OFA ground game, miscues end Peru's unbeaten season

POTSDAM | Peru saw its unbeaten season end Friday, Nov. 14, as Ogdensburg Free Academy used a dominant ground attack — powered not by its star, but by its second option — to hand the Nighthawks a 38-13 loss in a NYSPHSAA Class B football sub-regional at Potsdam High School. Ogdensburg (10-0) entered with Section X standout Lucca LaBella headlining its offense, but it was running back Astryn Grenier who took over the game, rushing for 219 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. His 35-yard score in the second quarter, followed by an interception return that set up a LaBella touchdown three plays later, pushed the Blue Devils to a 16-7 halftime lead they never relinquished. "When they get the lead, they're big up front, and they can play the pound-and-ground game that they want to play," Peru head coach Ryon O'Connell said. "Advantage to OFA." Peru (9-1) nearly answered before halftime, driving 65 yards in six plays, but a fumble at the 1-yard line with 2:26 left erased the chance to keep it a one-score game. Ogdensburg then delivered a dagger on the second play of the third quarter — a 59-yard touchdown pass from Trenton Power to Urijah Austin to make it 22-7. Grenier added touchdown runs of 37 and 40 yards in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Peru's hopes took an early hit when leading rusher Brody Blaise-Smith suffered a game-ending injury on the sixth play. "I've preached to the team all year that we're a team," O'Connell said. "Losing Brody hurt, for sure, but we'll never make an excuse for that. We have a lot of kids that can do a lot of different things, and it is the next man up." Wyatt Bridges filled in with 13 carries for 77 yards while playing through injury. "Wyatt played injured tonight, and I've got to give Wyatt a lot of credit," O'Connell said. "He battled through it and said, 'I will play,' and you've got to give Wyatt credit because he wasn't going to play." Peru's touchdowns came on passes from Jake Frechette to Trent Taylor — an 11-yard strike in the second quarter and a 42-yard connection in the fourth. Frechette went 22-for-32 for 235 yards in his final game. He finished the season with 1,646 yards and 18 touchdowns. "Jake had a great career at Peru," O'Connell said. "He's a really good quarterback. The senior receiving corps came into the year (and) knew what they were supposed to do. That's why it was so easy to create new plays. They've been around, and the seniors did everything we asked of them." LaBella, expected to be the focal point for OFA, was held to just 19 yards on seven carries. "If you said we held him to 19 yards, I'd be ecstatic," O'Connell said. "I was happy with our kids. I told our kids in the locker room, 'Just battle tonight. It's going to be a dogfight up front.' And I thought our kids battled the whole game. I'm proud of the senior leadership that we had all year, and they did everything we asked them, and tonight wasn't our night." O'Connell credited Ogdensburg's overall strength in closing out the game. "Hey, they're a great football team, and you're not going to take anything away from that," he said. "They flat-out beat us, and that's part of the game. They're going to represent the North Country very well, and I'm sure they're going to give Glens Falls or Averill Park all they can handle." — Ogdensburg Free Academy 38, Peru 13 Peru 0 7 0 6 — 13 Ogdensburg 0 16 6 16 — 38 Second quarter P- Taylor 11 pass from Frechette (Garrow kick), 9:23. O- Grenier 35 run (Power run), 8:23. O- LaBella 1 run (Grenier run), 5:15. Third quarter O- Austin 59 pass from Power (run failed), 11:05. Fourth quarter O- Grenier 37 run (#13 pass from Power), 10:44. P- Taylor 42 pass from Frechette (pass failed), 7:52. O- Grenier 40 run (Grenier run), 6:13. Individual statistics Rushing P- Blaise-Smith 3-18; Frechette 8-(-18); Wilkins 1-(-1); C. Starke 1-6; Bridges 13-77; Porter 1-4; Carpenter 1-(-2). Totals: 28-84. O- LaBella 7-19, TD; Grenier 17-219, 3TD; Power 2-(-6); Austin 5-49; #10 1-1; Team 2-(-1). Totals: 34-281, 4TD. Passing P- Frechette 22-32-1-235, 2TD. O- Power 4-6-0-113, TD. Receiving P- Carpenter 8-54; C. Starke 1-(-2); Taylor 7-119, 2TD; M. Starke 4-18; Hendrix 2-42; Bridges 0-4. O- #13 1-16; Grenier 1-8; LaBella 1-30; Austin 1-59, TD. Interceptions O- Grenier.

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OFA ground game, miscues end Peru's unbeaten season

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