NEW YORK MILLS — Jordan Newman started four years at quarterback for Bishop Grimes. He led the Cobras to the 2017 Section III championship in eight-man football’s first season in central New York. Newman, though, graduated in the spring. He would be replaced by a sophomore quarterback who’d never played a varsity football game.

AJ Burnett’s first varsity pass for Bishop Grimes was an interception. He took a shot down field, but his arm was hit and he underthrew his man. But on the next possession, Burnett rolled left and scampered in for a four-yard rushing touchdown. The nerves were gone.

“I was just, all right, let’s do this and get this dub,” Burnett said.

In a rematch of last season’s eight-man Section III championship game, Burnett made sure New York Mills wouldn’t get revenge for the Cobras’ title. Bishop Grimes (1-0) cruised to a 62-8 victory over the Marauders (0-1) on Saturday afternoon. Burnett threw for two scores and added the touchdown with his legs. It was a statement win for the Cobras in a season which they’ll always have a target on their back as defending champs.

“We knew that they lost star players so we, not assumed, but hoped that they wouldn’t do as good as last year so we could beat them,” said Bishop Grimes linebacker Colin Cavanaugh. “It played out just the way we wanted to.”

After Bishop Grimes took an 8-0 lead on the Burnett run and a Tyler Wait two-point conversion, the Cobras defense showed that it wasn’t going to be upstaged by its offense. On a third down, New York Mills handed the ball to fullback Derek Baur up the middle, but multiple Bishop Grimes defenders stood him up before he was dropped to the ground. Cobras’ head coach Jason Wait was fired up on the sideline, stomping back and forth and screaming.

“My dogs are hunting,” he shouted. “Let’s go!”

After a punt put the ball back in Burnett’s hands, he got a chance to do damage through the air. TJ Bradford, listed at 6-foot-3 and the biggest target on the field, split wide right before running a post pattern toward the center of the field. He waved his right hand toward his quarterback, and Burnett saw him break free.

The throw was almost too long, but Bradford’s fingertips held on and he finished the catch-and-run for a 40-yard touchdown, the first varsity touchdown pass for Burnett.

Burnett threw another interception on the ensuing drive. He rolled right but tried to throw back across his body to the left hash. The ball again was underthrown and was picked off by a leaping Dante DiOrio. But Burnett showed his bounceback ability again on the next Cobras’ possession.

Nate Gay lined up tight to the left side of the offensive line on the snap. He ran about 10 yards up the field before cutting to his right. Burnett moved right in the pocket and delivered the ball to Gay near the right sideline. Gay outstretched his right hand to pull the ball in, one-handed, then beat his defender down the sideline to complete a 30-yard touchdown.

“Just put the ball in the air and they’re athletic enough to go and get it,” said Burnett of Bradford and Gay. “Makes my life easy.”

That second quarter touchdown to Gay put Bishop Grimes up 32-0 in the second quarter. The dominance of the Cobras even showed on two-point conversions, as they converted their first seven two-point tries of the game before failing on their last. After the touchdown pass to Gay, Burnett threw one more pass in the game before the Cobras kept the ball on the ground to keep the game moving.

As the second half went on, Bishop Grimes worked players into positions that they aren’t accustomed to playing. Tahjyere Tigner, listed as a defensive end and linebacker, lined up on a play in the backfield late in the fourth quarter. He received the handoff going right and bounced it outside. While it looked like a few New York Mills defenders may have had the angle on Tigner, he just got to the edge and had enough juice to score, getting tackled as he crossed the goal line for a 54-yard touchdown.

Tigner lined up in the backfield for what turned out to be the only two-point conversion that Bishop Grimes didn’t convert, following his score. He had his hands on his knees and appeared to be breathing heavily. One assistant coach jokingly shouted, “You’re out of shape, Tigner.”

At that point, most of the starters had long since finished their days. Burnett and Bradford, among others, sat along the sideline on their bench, pads already off, trying to get the last few drops of water out of the Powerade coolers that threatened to run dry.

After the clock had hit zero and the teams had shaken hands, the Cobras huddled up and tossed handfuls of the ice cubes into the team huddle. Players and coaches laughed and smiled. It felt good to win on opening day, Cavanaugh said. Especially the way that they did after weeks of preparation. But cooling off felt good, too.

Published on September 15, 2018 at 4:51 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3