By Rob Potter
GRAHAMSVILLE — October 1, 2002 – A strong second half and balanced offensive attack carried visiting Deposit to a 39-13 victory over Tri-Valley Saturday in a non-league football game.
Deposit quarterback Dan Briggs ran for a pair of touchdowns and teammate Phil Zandt scored a trio of touchdowns – one running, one receiving and one on a punt return – as the Lumberjacks turned an 18-6 halftime lead into the 26-point victory.
Deposit, a Section IV Class D school, improved to 4-0 on the season. T-V fell to 1-3.
After Zandt scored the game’s first touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Briggs just four minutes into the game, the Bears answered on their next possession. Running back David Felder, who rushed 35 times for 141 yards in the game, scored on a 21-yard run to tie the score at 6-6.
But Zandt reached the endzone on a punt return with 8:50 remaining in the second quarter to give the Lumberjacks, who are the seventh-ranked Class D team in the latest New York State Sportswriters Association poll, a lead they would not lose.
T-V’s Dan Knox scored on a 2-yard run with five minutes left in the game. Alan Coombe kicked the PAT for the Bears.
“We knew going into the game that Deposit was a solid football team,” T-V Coach Dave Viglione said. “We thought that if we played an error-free football game, we had a chance to beat them.”
Viglione noted that Bear mistakes and big plays by the Lumberjacks spelled trouble.
“Offensively we made a few mistakes and had some dropped passes,” he said. “If you take away their three big (scoring) plays, it’s a 21-13 game.”
Viglione added that he liked the fact that his team “showed some heart and took the ball down the field and scored in the fourth quarter.”
“We don’t just feature one player,” Deposit Coach Terry Raymond said. “We have a lot of weapons. Our kids don’t care who has the ball and scores. They are always willing to block for each other, they’re so unselfish.”
The Bears will try to get back on the winning track this Saturday (Oct. 5) when they travel to Roscoe for a Section IX, Class D game.