Smith, Diesel Run To Playoff Win By Sam Wilson, Salamanca Press SALAMANCA — With a seven-yard double-overtime touchdown run from Zach Smith, the Southern Tier Diesel captured its first playoff victory, 14-8 over the Ithaca Warriors, since moving to Olean. “I just can’t be more proud of this team,” coach and owner J.R. Bennion said. “These guys worked their butts off. We’ve had some down games, we’ve come back from pretty nasty injuries and the fact that our special teams after the Week 5 game were wiped basically out, but we came back from that.” The semi-pro squad improves to 8-3 and advances to the Northeastern Football Alliance AA championship, hosting the Finger Lakes Impact at Bradner Stadium Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. “That’s a great thing to not only make our first championship game, but to host it,” Bennion said. Smith’s touchdown was his second of the day after a 5-yard-run in the third quarter. The playoff win avenges a pair of regular-season losses to Ithaca. “The guys came together as a team,” Bennion said. “We had some drives that weren’t successful, but we were driving the ball. We had some turnovers, but the defense played great.” Ithaca’s lone touchdown in the game came in the second quarter on a fake field goal. “The defense really shut down that run that we had trouble with in the first two games with them,” Bennion said. “We were able to force them into a passing game, which we were then able to defend.” Lasting nine minutes into the second overtime, Bennion said the game was the longest in Diesel team history. The game was played at Veteran’s Park in Salamanca, the site of two Diesel games in previous years, due to a scheduling conflict at Bradner Stadium with the Rally in the Valley. “It was nice playing down there,” Bennion said. “We played a couple other games down there, but it was nice. That game was one of those games that people will remember for a long time. There were guys getting non-serious injuries, but you could tell everybody was laying it all out there.” Making the championship represents a culmination of the Diesel’s revitalization, but Bennion indicated the team won’t be satisfied just by getting there. “We spent years building and having very unsuccessful seasons where we were competitive in games up until halftime of games, but then injuries and lack of depth took over,” he said. “Now we have that and we have some guys in key positions. It’s great. It’s everything that we wanted. “We’re looking to build from this momentum. The guys got that taste, so we’re confident we can get this last victory.”
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 18:39:32 +0000
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