The Groton football team entered this fall with plenty of optimism. Not only did they return most of their key players, they also enjoyed a successful summer in seven-on-seven tournaments. Through the first few weeks of this season, they’ve undoubtedly backed up that confidence.
The Red Hawks came out with all guns blazing, starting the campaign with a 66-6 obliteration of Sidney. For comparison, they only beat the Sabers by two points when they met last year. Then came another demolition job, a 72-12 rout of Greene/Oxford. Then another blowout, 56-10 over Whitney Point. Then they beat Newark Valley by “only” 29 points with a 46-15 road victory.
All in all, the Red Hawks outscored their first four opponents by a combined score of 240-43. The plus-197 point differential and the 60 points per game they averaged were both the most throughout all of Section IV. While they’ve since suffered their first setback of the season against Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour with a 36-8 defeat, it’s still been an incredible start to their second year back in 11-man football.
“It’s been awesome to watch as a coach on the sideline, but it’s extremely powerful to see the guys and their chemistry within each other,” said head coach Nick Dyson. “There’s no bickering. There’s no anything. We have a job. We have to get to work and we get to have a payday when it’s game time. They’re seeing Fridays and Saturday nights as their payday from all the work that they put in, whether it be over the summer or throughout the week.”
The Red Hawks’ high-flying offense has been the driving force of their hot start. They’re putting up tons of points with a different-looking scheme than in years’ past. Instead of the traditionally run-focused approach under Dyson, it’s been more of an air raid with a spread offense.
It helps when the Red Hawks have a talented junior under center in Kameron McClain. The confidence he built up throughout the offseason has clearly paid off, already recording over 1,400 passing yards with 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
“We were a power running team, whether we were 8-man or just coming into 11-man,” Dyson said. “We ran a lot of fullback sets and tight end sets. If you watch one of our ball games, you won’t find that on our field in our offensive concepts. It was a lot of me reflecting as a coach and being comfortable with the skill players and the weapons that we have out there.”
One of those weapons at McClain’s disposal is Lane Darling. While the senior has taken a step back in terms of rushing production given the different style of play, he has maintained his status as a dual threat with over 300 receiving yards and five touchdowns and another 300-plus yards on the ground and six scores.
Like his head coach, Darling believes that cultivating a strong bond has led them to so much success already and could lead them to even more prosperity down the line.
“We gotta become family rather than just teammates out there,” Darling said. “It’s unstoppable if you’re family and you just want it. We all want the same things. We all want to go the farthest we can. Everybody does their job.”
One player who has benefitted from the Red Hawks’ new-look system is Jerome Turner. The senior has emerged as McClain’s go-to target with over 500 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Add in an interception return touchdown against Newark Valley and two punt return touchdowns against Sidney, Turner has developed into the Red Hawk’s Swiss Army knife.
“As a runner, Jerome sees the open field, and he sees the space very well, attacks it and tries to manipulate our opponents’ bodies to move their hips one way and then go across them in the other,” Dyson said. “He moves very well.”
As for the other Red Hawks’ starters, senior Nick Sill and juniors Colin Brockway and Maddux Dyson have been solid weapons, while their five linemen—seniors Colson Slade, Marley Antrum, and Max Bishop as well as junior Jency Paw and Nick Hildreth—have provided reliable protection.
As the second half of the regular season rages on, the Red Hawks know there’s plenty of work still to be done if they want to be competing for a Section IV title come November.
“There are some scores on the scoreboard because of space, whether we made an independent move to not do our assignment or to try and help someone in their assignment,” Dyson said. “We spent a lot of time in the film room, and our boys can see that firsthand and say, ‘You know what? Coach is right. Space killed us.’ Space kills us on defense. If we go every blade of grass from sideline to sideline, from the line of scrimmage to the back of the end zone, we’re going to be dangerous on the offensive side as well.”
