CICERO — After Indian River won on Friday night, running backs Kwazsi Gaddis and Guillermo Rosario-Acosta couldn’t follow their teammates directly into the locker room. They stood out in the rain and sub-40 degree temperature to wait and talk to the media. First Rosario-Acosta and then Gaddis jogged off to the locker room. They had ran enough.

The Warriors (11-0) finished with 470 yards on 45 carries en route to a 48-7 win over Vestal (6-4) in the New York Class A regional round, sending Indian River to the state semifinals next weekend. The Warriors will take on Section VI’s West Seneca East, which was winners 15-8 over Irondequoit on Friday night. Gaddis led the way for Indian River with 14 carries for 235 yards, Rosario-Acosta added 15 carries for 158 yards, and the rushing attack made it easy for Indian River on a cold, rainy night on Cicero-North Syracuse’s turf field.

“It feels so good,” Gaddis said. “Last week, we won in the Dome. Team came back, we responded well, we came to practice, worked hard and we told ourselves we got to get better. And that’s what we did. We came out and we played.”

Gaddis, Section III’s leading rusher, entered the game within six yards of 2,000 rushing yards for the season. He wore different cleats than in last week’s sectional championship win, opting for what he called a “lighter” pair. Friday’s shoes contained some purple, green, yellow, blue and pink in a mish-mosh of colors.

They proved to be light on the first play from scrimmage after Indian River forced a Vestal three-and-out, as Gaddis bounced outside and ran for 32 yards, easily surpassing the 2,000 mark.

The Warriors were halted on the one-yard line by a fumble on their first drive, but Gaddis came right out firing when they got the ball back. He made a few guys miss on the way to a 54-yard pickup. Fittingly, a few plays later, Gaddis opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown around the right side of the line.

“This is the best we’ve ran since I’ve been in high school,” Gaddis, a four-year varsity player, said.

Then, Vestal answered on a drive with two fourth-down conversions. A 15-yard passing touchdown put the Golden Bears up 7-6. It was the first time Indian River had trailed all season, Rosario-Acosta said.

The junior back quickly changed that with a monster second quarter. Rosario-Acosta took the lead back with 11:27 to go in the second, as he received a handoff straight up the middle and sprinted 43 yards to paydirt. Three minutes and 10 seconds later, he pounded it in from one yard out for a second touchdown. And three and a half minutes after that, Rosario-Acosta carried in from 7 yards to put the Warriors up three touchdowns going into the half.

“If Guillermo is feeling it, Guillermo is feeling it,” Gaddis said. “I know Guillermo’s a crazy back, and I know defensively, playing against him, I know it sucks.”

Rosario-Acosta added another touchdown out of the halftime break, a 32-yarder which was similar to the first in how he broke through a hole in the line and was barely touched by the defense.

The rushing attack diversified from the two-headed monster after that. Quarterback Rob Alexander kept one for himself, rushing four yards for a score. Then fullback Jayden Henhawk powered it in from a yard out to create the final margin. Gaddis and Rosario-Acosta sat the last few series out with the big lead, taking in the final minutes of the contest from the sideline.

After the game, Indian River head coach Cory Marsell said that it “doesn’t really matter” to him which of his running backs gets the ball. He figures if he calls a good game, the carry totals will be balanced. On Friday, it was 14 for Gaddis and 15 for Rosario-Acosta.

Both backs have had big days this season. Two of the last four weeks, Gaddis had more yardage. The other two, it was Rosario-Acosta.

“It’s just his game or my game, it depends,” Rosario-Acosta said. “At any time, we can both have a game.”

On Friday night in the state quarterfinal, Gaddis and Rosario-Acosta both had a game.

Published on November 10, 2018 at 12:01 am

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3