Ithaca/Weston won for the first time as a co-op football team

Ithaca/Weston won for the first time as a co-op football team with a 14-0 defeat of Riverdale on Friday night. It was a hard-hitting game throughout. I/W controlled the time of possession through the contest. They took the opening kickoff and chewed up 7:19 of the first quarter before they turned the ball over on downs inside the Riverdale 20-yard line. Chieftain quarterback Bevyn Dennis ran 74 yards to the endzone only to have it called back because of a penalty. Both defenses had moments. Ithaca/Weston’s Caden Keller had two interceptions in the game and Riverdale’s Myles Dailey picked off a pass.  

It appeared that the game would be scoreless at the half, however, on the last play of the first half, I/W sophomore quarterback Jacob Keller ran 11 yards to the end zone. The extra point kick missed and it was 6-0 at halftime. The Chieftains drove to the I/W 3 yard line before turning it over on downs. Ithaca/Weston than mounted another long time consuming drive that was capped with 5:51 remaining when Jacob Keller scored his second touchdown and then later threw to Spencer Nelson for the two point conversion. Riverdale had two more possessions but failed to connect on a couple of long passes. Among the Chieftain leaders was Senior linebacker Owen Blankenship who led the defense. Ithaca/Weston was led by its offensive line on the night and running back Landyn Walmer who had several clutch carries.

Following the Ithaca/Weston 14-0 win, they will play at Weston high school against Wauzeka-Steuben-Seneca during the 2nd week of the season. Riverdale will play at Hillsboro on the second week of the season.