The Odessa File: Sports of Schuyler County

Warriors All-Stars, from left: Josh Cole, Roy Webb, Carl Willet, Ed Winfield, Byron Hall Sr., Brett Chedzoy and DJ Mullin. Not pictured: Izell Jones.

ODESSA, Oct. 28 -- Eight members of the Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team were recently named to the North American Football League's All-Star roster.

First-team selections were Roy Webb at linebacker, DJ Mullin at defensive tackle, and Brett Chedzoy at defensive end.

Second-team honorees were Josh Cole and Carl Willet from the offensive line, Byron Hall Sr. and Izell Jones at linebacker, and Ed Winfield at kick return.

The season ended Saturday night, Oct. 17 for the Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team when it sustained a 28-14 loss to the unbeaten Glens Falls Green Jackets in Glens Falls.

The game was a second-round playoff contest to determine the champion of the North American Football League's North Atlantic Region. Glens Falls advanced to the Eastern Conference title game Oct. 24 against the Central Penn Piranha, with the winner earning a spot in the NAFL championship game Nov. 14 in Miami, Florida.

ODESSA, Oct. 12 -- The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team advanced to the North American Football League Empire Division final Saturday night with a 14-8 victory over the Western New York Cougars in a playoff game on Odessa-Montour's Charles Martin Field.

Quarterback Danny Giannone scored twice on 1-yard runs and connected with Mike Gillie on a 2-point conversion pass to account for the Warriors' points. The team, now 7-4, will play the Glens Falls Green Jackets Saturday, Oct. 17, in the division title game at Glens Falls.

The Warriors' winning score came with just 5:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, breaking an 8-8 tie.

Glens Falls advanced the same night with a 16-0 victory over the Tri-County Tigers. The Green Jackets are unbeaten.

Photo in text: The Cougars' Alton Jones Newt, left, tries in vain for an interception on a Warriors pass into the end zone. The ball dropped incomplete.

Left: The Warriors' Scot Sinsabaugh, left, fails on an interception attempt. Right: The Warriors' Ed Winfield snatches up the ball after a kickoff had squirted away from him.

Left: The Warriors' Roy Webb tackles the Cougars' Brandon Bethel. Right: Warriors assistant coach Jim Combs.

The Cougars' Alton Jones Newt hauls in a pass with the Warriors' Scott Sinsabaugh applying pressure from behind him.

Left: Warriors QB Danny Giannone is grabbed by the Cougars' Jonathan Sharp. Right: The Warriors' Byron Hall Sr. grabs Cougars ball-carrier Brandon Bethel.

Left: The Warriors' Joe Westervelt. Right: Two Warriors tackle a Cougars ball-carrier.

Left: Warriors Coach Bob Lee discusses strategy with QB Danny Giannone. Right: The Warriors' Ed Winfield (5) goes high for a pass. It was incomplete.

Left: The Warriors' Ed Winfield pounces on a fumble. Right: Warriors cornerback-safety Aaron Linton.

Follow the Warriors

The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team plays its next game in the playoffs.

Playoffs: Oct. 17 vs. Glens Falls Green Jackets in Glens Falls.

Warriors.

ODESSA, Sept. 13 -- The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team won its sixth game in nine tries Saturday night when it turned back the Glove Cities Colonials 15-7 in a North American Football League game on Odessa-Montour's Charles Martin Field.

The Warriors -- who clinched an NAFL playoff spot the previous week in a victory over the Ithaca Aggression -- never trailed against the Colonials, building an 8-0 lead with a touchdown and 2-point conversion in the second quarter.

The TD was thrown by Danny Giannone and caught by Rasheed Snow, while the conversion pass was hauled in by Mike Gillie.

The Colonials pulled with a point at 8-7 later in the period, but the Warriors built the lead to eight points again in the fourth quarter when Joe Westervelt intercepted a Glove Cites pass on the Colonials' 13-yard line and carried the ball into the end zone. The Warriors added a point-after kick.

Top: The Warriors Mike Gillie, center, goes up for a pass that fell incomplete.

Bottom: Warrior Scot Sinsabaugh goes high on defense in an attempt to intercept a Glove Cities pass. The pass was incomplete.

Left: The Warriors' Ed Winfield deflects a last-second Colonials pass in the end zone. Right: The Warriors' Brett Chedzoy cools off.

From left: Warriors quarterback Danny Giannone, team manager Eric Wheaton and line coach Derick Willett.

Left: Joe Westervelt heads for the end zone after intercepting a Colonials pass. It was his first touchdown of the year. Right: The Warriors' Rasheed Snow.

Warriors Gary Speicher (62) and Byron Hall (53) try to disrupt Ithaca QB Jeff Case.

WATKINS GLEN, Sept. 6 -- The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team scored on the first play from scrimmage and continued pouring it on Saturday as it defeated the Ithaca Aggression 62-0 to earn a spot in the North American Football League playoffs.

The victory -- in a makeup game on the Watkins Glen High School athletic field that was rescheduled from Aug. 1 -- lifted the Warriors' season mark to 5-3 heading into their final home game of the season, next Saturday night at Odessa-Montour. The opponent will be the Glove Cities Colonials, who beat the Warriors the first time the two teams met this season.

The Warriors set the tone early against Ithaca, with Izell Jones breaking through the middle and romping 57 yards for a touchdown. A two-point conversion made the score 8-0 with just 21 seconds gone.

Subsequent Warriors first-half TDs came on a 23-yard Danny Giannone pass to Rasheed Snow, a swing pass that Snow turned into a 67-yard play, a 43-yard run up the middle by Jones, a 5-yard run by Brad Hrynko, and a 25-yard Giannone-to-Snow pass.

Ithaca never challenged in the second half as the Warriors added three more touchdowns.

Photo in text: The Warriors Mike Gillie (center) looks for an incoming pass, but it was knocked away.

Left: The Warriors' Aaron Linton prepares to intercept an Ithaca pass. Right: The Warriors' Galan Moore misses a chance for an interception.

From left: Warriors quarterback Danny Giannone passes, an Ithaca runner fumbles, and Giannone exits the field.

Left: Warriors Aaron Linton (8) and Dewain Downes bring down Ithaca runner Fred Butler. Right: Warriors Head Coach Bob Lee.

Follow the Warriors

The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team plays its next game Sept. 12.

Sept. 12: Final home game at Odessa-Montour, vs. Glove Cities Colonials

KINGSTON, NY, Aug. 30 -- The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team lost Saturday to the Tri-County Tigers, 13-0, in a North American Football League defensive battle at Dietz Stadium.

An interception set up the Tigers' first of two field goals, leading to a 3-0 halftime edge. They scored again in the third quarter by returning another interception 60 yards for a touchdown. A blocked punt in the fourth quarter set up the Tigers' final field goal.

The Warriors play a makeup game at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5 against the Ithaca Aggression on the Watkins Glen High School athletic field, and are home at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 at Odessa-Montour's Charles Martin Field against the Glove Cities Colonials of Johnstown.

ROCHESTER, Aug. 23 -- The Southern Tier Warriors semipro football team defeated the Western New York Cougars 20-18 Saturday night at Edgerton Field to regain the Number Two ranking in the Empire Division of the North American Football League (www.nafl.org).

The Warriors, now 4-2, moved the ball 80 yards on their opening possession to take the lead early. The drive was completed by a 15-yard run from Eddie Winfield.

The Cougars got on the scoreboard early in the third quarter after they recovered a bad Warriors snap on the 1-yard line. The Cougars later went ahead with two additional touchdowns.

With eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Warriors' Danny Gianonne found Chad Worsell for an 80-yard touchdown reception that put the Warriors back to within four points.

Minutes later, a sack by defensive end David Gentile forced the Cougars quarterback to fumble the ball, which was picked up by Eddie Winfield and run in 25 yards for the winning score.

"The Cougars played their hearts out, but so did we -- our guys never gave up," said Coach Bob Lee. "This was one of our best efforts yet this season -- especially on the lines."

The Warriors travel to Kingston, New York next Saturday to face the Tri-County Tigers. Their final home game will be at Charles Martin Field in Odessa on September 12th.

Photos in text: Ref signals as the Warriors (backs to camera) watch; and the team gathers before the game. (Photos provided)

Warriors running back Ed Winfield, left, is in the grasp of a Tri-County defender before breaking away for extra yardage.

ODESSA, Aug. 9 -- The Southern Tier Warriors overcame a rash of fumbles and two long Tri-County touchdowns Saturday night to defeat the Tigers 16-13 in a North American Football League game on Odessa-Montour's Charles Martin Field.

The victory lifted the Warriors' season mark to 3-1 heading into a game next Saturday on the road against the Glove-Cities Colonials.

Quarterback Chad Worsell and receiver Danny Giannone linked up on an unlikely 91-yard scoring strike and Donald Mullin blocked -- actually caught -- a punt and ran it into the end zone to give the Warriors their two scores.

The 91-yard, second-quarter scoring play started out as a medium-range pass from Worsell that a Tiger defender almost intercepted -- and deflected toward Giannone, who made a twisting catch. He then broke free in the secondary and outran the defense for the Warriors' first six points. A point-after kick attempt turned into two points when holder Rasheed Snow took a high snap, turned, and raced toward the right corner of the end zone. He hurdled over Tri-County's Vince Hemmingway for the conversion and an 8-7 Warriors lead.

That TD overcame an early 47-yard scoring strike from Tigers quarterback Ray Cummings to Richard Minckler just four minutes into the game.

Mullin's play came in the third quarter as the Tigers attempted to punt from deep in their own territory. The punt hit Mullin in the mid-section, and he caught it there and kept running into the end zone to increase the Warriors' lead to 14-7. Another two-point conversion came on a pass from Worsell to a wide-open Ed Winfield in the end zone, making the score 16-7.

Tri-County rallied with a 70-yard punt return by Lenard Byrd early in the fourth period. Byrd took the ball on the left side of the field and angled to his right, eluding one tackle and then cruising the rest of the way. A point-after kick failed.

The Warriors then held off the Tigers down the stretch -- but gave Tri-County one last chance by failing to convert a fourth-and-two near midfield with 33 seconds remaining in the game. Tigers quarterback Cummings couldn't find a receiver on first down and was tackled, but the speedy Byrd ended up with the ball on second down -- the final play -- and worked his way to the Warriors' 25-yard line before he was stopped as time expired.

"It was a battle," said Warriors assistant coach Jim Combs afterward. Added lineman Carl Willett: "We're like the Baltimore Ravens. We don't score a lot of points, but we have a great defense."

"I'm proud of these guys," said Coach Bob Lee. "We made a lot of mistakes -- we must have had five fumbles -- but we didn't break. We kept plugging away, and held on."

Note: Lee said he hopes to reschedule last week's game against Ithaca -- which Ithaca called off hours before kickoff. He said the league doesn't recognize forfeits, so the Warriors did not ring up a victory.

Bottom: Warriors defender Scot Sinsabaugh makes a leaping interception of a Ray Cummings pass.

Left: The Warriors' Danny Giannone (7) watches as the Tigers' Nick McGill goes high for an apparent interception. Right: But Giannone catches the deflected ball a moment later before scampering upfield for a 91-yard touchdown.

Left: Warriors running back Brad Hrynko. Right: The Warriors' Izell Jones tackles the Tigers' Darren Mima (8).

Donald Mullin (70) celebrates after blocking a punt -- by catching it -- and running it into the end zone for the Warriors' second touchdown.

A long Tigers pass falls incomplete as the Warriors' Scot Sinsabaugh (6) defends.