O'Hara garners title with team play
By KEITH McSHEA
News Sports Reporter
11/7/2005

Reggie Garner scored all three touchdowns for the Cardinal O'Hara football team as the Hawks won their first Monsignor Martin Association League A playoff championship. But his most important role Sunday afternoon may have been that of decoy. --football gambling--

While St. Mary's players kept their eye on O'Hara's sophomore standout, a host of Hawks helped move the Town of Tonawanda school to its first title since 1985. O'Hara completed its dethroning of St. Mary's as the Catholic league's small school champion with a 20-6 victory before about 800 at Ralph Wilson Stadium. --football gambling--

Garner, a quick 5-foot-8, 170-pound back, scored three touchdowns in the second half, but those short runs finished off drives that featured a host of Hawks. While Garner finished with 55 yards on 22 carries, senior Justin Vogt ran eight times for 43 yards, senior Enrico Wilkins ran six times for 49 yards and sophomore Jackie Feggans had 10 carries for 40 yards. --football gambling--

"We just told the kids that if we're going to do this, we're going to do it together, that we just needed to stick together as a team," coach Angelo Sciandra said. "They were keying on Reggie. We just started to get Jackie and our fullbacks going and kind of use Reggie as a decoy and it worked well for us." --football gambling--

O'Hara ended its season at 9-1 and won its sixth Monsignor Martin League A championship. The Hawks also won titles in 1963, 1964, 1980, 1984 (shared with St. Mary's) and 1985. St. Mary's (7-3) had been the only team to win the League A playoff championship in the event's three-year existence. O'Hara beat St. Mary's, 3-0, to claim the regular-season championship, ending the Lancers' 24-game league winning streak. --football gambling--

"It's just a feeling you can't explain," said senior lineman Dave Meadows, who had five tackles, forced a fumble and made all three of his sacks in the fourth quarter. "Coach said that it's going to be all team. We just came out as a team. And we played like a team and we won as a team."
Feggans also added eight tackles and a sack while freshman Shaquille Dudley had six solo tackles. --football gambling--

St. Mary's had taken a 6-0 halftime lead behind a 5-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Nate Casillo and great two-way play by junior linebacker Brad Gibson. --football gambling--

O'Hara went ahead on the first drive of the second half. Wilkins, Vogt and Feggans all had carries, most of them going up the middle as St. Mary's kept an eye on Garner on the outside. Freshman quarterback Angelo Sciandra, son of the Hawks' coach, gained a big first down on third-and-3 by taking a keeper to the right side 6 yards to the St. Mary's 3. On the next play, Garner burrowed over right tackle for the touchdown. --football gambling--

Meadows, Vogt and Feggans all had great defensive hits as St. Mary's went three-and-out on its next two possessions. Garner starred on the Hawks' next drive, earning two first-down runs before an easy 1-yard score on third-and-goal - thanks to a nice offensive line push - and the Hawks led, 14-6, with 10:17 left. --football gambling--

Meadows made two great stops on St. Mary's next drive, including a stuff of Casillo on fourth-and-1 at the St. Mary's 30. Garner's third TD was a 2-yarder with 2:50 to play.e-mail: kmcshea@buffnews.comAdditional photo on Page D9 and on Picture Page on C12.--football gambling--

Bledsoe Quiets Critics At Halfway Points

Bob Phillips
Dallascowboys.com Staff Writer
October 31, 2005 6:21 PM

IRVING, Texas - Drew Bledsoe heard the doubters when he left Buffalo last winter. He heard them when he reunited with Bill Parcells in Dallas this past March. -NFL Football-

And despite his fast start to the season, Bledsoe's critics resurfaced during the Cowboys' 13-10 loss to Seattle on Oct. 23, when his interception late in the fourth quarter set up Josh Brown's game-winning field goal as time expired. -NFL Football-

But the 33-year-old Bledsoe responded with another impressive performance Sunday against Arizona, leading the Cowboys to a decisive 34-13 victory and a 5-3 record at the season's halfway point. -NFL Football-

Bledsoe (2,019 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, 6 interceptions) leads the NFC with a 97.4 quarterback rating and is on pace to break the Cowboys' single-season record for most passing yards (3,980) set by Danny White in 1983. The Cowboys went 12-4 that year and lost to the L.A. Rams in the wild-card playoff round, 24-17. -NFL Football-

Not much for the doubters to doubt after eight games. -NFL Football-

"None of the doubters were wearing No. 11," Bledsoe said. "I've always believed in my ability to play this position and with the way that this team is playing, I expect to continue it at a fairly consistent level. And honestly, in a lot of instances from the first half of the season, I expect to play better down the stretch." -NFL Football-

Parcells said he was never concerned about Bledsoe's physical ability before the season, but he didn't know exactly where his heart was after 12 NFL seasons. That changed in the Cowboys' preseason game against the Seahawks. -NFL Football-

"We went along for a few series and didn't move the ball too well, as I remember," Parcells said. "I remember him coming out there and saying to me, 'OK, we got to get this going here now.' And he wasn't just talking about it, he was determined about it. And then we drove down for a touchdown, and I kind of saw a little something there that I liked." -NFL Football-

Aside from his "glaring blemish" two weeks ago in Seattle and a few botched snaps along the way, Bledsoe has given the Cowboys a solid return on their three-year, $14 million investment. -NFL Football-

"I always have extremely high expectations for myself," Bledsoe said. "Right now with the way that guys are playing around me in terms of protection and guys getting open for me, I really feel like what I'm doing is simply executing my job. The more consistent I can be in executing my part of the puzzle, the better we're going to be." -NFL Football-