CA FootBall 2007
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The Canandaigua Braves got
off the bus at Wayne High School Friday night and were ready and raring to
go.
Behind three touchdowns from Kaheem Gist, all in the first half, the
Braves scored 42 unanswered points and went on to a comfortable 42-13 win over
the Wayne Eagles.
Greece, N.Y.
Standing by the gate on the field where he once coached, Dave Nieman was experiencing a wide spectrum of emotions.
He couldn’t have been happier after just watching his Canandaigua football team dismantle Greece Olympia 30-0 to start the 2007 campaign with a bang Saturday afternoon.
On One Hand, This Year’s Canandaigua Academy Football Team Feels Like It Definitely Has Some Unfinished Business.
Despite a 6-0 regular season in 2006 and a No. 2 seed in the Section 5 Class AA tournament, the Braves were upset 24-17 by No. 7 Webster Thomas in the quarterfinals.
“Any time you’re ranked high and you lose in the first game, it hurts,” said senior linebacker and co-captain Britt Kostraba. “But we’re back, with a new bunch of guys and a whole new outlook.”
The Canandaigua Braves football team had multiple reasons to be ready to play their non-league game against the Canisius Crusaders Saturday afternoon.
There were the usual reasons like defending your home turf and keeping an undefeated record intact. But it seems the biggest reason the team wanted to win was to support a bad week for head coach David Nieman.
Nieman earlier in the week had his home broken into and had several treasured items stolen. To that end, when the game was over and the Braves had waltzed away with a 55-28 win, Braves quarterback Justin Tomzak presented Nieman with a team picture on a plaque, letting him know the players were thinking of his loss.
Canandaigua Routes Canisius 55-28 At 2007 Homecoming
Braves Air It Out In Win Over Victor
For five weeks, Canandaigua Academy relied on the legs of running back Kaheem Gist to power the offense.
It's a pretty easy game plan to devise when Gist has piled up 19 consecutive 100-yard games.
But on Saturday, with the Victor Blue Devils concentrating on stopping Gist, Canandaigua unleashed a new weapon:
Quarterback Justin (Jutty) Tomzak.
After a resounding 42-21 victory over Victor at Evans Field, Braves coach Dave Nieman faces quite a dilemma now: Who to build the offense around for the Section V playoffs.
Of course, it's a much bigger dilemma for opponents. They'll have two stars to try to contain.
Tomzak, a senior, completed 16 of 18 passes for 310 yards and five touchdowns as unbeaten Canandaigua (6-0) turned a tight, 20-14 halftime lead into a comfortable winning margin.
Kaheem Gist Sets New Section V Rushing Record
With just 12 seconds left, the PAETEC Park scoreboard read Canandaigua 56, Hilton 39
Kaheem Gist finally peeled of his jersey and shoulder pads, he had done enough.
Actually, the Canandaigua senior did more Friday night than any running back in Section V history.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Gist rushed for a Section V-record 449 yards and seven touchdowns as No. 3 seed Canandaigua outscored No. 6 Hilton, 56-39, to advance to the Class AA title game. The Braves (8-0) play No. 8 Marshall (5-3), an 18-13 winner over No. 4 Greece Athena, next Saturday at 6 p.m. at PAETEC.
Forget The Rankings
Canandaigua football coach David Nieman is paying no attention to the fact that his Braves are No. 2
while Saturday’s opponent in the Section 5 Class AA championship game,
Marshall is No. 8.
“They are a very dangerous team,” Nieman said. “They play in the tough City-Catholic League. They can score on any play.
So we have our work cut out for us.”
The teams will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday at downtown Rochester’s PAETEC Park.The Jurists (5-3) had an up-and-down regular season, but, like Canandaigua, have gotten hot in the postseason, first upsetting highly-touted No 1-seeded Churchville-Chili 18-14 and then dumping No. 4 Greece Athena 18-13. Interestingly, those games marked the first losses of the season for both C-C and Athena, which is something the Jurists will be trying to hang on the 8-0 Braves.
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Canandaigua Braves 2007 AA Champions!!!
On Paper, It Figured To Be A Close, Hard Fought Battle
The final score may not seem like it, but indeed, it was as the
Canandaigua Braves claimed the Section 5 Class AA championship with a 42-21 win
over No. 8 Marshall Saturday night at PAETEC Park.
"We are happy with this win," said CA coach David Nieman. "We worked hard
all year for this. The guys did a great job tonight. We played a tough team in
Marshall. They have a good team and deserved to be here, as we did. It’s just a
great win for the program."
The Jurists were the defending sectional champions and also advanced to
the state tournament last year, so Canandaigua’s first sectional title since
1999 — in Nieman’s third season at the helm, was a special one.
Braves Linebacker Justin Stranz #54 Savors Canandaiguas Class AA Championship
Varsity- 10-0
Section V Champions
To Watch The Slides Show from The Varsity Dinner Friday Night
To Watch The Slide Show (adjust your sound)
Some of Kaheem Gist's teammates acted as if they were autograph hounds as players made their way to the team buses late Saturday.
Gist shook his head at the jokes and mock requests for him to sign a football and pieces of paper. The teasing is all in fun, something football and other sports teams do when they win.
Canandaigua has not lost this season, and while Gist's signature won't show up on eBay anytime soon, the senior running back continued to put up star-like numbers Saturday.
Gist scored five more touchdowns at PAETEC Park during a 38-21 win over Rush-Henrietta that moved Canandaigua into the Class AA state tournament.
"It's a great opportunity," Gist said about what has been a memorable three weeks for the Braves. "It's very exciting. We've dreamed about this and it's finally coming to life."
Gist, who is listed at 5-feet-10 and 170 pounds, has shown a tremendous kick during the postseason. He finished with 245 yards on 38 carries for the Braves (10-0) against Rush-Henrietta (8-2) and is 221 yards away from breaking the single-season rushing record of 2,394 set by Webster's Carl Garritano in 2002.
Canandaigua played its last three Section V postseason games at PAETEC in downtown Rochester. Gist has rushed for 979 yards in those three games, including a Section V-record 449 during the Class AA semifinals, with 16 touchdowns.
Make that 17 touchdowns in three weeks if you count Gist's 90-yard kickoff return that immediately answered Rush-Henrietta's first score, a 2-yard run by Nate Delone.
"I get more aggressive, looking to score more," Gist said about his style as the game goes on. "Once the offensive linemen go, I go. They love to block for me.
"Once we are close to the end zone, they really turn it on."
Both teams were on early.
Delone added a 1-yard scoring run late in the first quarter and finished with three touchdowns among his 151 yards and 24 carries.
Canandaigua's defense also kept an eye on Rush-Henrietta sophomore running back Clay Harris, a key player in the Royal Comets' Class AAA victory.
"You basically have to pick your poison," Canandaigua defensive lineman/linebacker Britt Kostraba said.
"If you pay too much attention to one, the other guys slip away.
"Sometimes they got lucky. Sometimes we got lucky and picked the right play. Our defense came up with a couple of stops that shifted the momentum our way."
An 8-yard run by Gist and one of seven conversion kicks by Knoblauch tied the score 14-14 early in the second quarter. The Braves went ahead 21-14 after a 9-yard run by Gist late in the first half.
The Braves never looked back, as Knoblauch added a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter. Gist later scored on a pair of 1-yard runs in the fourth quarter, sandwiched around Delone's final touchdown.
Canandaigua running back Kaheem Gist was presented with a Player of the Year
award at halftime with his grandparents, Marilyn and Ronald, by his side.
Canandaigua's Austin Rogers #17
puts the breaks on the R-H running game
