Just as they've done all season, the Alexander Trojans dominated an opponent and came away with a victory, this time for the Class D sectional title.
The Trojans beat York/Pavilion 36-0 in Alfred on Saturday night.
Three backs for Alexander gained at least 100 yards. Fullback Hayden Walton had eight carries for 100 yards. Chris McClinic gained 106 yards on 12 rushes. And Terrez Smith, the game's MVP, ran seven times for 116 yards.
"(Winning the MVP in sectionals) means everything but I'm not the most valuable player," Smith said. "The team helped me a lot to get this trophy. I wouldn't have it without this team. It was a team effort."
It was nearly nine minutes into the first quarter before Alexander scored for the first time, on a 56-yard run by Smith.
By half-time, York/Pavilion's fate seemed sealed with the Trojans up 29-0 after a 29 yard run by Smith, a McClinic eight-yard run, and an 18-yard pass from Dylan Busch to McClinic.
Busch completed six passes against one interception, on a tipped pass, on the night.
McClinic, Smith, Walton, Busch, Ty Wood, the Trojans are a team with exceptional talent at skill positions. It's something special, McClinic said, to be surrounded by such great teammates.
"You know you don't have to do it all yourself," McClinic said. "You know you have some skill guys around. That's wonderful."
Sawyer agrees it's special but the whole team is special.
"When 11 guys do their job then the team really benefits from that," Tim Sawyer, head coach, said. That's been our formula and guys know what they need to do and that they're accountable to each other. You add to that, they care about each other and makes for a winning combination for sure."
On defense, Jake Jasen had another big game with 15 tackles, Woods 11, Walton 9, plus a fumble recovery, and Nate Luker had eight tackles.
The Trojans won their first sectional title in program history two years ago and that seemed like an incredible team but Alexander hit a brick wall -- like a lot of Section V teams do -- when it came time to play Section VI for the regional championship.
That year Maple Grove came out strong and fast and left Alexander not much of an answer on its way to a 28-0 win.
Coach Sawyer's hopeful this year's Trojan team can succeed where other Section V teams have failed when Alexander takes on Clymer in Clarence next week.
Clymer is 10-0 and ranked #1 in the state so Alexander is meeting a tough opponent again as it tries to advance to the state tournament.
"(Maple Grove) was just a little bit better than we were in the trenches and they dictated the play a little bit more," Sawyer said. "think we throw the ball better now than we did then because of pre-snap reads perhaps. Our defense has come a long way. Our defense is just outstanding.
"Coach McCracken is very thorough. The kids understand the system. Anytime you have a defense like we have it gives you a chance every week, so yeah, we're looking forward to the matchup for sure."
Top Photo: Head Coach Tim Sawyer embraces Terrez Smith as time expires in Alexander's Class D championship win.
Dylan Busch trots into the end zone of Alexander's final TD of the night. Busch snatched the ball out of the air after York's QB was hit from behind as he attempted a pass (next picture).
Chris McClinic
Terrez Smith headed for the end zone.
Chris McClinic
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Hundreds of Alexander fans greeted the Trojans when the team bus arrived back at the school at 11:30 last night. The bus received a fire department escort through the village. (Photo submitted by Andrew Young.)
