It was a rough start to the season for the Dansville Mustangs and a rough start for Terry Conway as the team’s new head coach Friday night as the Livonia Bulldogs hammered Dansville in a 34-7 season opener.
Livonia scored inside the first four minutes and by the end of the first quarter led 14-0. Through the first two periods Dansville kept coming up short on plays and struggled to even make a first down. At halftime, the Bulldogs had a healthy 26-0 lead.
Dansville’s offense and defense finally showed up in the third quarter. Dustin Dieter recovered a Livonia fumble early in the second half to open a series that put some yards on the Mustang’s stats sheets. But it was short-lived as the Bulldogs forced a turnover before the Mustangs could get within scoring distance.
Late in the third, the Mustangs got a break, taking over control of the ball on Livonia’s 35-yard line. Dansville put together a series of short plays and inched down the field. Just six seconds into the final quarter, Dansville finally ran into the endzone and a kick through the uprights made it 26-7.
Two minutes later, the ball was back across the Bulldogs’ goal line following a 52-yard drive. The rest of the game was spent with both teams incurring penalties and losing control through interceptions and fumbles.
“We need to shore up our line,” Conway said of a team that lost four key players to graduation last year. “Our skilled people need to get better at their timing, which means we need to go fullspeed at practice.”
He pointed to fundamentals of the game that were lacking in the season opener — fundamentals like staying low and understanding leverage. Conway said Dansville has to step it up to compete in what he called is in one of the toughest leagues to play in, with two of five state champions last year.
“I told them their practices aren’t going to be fun from now on,” the coach said. “Luckily they are only an hour and 45 minutes long, not the six hours they were in the preseason.”
Conway praised a handful of players in Friday’s game.
“Justin Dieter played real hard off ensively,” he said. “I think our quarterbacks (Cody Schwan and Ethan Mapes) played alright, but it doesn’t look good in the stats. But once again our timing is off and our protection is down.”
It was a rough start to the season for the Dansville Mustangs and a rough start for Terry Conway as the team’s new head coach Friday night as the Livonia Bulldogs hammered Dansville in a 34-7 season opener.
Livonia scored inside the first four minutes and by the end of the first quarter led 14-0. Through the first two periods Dansville kept coming up short on plays and struggled to even make a first down. At halftime, the Bulldogs had a healthy 26-0 lead.
Dansville’s offense and defense finally showed up in the third quarter. Dustin Dieter recovered a Livonia fumble early in the second half to open a series that put some yards on the Mustang’s stats sheets. But it was short-lived as the Bulldogs forced a turnover before the Mustangs could get within scoring distance.
Late in the third, the Mustangs got a break, taking over control of the ball on Livonia’s 35-yard line. Dansville put together a series of short plays and inched down the field. Just six seconds into the final quarter, Dansville finally ran into the endzone and a kick through the uprights made it 26-7.
Two minutes later, the ball was back across the Bulldogs’ goal line following a 52-yard drive. The rest of the game was spent with both teams incurring penalties and losing control through interceptions and fumbles.
“We need to shore up our line,” Conway said of a team that lost four key players to graduation last year. “Our skilled people need to get better at their timing, which means we need to go fullspeed at practice.”
He pointed to fundamentals of the game that were lacking in the season opener — fundamentals like staying low and understanding leverage. Conway said Dansville has to step it up to compete in what he called is in one of the toughest leagues to play in, with two of five state champions last year.
“I told them their practices aren’t going to be fun from now on,” the coach said. “Luckily they are only an hour and 45 minutes long, not the six hours they were in the preseason.”
Conway praised a handful of players in Friday’s game.
“Justin Dieter played real hard off ensively,” he said. “I think our quarterbacks (Cody Schwan and Ethan Mapes) played alright, but it doesn’t look good in the stats. But once again our timing is off and our protection is down.”
Livonia head coach Steve Girolmo said his initial thoughts after the first game are than the Bulldogs are “pretty good, not perfect — a long way to go to be a good football team, but a good start.”
He said there were too many little mistakes along the way, but that overall it was a good performance on both offense and defense.
“We got off to a good start and hopefully we can continue to do that,” Girolmo said. “If we take anybody lightly — if we don’t finish every block, every tackle, every series, every play — we won’t be successful. We’re just not good enough to roll people over.”
