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Hard-running Demmons sparks Pelham in opening romp

Saturday, September, 26 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

PELHAM - Sophomore Ethan Demmons is apparently back to where he belongs.

And the Pelham football team is right back to where it was last year - winning football games.

The Pythons opened their season in rousing fashion Saturday night, crushing an injury-ravaged Sanborn team, 42-0. And Demmons was perhaps the biggest reason why.

Relegated to play the line last year, the 5-11, 205-pounder was moved to the backfield, where he stood out in youth football, and the transition back has been impressive.

Gaining nearly all of his yardage though the middle of the line, Demmons plowed his way behind a steady push from his linemen to 127 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. He didn't seem surprised.

"I always played fullback before last year," said Demmons. "I was confident I could do it."

Demmons provided an impressive inside-outside punch that Sanborn had no answer for. When he wasn't bulldozing his way through the line, captain Jake Herrling (6 carries, 55 yards) and Kevin Bodenrader (6-53, one touchdown) were sweeping it successfully to the outside.

"He (Demmons) ran with a lot of authority tonight, but the whole team did," said Pelham coach Tom Babaian. "We made mistakes we'll need to clean up, but overall it was a good team effort."

Pelham certainly made few mistakes on defense. It completely shut down Sanborn's running game, as the Indians ended the game with just one first down, minus-44 yards rushing on 24 attempts and completed just two passes for 17 yards. They also suffered a safety in the first quarter.

Among those looking particularly stout were defensive end and captain Zach Jones and linebackers Jake Cawthron, Demmons and Alex Carroll (all sophomores), but the whole unit was more than solid.

"We weren't sure what to expect tonight, with no scrimmages and all the uncertainty, but I thought we came ready to play," said Herrling.

Ahead 21-0 at halftime, Pelham - which rushed for 306 yards for the game - put the game out of reach with three touchdowns in the third quarter, the final one coming on a nifty 26-yard scamper by sophomore backup Derek Muise. The fourth quarter belonged to the reserves with freshman Connor Travis (four carries, 30 yards) running hard.

In Sanborn's defense, the Indians were hit hard by injuries. Two quarterbacks got banged up and left the game, which really hampered their offense and, in the first half, junior Jake Comley suffered what looked like a possible serious injury and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance after the game was delayed a half hour.

Sanborn will need to heal and regroup in a hurry as it is scheduled to play at Timberlane next Friday. Pelham, meanwhile can just work on fine tuning.