Gouverneur's 'D' too strong for Peru

GOUVERNEUR — Gouverneur Central School made football history at the St. Lawrence County and Gouverneur Fairgrounds on Saturday. The Wildcats blanked Section 7's Peru 9-0 in the North Country Section 7-10 Football Conference Class B opener for both schools and posted the program's first win over the Indians in school history.

"A win is a win. It wasn't pretty but we'll take it," Wildcats coach Sean Devlin said. "Obviously, we saw a lot of things we need to work on this week in practice ... mainly staying focused and being sharper in our formations and positioning. We just had too many penalties today."

The Wildcats were called for more than 70 yards in penalties and had two big runs called back on holds.

"Offensively, we had some confusion in the first half. We have several early preseason injuries to our line and we've moved people around to accommodate. We just have to limit our mistakes next week against Beekmantown because they'll make you pay for all them," Devlin said.

Peru took its best field position of the game recovering a fumble inside the 5-yard line on the Wildcats' first possession of the second half. Peru was quickly called for a penalty and almost lost a fumble forced by Shawn Hendrix. The Indians settled for a 27-yard field-goal attempt that failed.

Later in the third quarter, Jared Knowlton covered up a bad snap at the Peru 33 for Gouverneur. Zach Cummings used a 16-yard run to get inside the 10, but the Wildcats turned the ball over on down later just inside the 3.

The Wildcats' defense used a powerful push from the outside to record a safety on the quarterback in the end zone for a 2-0 lead with 1:07 left in the third.

The Cats then stopped Peru on downs at the 34-yard line. After Kevin Fuller gained 15 yards, Levi Love broke counter play and scampered 15 yards to paydirt with 1:49 to play in the game for a 8-0 lead. After Lucas Bulsiewicz's extra-point kick, the Wildcats used an onsides kick and Cummings recovered the ball.

"Defensively, I felt we played a great as a team. Zach (Cummings), Brendan Ward and Donald Whitford just did a terrific job leading the defense," said Devlin, whose team held Peru to less than 50 yards of total offense.

Cummings had seven tackles and carries the ball 21 times for 81 yards. Love had 30 yards on four attempts.

BEAVER RIVER 47, ALEXANDRIA 0

Evan Lyndaker tallied three touchdowns on nine carries for 158 yards to lead the Beavers past the Purple Ghosts (0-1) in a nonleague contest at Beaver Falls.

Evan Buckingham scored via a 42-yard punt return and a 24-yard reception to help Beaver River (1-0). He also recorded an interception for the Beavers.

PULASKI 26, THOUSAND ISLANDS 6

Casey Bright racked up 218 yards on 20 carries, including touchdown runs of 29 and 77 yards as the Blue Devils beat the Vikings in the Section 3 "C North" divisional matchup at Pulaski.

Reggie Fiumino and Mike Vondell each had a touchdown run for Pulaski (1-0).

Evan Bach ran for 86 yards, threw for 53 and tossed a 1-yard touchdown to Ben Henry.

CANTON 43, SETON CATHOLIC 6

Jesse Miller rushed for 175 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Golden Bears to a rout of Seton Catholic in the Northern Football Conference opener for each team in Canton.

Victory Sanders, Jay Proulx and Ryan Denny also scored touchdowns for Canton.