Semipro football: Red & Black honors longtime coach Ashcraft, wallops North Stars

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Aug. 7—WATERTOWN — On a night when its longtime coach George Ashcraft was honored, the Watertown Red and Black sure made its sideline boss proud.

Delivering a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, the Red and Black rolled to a 47-0 triumph over the Plattsburgh North Stars to win an Empire Football League game Saturday night at the newly named George Ashcraft Field at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

Seven different players scored a touchdown each, including a defensive score, as the Red and Black improved to 6-0 on the season, including a perfect 5-0 in the league.

Ashcraft, who has been involved with the Red and Black both as a player and as a coach for nearly 40 years, was honored before the game after the Watertown City Council voted Monday to name the field after him.

"It's an honor and very humbling," Ashcraft said. "I'm also very proud of how these guys played tonight, both on offense and on defense."

It was also a milestone night for Ashcraft, recording his 250th coaching victory with the team.

"It's amazing," Watertown veteran receiver Chris Furr said. "Because George is a great, great, great guy, great coach, well known around here, well loved around here. So for him to be honored, with what the city of Watertown did for him, it's amazing. He deserves it, his family deserves it, so overall, it's been a great night."

Quarterback Jason Williams threw for two touchdown passes and scored on a lengthy run in the second half to complete the scoring for Watertown, which was ultra efficient on offense.

"I'm very happy with the way we won the game," Williams said. "The offense went out and did their thing, the defense went out and did their thing. We're just real excited."

The Red and Black generated six touchdowns from running only 17 offensive plays — partially because the scoreboard ran with a running clock after Watertown built a 27-0 lead through the game's first 6 1/2 minutes.

"It's really nice to see, we have a lot of weapons," Watertown offensive coach Jerry Levine said. "It was a great performance and it was good to really get everybody involved."

Defensively, the Red and Black, sparked by an early fumble recovery by linebacker Derrek Dalton for a touchdown, generated its third consecutive shutout in league play.

"It's great, man, to come home and show the fans what we've got as a team, there's nothing better," Dalton said. "We have a lot of firepower."

Watertown also prevailed in its first home game since winning the league title here last October.

In the first half, the Red and Black scored five of its offensive touchdowns on only nine plays from scrimmage, to build a 41-0 lead.

"How's that for efficiency?" said Aaron Rivers, who coaches Watertown's offensive and defensive lines.

Williams got the show started as on the third play of the game he connected with wideout Dequace Jackson on a 36-yard scoring strike 46 seconds in for a 6-0 lead.

"We had a lot of good running plays for touchdowns, we had a couple passes for touchdowns," Williams said. "I'm excited about this team, we have a lot of talent and we got to display it in our first home game — and there's much more to come."

Three plays later, the ball sailed high over the Plattsburgh quarterback's head on a blown snap and Dalton recovered the ball in the end zone and Watertown led 13-0.

Following a fumble recovery from Jeremy Machia, the Red and Black quickly cashed in as running back Jamal Finkley scored on a 12-yard run for a 20-0 lead by 4:45 into the game.

The onslaught continued as Watertown scored on the first play of its next three possessions, first on a 58-yard rumble down the right side for a score by Rarday Burrell and then Furr caught a short pass from Williams and glided 47 yards down the right sideline for 34-0 lead with 1:40 left in the opening quarter.

"We got those two, three turnovers quick and we converted on them," Ashcraft said. "We got off to a great start and didn't let up. ... The we went with the running clock out of respect for their team."

"It's just sticking to our assignments, we did it in practice," Furr said. "I mean we hit different receivers in practice, obviously he hit different receivers tonight, our run game is becoming better. So overall, we're well balanced."

Eric Washington then surged down the left side to score on a 36-yard run 2:30 into the second half for a 41-0 halftime lead,

Williams then broke free and cruised for a 94-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to cap the scoring at 47-0.

"He's been working on that in practice and it showed again tonight," Furr said of Williams. "He ran from one end zone to the other end zone and he's well conditioned. If that was me, I would have been winded, but he's doing great."

Watertown was also efficient in its running game on the night as it rushed for 227 yards — on just 10 plays from scrimmage.

Defensively, the Red and Black forced six turnovers, with three of them fumble recoveries and their others interceptions.

Defensive back Jocquise Sheriff, a newcomer, intercepted a Plattsburgh pass near the Red and Black goal line to secure the shutout.

"We're a big, fast, physical team," Dalton said. "The defense is playing lights out."

Watertown extended its shutout streak in league play to 12-plus quarters, which has also included wins over Auburn and Broome County.

The last time the Red and Black allowed a score in league play was a touchdown by Glens Falls with 6:02 left in the game in a 19-14 road win in the July 9 season opener for both teams.

"We just out in a lot of work in the offseason," Dalton said. "The Capraras (team owners) got us a facility where we can have team meetings and there's a new weight room, so a lot of guys have put in the work and it's showing now."

Plattsburgh (1-4), a traditional rival of Watertown, participated with only 24 players and was shut out for the third time this season.

"And hats off to Plattsburgh, too, for coming with the people that they came with," Furr said. "I give them a lot of credit and I'm not taking nothing away from them, they got a lot of heart to drive this far with this many people and play a full game."

Watertown will host the Glens Falls Greenjackets next Saturday and Auburn on Aug. 20, both 7 p.m. starts at the Fairgrounds, to complete a three-game homestand. The Red and Black played its first four games on the road.

"I always love the turnout, the turnout of our crowd," Furr added. "There's something about our fans that get us going, get us motivated and we play hard. Being able to play in front of our family and our friends, even anybody who hasn't seen a Red and Black game comes to support us, it's really uplifting for us."