F-E Titans Fall Short
F-E Titans Fall Short
Randolph Cardinals Win Class D Football Title, 30-14
Titans quarterback Gian Nuzzo scampers across mid-field during the opening drive of the Class D Championship game last week at Highmark Stadium. The Randolph Cardinals defeated Franklinville-Ellicottville, 30-14
The Franklinville-Ellicottville Titans’ 2022 season came to an end Thursday afternoon (Nov. 10) with a 30-14 loss to the Randolph Cardinals in the Section VI Class D championship football game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
The Titans, who finish the season with an 8-3 record, caught everyone by surprise on the first offensive possession of the game, when they took the opening kickoff, drove the length of the field and put the first points on the board with a 26-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Gian Nuzzo to junior running back Hunter Smith.
“It was surreal,” Smith explained of the moment he crossed the goal line to put his team in the lead. “With the noise of (the crowd) yelling and cheering and then looking up to see 200 fans jumping up out of their seats - it’s a feeling I’ll never forget,” he added.
Unfortunately for Titans Nation, however, the rose-colored glow and early happiness quickly faded, as the undefeated Cardinals (11-0) revved up a relentless and punishing ground attack. Senior running back Xander Hind scored the first of his four rushing touchdowns of the day on the very next drive and added two more scores in the second quarter to give the Cardinals a 22-8 halftime lead. Hind finished the day with 195 rushing yards on 37 carries and added three, two-point conversions to his total point tally.
In the opening drive of the second half, the Cardinals took the kickoff and held the ball for the entire third quarter and into the fourth quarter before finally scoring to give Randolph a 30-8 lead.
The Titans were able to cut into that Cardinal lead a little bit when Nuzzo connected for his second touchdown pass of the day to sophomore running back Billy Slavinski on a 4-yard toss mid-way through the fourth quarter - making the score 30-14… but by then, the Franklinville-Ellicottville squad was simply out of time to mount any kind of serious comeback.
“It’s tough we couldn’t get the win, Nuzzo reflected after the championship game. “But I have no regrets - we all played our hearts out.”
Senior linebacker Brad John was one Titan who rose to the occasion of the biggest game of the year and definitely played his heart out. Refusing to leave the field late in the fourth quarter, John was seen hopping to the line of scrimmage on one foot to continue play. He finished the game with 6.5 tackles and for his efforts, he was awarded the Cross Training Athletics Character Award.
On the season, the Titans offense flowed through the senior signal caller, Nuzzo, who completed 35 of 75 pass attempts for 592 yards and eight touchdowns. Nuzzo also led the team in rushing, with 925 yards on 155 carries. He scored 13 rushing touchdowns and also chipped in with a receiving touchdown on one of only two pass receptions this season.
Although most offensive linemen can go their entire careers without being mentioned once in offensive highlights, it is the case that a great deal of the Titans’ offensive success came behind the blocking of senior offensive linemen Tyler Gibas and Koda Curtis.
When Nuzzo did put the ball in the air, junior running back Beau Bielecki proved to be his primary target, as Bielecki led all Titans receivers with 344 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Though the stats were not available for Bielecki’s two-point conversion attempts, the speedy receiver was seemingly unstoppable whenever head coach Jason Marsh called his number after a Titans touchdown. In the Titans’ 49-3 blowout of visiting Portville in the Class D semi-final game, Bielecki returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns, including a tone-setting pick-six on Portville’s first possession of the game.
While many players at this level of high school football play a starting role on both sides of the ball, few made more of an impact than Hunter Smith did in 2022. Smith carried the ball 87 times for 583 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns and also pulled in six Nuzzo passes for 100 more yards and two receiving touchdowns. As a kick returner, Smith led the team in yardage gained, with 333 yards on 17 return attempts, and defensively, he finished the season with 57 tackles, second only to senior linebacker Ben Brol, whose 63 tackles were the most by any Titan this year.
Another true two-way monster, Brol (who is the team’s center on offense) chipped in with a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery on the season and in the championship game, his 9.5 tackles were more than any other player had - regardless of which team they were on.
Remaining on the defensive side of the ball, defensive back Noah Shenk was like a wet blanket draped over the shoulders of the opposing team’s receivers this season, as he led the Titans in interceptions this season with eight - three of which were returned for touchdowns in three consecutive games!
Shenk chipped in with 23 tackles and 18 passes defended on the season. He racked up 198 return yards after his interceptions, including a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown. In fact, there were games this year when the junior had more receiving yards courtesy of the opposing team’s quarterback than the opposing team’s receivers did! Offensively, Shenk was the second-leading receiver on the team with nine catches for 241 yards and four touchdowns.
Titans fans who liked a good pass rush in 2022 knew to keep an eye on defensive end Billy Slavinski’s fierce attack. The sophomore standout led the team in quarterback take-downs, with six sacks for negative 48 yards. Slavinski made 36 tackles on the year - nine of which were for a loss - and he also added three fumble recoveries.
Other standouts on the Titans defensive squad include defensive ends Owen Chudy and Hayden Trietley. Chudy’s 55 tackles ranked him third on the Titans this season, while Trietley’s 45 ranked him the fourth-leading tackler. Chudy recovered three fumbles and registered three quarterback sacks. He also tallied a total of eight tackles for a loss.
The Titans will graduate eight starters from the squad this year, with plenty of key positions (including starting QB) up for grabs in 2023.
“We got a lot of young players’ toes wet this year and we really focused on playing for each other and the name on the front of our jerseys,” Smith said with an eye to the future. “I’m really excited to see what next year brings us.”
See you in September, Titans fans.