RANDOLPH - Eight possessions, eight touchdowns.
The Randolph offense and special teams pitched a perfect game Friday night, reaching the end zone every time the Cardinals had possession of the ball in their 55-6 Class D victory over Cattaraugus-Little Valley.
''They just dominated this game every way you can,'' Cattaraugus-Little Valley coach Tim Miller said.
Article Photos
Jordan Dowiasz of Randolph heads to the end zone during Friday night’s Class D game against Cattataugus-Little Valley.
Photo by Tim Frank
That domination started right from the opening kickoff, which Randolph return man Jordan Dowiasz returned 86 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead 14 seconds into the game. The Cardinals continued to pile up the big plays throughout the first half while the Timberwolves struggled to even move the ball.
''Fortunately, we were able to get off to a fast start tonight,'' Randolph coach Pat Slater said. ''We ran the kickoff back and that kind of got the momentum on our side and it was all downhill from there.''
A 28-6 lead after one quarter turned into 48-6 by halftime.
Randolph scored seven touchdowns in the first half, while Cattaraugus-Little Valley didn't even make a first down in the opening two quarters.
All that was left in the second half - for both teams - was to keep the clock moving and look forward to next week.
As for next week, well, these same two teams will square off in the opening round of the Section 6 Class D playoffs. With the win, the Cardinals earned the No. 2 seed, while the Timberwolves were already locked into the seventh seed.
Particularly frightening for Cattaraugus-Little Valley is that Randolph seems to keep getting better every week. Since a Week Three loss to Maple Grove put their record at 1-2, the Cardinals have rattled off four straight wins by a combined score of 162-18.
''We're getting better,'' Slater said. ''We're not making the mistakes that we were making. It's kind of falling into place now. The kids are running the ball hard and the line is coming together and opening some good holes.''
The Randolph running game accounted for 309 yards on 25 carries, an average of more than 12 yards per carry. Dowiasz carried the ball eight times for 110 yards and had two rushing touchdowns to go along with his kickoff return score. Chris Doubek carried the ball seven times for 114 yards and two touchdowns and Jared Pitchford had seven carries for 81 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Mitchell Maycock added a 2-yard touchdown run.
Randolph's runners picked up a lot of their yards in big chunks. Four of its six rushing touchdowns came on runs of 30 yards or more.
The Cardinals also got a second special teams touchdown when Nick Hettenbaugh scooped up a blocked punt and returned it six yards. Micah Kehoe added to their solid special teams play by hitting 6 of 7 extra points.
The lone blemish against that unit came when Justin Forster returned a first-quarter kickoff 90 yards for the Timberwolves' lone touchdown. That score pulled Cattaraugus-Little Valley within 28-6 but Randolph wasted little time stretching its advantage back up.
''I don't think there's anybody in our league who wants to face Randolph this time of year they way they're rolling,'' Miller said.
Unfortunately, he and his team don't have a choice.
''Our challenge for our kids is to come out next week and give them more than we did tonight,'' Miller said. ''What we did tonight just was not enough, it wasn't good enough. Some of it was them just kicking our tails but it was also hanging our heads after giving up a big play and just not rising to the challenge.''
The Timberwolves, who were led by Matt Booth's 20 carries for 71 yards, finally got their first first down a few minutes into the third quarter. They finished with 106 rushing yards after getting just 11 in the first half.
Despite just one win on the season, Cattaraugus-Little Valley hadn't had a game like this previously. It was coming off its first victory and prior to that had back-to-back losses to Frewsburg and Silver Creek by a combined 12 points.
''They do a lot of good things but we're starting to play well,'' Slater said. ''It doesn't matter. Next week when we play it's a new game. It's 0-0 again. Cattaraugus, they've had some good games and they've played some teams tough so we better come ready to play.''
Cattaraugus-Little Valley 6 0 0 0 6
Randolph 28 20 0 7 55
Ran-Dowiasz 86 kickoff return (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Dowiasz 47 run (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Maycock 2 run (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Hettenbaugh 6 punt block return (kick failed)
CLV-Forster 90 kickoff return (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Dowiasz 30 run (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Doubek 8 run (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Doubek 50 run (Kehoe kick)
Ran-Pitchford 60 run (Kehoe kick)