Friday, September 28, 2007 . . .To paraphrase Buffalo Bills play-by-play man John Murphy, if you weren’t there, you should have been. The Grand Island Vikings stunned an overflow crowd at Spierdowis Field and walked away with a dramatic 33-27 come-from-behind win against previous unbeaten Albion Friday night.
The Vikings win was preserved on a diving, fourth-down tackle by defensive end Chris Podlucky on Albion running back Brandon Brewer with 1:32 remaining in the game. Following a partially blocked Grand Island field goal attempt, the Purple Eagles drove from their own 20-yard line to the Vikings 44. Brewer was stopped cold by the middle of the Grand Island defense on first down before quarterback Justin Ward threw incomplete on second down and had his third down pass broken up by Alex Neutz. Following a Grand Island timeout, the Purple Eagles tried to slip the ball to Brewer on a middle screen pass but Podlucky fought off his blocker to make the play that sent the Grand Island sideline into a frenzy.
The Vikings still needed to run the clock out and were able to do so when Eddie Weiser busted off tackle on third and seven with 1:23 remaining in the ball game.
The first half was a back and forth affair as neither team had much success stopping the other. The Vikings struck first following a 66-yard interception return by Neutz on the game’s second play from scrimmage. Alex Webb pounded off tackle on three successive runs, scoring from four yards out to put the Vikings on the board just over two minutes into the game.
Just under two minutes later, Ward hit speedster Morris Taylor on a flanker screen and he raced 56 yards for the touchdown. The Purple Eagles missed the extra point and Grand Island held a 7-6 advantage.
On the next possession, the Vikings marched 73 yards in four minutes with Webb going in again, this time from 14 yards out. The key play of the drive was a third-and-eleven pass from junior quarterback Joe Oliverio to Neutz that gained 35 yards. Making his first start of the season, Oliverio showed great composure in completing 11 of 19 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
The scoring continued as Colby Ellis brought the Eagles within one on a 51-yard sprint down the sideline with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Purple Eagles took a 20-13 lead three minutes into the second quarter as Ward found tight end Mike Warren in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass. Ellis ran in the two-point conversion.
Grand Island came right back on the next possession to tie the game. Starting from the their own 46 thanks to a 32-yard kickoff return by Neutz, the Vikings again came out pounding off left tackle behind Christian Nestark and left guard Tim Boorady with Webb and Weiser. On fourth-and-one from the Albion 45, Weiser gained five yards up the middle to keep the drive alive. Oliverio completed two passes to Neutz to get the Vikings to the Purple Eagles 15 where Weiser took it in with 4:28 remaining in the half. Greg Feathers’ extra point evened the score at 20-20.
It took the Purple Eagles just over three minutes to recapture the lead as Taylor ran in from 24 yards out on third and eleven. The drive was keyed by a 24-yard pass from Ward to Taylor.
With just 1:27 on the clock, the Vikings again drove the length of the field to even the score as Neutz took a pass from Oliverio and extended himself over the goal line with just nine seconds left in the half. The Vikings had taken a big chunk of yardage on a 42-yard pass from Oliverio to Neutz that got the ball to the Albion 11.
The Vikings started the second half moving the football, mixing the run and pass. The Purple Eagles had no answer for Neutz who hauled in two passes on the half’s opening possession for 35 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown throw from Oliverio that Neutz stretched for to give the Vikings the 33-27 lead five and a half minutes into the third quarter.
Grand Island changed up their defensive strategy in the third quarter, going from their usual four-man front to a 5-3 look, leaving Neutz to cover Taylor with little help. The change paid off as the Vikings limited Albion to one yard of total offense in the third quarter and consecutive three-and-out possessions.
With 1:04 left in the third quarter the Vikings were pinned on their own 13. Once again, the combination of Webb and Weiser got the Vikings out of the hole. On first down, Webb went for 15 yards followed by a seven-yard Weiser run. Weiser opened the fourth quarter with a 15-yard burst to midfield and an eight-yard run into Albion territory. On second and 14, Oliverio once again went up top for Neutz on a 26-yard pass play that took the ball to the Albion 16 where the Vikings stalled out, settling for the field goal attempt that was blocked.
SCORING SUMMARY
Grand Island 13 14 6 0 33
Albion 12 15 0 0 27
GI – Alex Webb 4 run (Greg Feathers kick)
A – Morris Taylor 56 pass from Justin Ward (kick failed)
GI – Alex Webb 14 run (kick failed)
A – Colby Ellis 51 run (run failed)
A – Mike Warren 7 pass from Justin Ward (Colby Ellis run)
GI – Eddie Weiser 15 run (kick failed)
A – Morris Taylor 24 run (Monacelli kick)
GI – Alex Neutz 11 pass from Joe Oliverio (Greg Feathers kick)
GI – Alex Neutz 16 pass from Joe Oliverio (kick failed)
VIKING GAME NOTES: For a regular season contest in this area, the game had a lot of pre-game build-up and it certainly lived up to the hype. There was a sense from the Albion side that the game was little more than a coronation for coach Dick Diminuco in joining Canisius’ Johnny Barnes and Grand Island’s own Gene Masters in the exclusive 200-win club…Dick Gallagher, the respected editor of Western New York High School Sports made the trip out to Orleans County for the game, bypassing some key match-ups in Class AA…Grand Island offensive line coach Mike Stauffer got off the best line of the night when he told Gallagher he wouldn’t be needing his camera that night to take a picture of Diminuco following his 200th career victory…In the midst of the chaos on the Grand Island sideline following Podlucky’s big tackle, someone was overheard asking if there was a freezer big enough in the Village of Albion to keep the oversized cake purchased for the expected celebration from going stale…The performance Neutz put on was an “all-timer” in the storied history of Grand Island football. Nine receptions for 182 yards, a 66-yard interception return, 70 yards worth of returns in the kicking game, and a complete shutdown of the sprinter Taylor in the second half including two passes defended – not bad for a volleyball player… The play of the offensive line can be summed up with more than 400 yards of total offense and 33 points on the scoreboard. The line that had some protection problems against Lew-Port held up well against Albion. Only once was Oliverio flushed from the pocket and forced to take a loss. In addition to Nestark and Boorady on the left side Shawn Vanderbrook moved from right guard to center to replace his brother, Justin, who was injured prior to the Lew-Port game. Ryan Harnden and DJ Perri split t
