita and sprinted 70 yards to the end zone.
The Huskies will return to Syracuse for the first time since they won the Class B state title in 2002 and will play four-time state champion
Aquinas Institute (Rochester), which beat Whitesboro 35-12.
Mike Messina led the way with 133 yards on 23 carries and was one of five Little Irish players to score touchdowns in an Aquinas attack that rushed for 240 yards.
"Mike has been the best back around here the last two years, and I don't say things like that much," Aquinas coach Chris Battaglia said of the Syracuse University lacrosse recruit. "He can play."
* Class B: Schalmont (Schenectady) scored the final three touchdowns to rally past Croton-Harmon 28-14 and reach its first final. Senior quarterback Joe Paskevich scored on a 1-yard carry a play after Jaren Ramundo's 46-yard rush early in the first quarter. After Croton-Harmon responded with two touchdowns by fullback
Kevin Soares, Ramundo (12 carries, 191 yards) sent the game to halftime tied via a 17-yard carry. Alberto Beltran returned the second-half kickoff to midfield, added two long carries and then scored on a 6-yard carry for a 21-14 lead.
In the West, defending champion
Hornell won its 25th straight game by overpowering Chenango Valley 45-12. Two-way senior starter
Sam Stonerock rushed 17 times for 234 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the defense with seven tackles at linebacker as the Red Raiders forced seven turnovers.
* Class C: Junior
Christian Conway rushed for 273 yards and three touchdowns as
Bronxville steamrolled Saranac Lake 49-14 to get back to the Carrier Dome, where the Broncos lost last year to Southwestern. Quarterback
Dylan Mitchell and
Ryan Hackett opened the scoring with a 64-yard pass, and Conway scored three second-quarter touchdowns and accounted for 182 of his yards for a 28-7 lead.
General Brown (Dexter) advanced to its first final with a 19-14 win over Fredonia.
Mark Allen scored on a 5-yard run to give General Brown a 19-7 lead with 3:15 to go. Fredonia's offense was on the General Brown 25 when time expired.
* Class D: The
Caledonia-Mumford defense forced two fumbles inside its 5 and earned a 24-10 victory over Walton to set up a shot at the school's fifth state tournament title.
Tyler Lauffer scored on a 36-yard run early in the game and also intercepted a pass during the second half as the Red Raiders moved into the state final for the first time since 2003.
In the East,
Tuckahoe (Eastchester) advanced with a 31-10 win against Moriah as
Jarett Sommer rushed for 128 yards and had scoring runs of 25 and 50 yards. The Tigers avenged a state semifinal loss to Moriah in 2008 and go back to the Carrier Dome for a fourth time — having lost in 1993 and 2004. They won a state crown in 2006.
