Hornell beats Bath in homecoming loss
BY BOB BENZ THE LEADER

ERIC WENSEL THE LEADER Bath's Andre McCloud reverses field for a 13-yard gain against Hornell in last Saturday's game, in which Hornell's Red Raiders defeated the Rams 28-14.

BATH - Despite the fact his team suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday, Bath Haverling football coach Wayne Carroll was generally upbeat following the Rams' 28-14 loss to Hornell in front of a standing-room only crowd at Haverling High.

Then Carroll winced as he learned of the extent to which Hornell running back David Zapata carved through Bath's normally-stifling defense. Thanks in part to some cavernous holes cleared by Hornell's offensive line, Zapata torched the Rams for 190 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 32 carries.

"Really?," Carroll asked after being informed of Zapata's hefty rushing total.

"That makes me feel worse. I thought we were doing better against him. Oh, my God. I thought we were doing better than that."

"It was rough. We all hung in there and came out with a victory," Zapata said. "The biggest difference? Our line handled their line pretty well. I was pleased by that."

Hornell (6-0, 4-0) clinched the Livingston County, Division I title with the win and gained the inside track on the top seed for the Section V, Class B playoffs, which begin in two weeks.

Bath (5-1, 3-1) is still playoff bound, despite the loss.

"We'll drop to (No.) 3 or 4 and we've got to go to Letchworth next week and then we'll get a first-round game, so we're right in the mix of it," Carroll said. "Everyone wants to be undefeated, but there can only be one undefeated really."

Although the Rams have come a long way since last year's two-win campaign, Bath had difficulty slowing a potent Hornell offense that had been averaging roughly 42 points per game heading into Saturday. The Red Raiders amassed 381 yards on a Bath defense that has shut out three of its opponents this season.

And while the Red Raiders were held to a season-low 28 points, they controlled the clock by successfully mixing it up on offense.

The Rams had their moments stuffing Zapata as they held the junior tailback to zero or negative yards on seven of his 32 carries. But a 64-yard scamper on the game's second play from scrimmage set the tone.

The Red Raiders capped their opening five-play, 70- yard march when quarterback John Damrath found a wide-open Matt Hooker for a five-yard touchdown pass, converting on third-andgoal. When Zapata wasn't finding daylight, Damrath spread the ball out in the passing game, connecting with six different receivers on his first six completions of the game.

Damrath provided a steady hand at quarterback for Hornell, completing 10 of-17

passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.

"I think they devoted a lot of their resources to stopping David (Zapata) and we can throw the ball," Hornell head coach Gene Mastin said. "Later on in the game we didn't throw as much as we would've liked to, but we were up by two touchdowns."

After showing signs of life offensively with two touchdowns in the second quarter, Bath was limited to just five first downs and 61 yards of total offense in the second half.

"Their defense came to play," Bath running back Andre McCloud said. "Our offense just couldn't get it done."

McCloud, Bath's leading rusher and sparkplug on offense, was held to only 31 yards on 12 carries. With Hornell keying in on McCloud in the first half, the Rams got a huge effort from fullback Brett Havens, who finished with 110 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

However, Havens was held to only 22 yards in the second half.

"Actually we didn't make an adjustment (defensively)," Mastin said. "We weren't tackling well and it's been a couple weeks in a row. What we were trying to do was take away McCloud and the quarterback. They had to go to the fullback and they did pretty well with that. But for them to win, they have to have their big-play game. We don't like the bending philosophy, but we went through some bending today."

While McCloud was generally held in check, he did have a couple of highlight film-worthy gems.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, McCloud started left on a run, reversed field - backtracking some 20 to 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage in the process - and headed up the right sidelines for a zany 14-yard pickup.

Trailing 21-14 to start the second half, Bath drove to the Hornell 34, but turned the ball over on a fumble. It turned out to be Bath's deepest drive penetration of the second half.