Gowanda Small Town Times

[photo] Gowanda’s Quentin Centner (#5) pulls down a touchdown pass against Cattaraugus-Little Valley late in the 1st quarter.

The Gowanda/Pine Valley Panthers Varsity football team hosted the Cattaraugus-Little Valley Timberwolves on Thursday, September 7. The game was played at Pine Valley as it is traditional for the team to play one home game there early in the season. The Panthers scored early and often against a vulnerable Cattaraugus defense while preventing the Timberwolves from posting a single 1st down through the first half of play.

Cattaraugus won the opening coin toss and opted to kickoff to start the game. Gowanda’s 1st possession started at their own 30. A pass to Jon Sheldon advanced the ball to midfield on the first play. A series of passing miscues brought the Panthers to 4th and 10 on the 50. Gowanda elected to go for it on 4th down and connected for a 50-yard touchdown down the left sideline. A good 2-point conversion pass gave Gowanda an 8-0 lead. Cattaraugus saw their first drive start at their 35. After a 1-yard gain on a run, they were set back to the 31 on a false start. That series ended on the next play as Pine Valley’s Connor Elliott intercepted a Timberwolf pass giving the Panthers the ball on the 18. Gowanda quarterback, Carter Capozzi connected with Quentin Centner on the next play for a touchdown. Another 2-point conversion and the score was 8-0. Cattaraugus went 4-and-out losing five yards over three plays. The next Gowanda drive stalled on 3rd-and-17 as a pass flew just off Centner’s fingertips. That resulted in Gowanda’s only punt of the game. The Panther defense continued to create problems for Cattaraugus. After starting with the ball just inside the 50, back to back sacks pushed the Timberwolves back to their own 33. An incomplete pass, that was nearly picked off by Centner, had Cattaraugus at 4th-and-18 and punting again. There was still 2:53 left in the 1st quarter with Gowanda back with the ball. The Panthers scored in five plays ending with a 13-yard Cameron Slade run that was followed by a 21-yard touchdown catch by Centner. The scoreboard now showed 22-0 The following kickoff took a big roll all the way to the Cattaraugus 10. The Timberwolves were punting again by the second play of the 2nd quarter after gaining just six yards.

The 2nd quarter was much the same with the exception that the Panthers were now kicking their extra points. A Cameron Slade 22-yard touchdown reception breaking tackles. A Jon Sheldon interception followed immediately by a 25-yard Sheldon touchdown reception. Another Cattaraugus 4-and out. A 48-yard Winter Mentley-Peters touchdown reception. A failed Cattaraugus fake punt and run on 3rd-and-11. Another 3-play Panther drive capped with a Kaleb Smith touchdown run. Halftime arrives on what would have been 4th-and 1 for Cattaraugus.

With the game all but over at 49-0 at halftime. The clock continued to run without interruption through the 2nd half. Cattaraugus started with the ball in the second half and earned their first 1st down of the game on a run to the 50. Cameron Slade added a 3rd quarter Gowanda touchdown. A Cattaraugus fumble near midfield on 2nd down was recovered for Gowanda by Aiden Ackley on the first play of the final quarter. A 25-yard Nolan Maude touchdown run breaking loose through the Timberwolf defense. That took the score to 63-0 with 4:49 left. The game ended just as Cattaraugus earned their 2nd first down on an 8-yard run.

Gowanda quarterback, Carter Capozzi, completed 12 of 18 passes for 255 yards and 6 touchdowns.

In other sports news, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team was at Silver Creek. It was Silver Creek’s Dean League scoring the first goal in the game at 6:44. The score was tied at 1 27 seconds later as Jack Sheldon scored for Pine Valley with an assist credited to Jarrett Meyers. Silver Creek added three more 1st quarter goals grabbing a 4-1 lead. It was 7-1 by halftime. Silver Creek was up 9-1 after three quarters. A scoreless final quarter left Pine Valley with their second loss on the season.