Schwan, Smith pace Cadets

Seniors Jason Schwan and Jake Smith each rushed for a pair of touchdowns to lead the Hilton Cadets to a 28-17 victory over Pittsford and a berth in the Class AA sectional football finals against top-seeded Webster.

Hilton scored on their first two offensive possessions. A 43-yard pass from Schwan to Kyle Heffron and an 11-yard carry by Smith highlighted the first drive, which was capped by a 10-yard quarterback keeper by Schwan into the end zone.

Pittsford was stopped on their second possession and forced to punt which was blocked by the Cadets Livio Ciciotti. Bill Bower recovered, giving Hilton great field position. During the ensuing drive, head coach Rich Lipani decided not to punt on fourth down and Schwan hooked up with Jeff Charneski on a 17-yard pass play putting the ball inside the Pittsford 15-yard line. Three downs later, Schwan scored on a 1-yard keeper. Jordan VanSlooten’s extra point made it 14-0 Hilton.

Just before halftime, Pittsford had a fourth down from the Hilton two-yard line. Kyle Kimmerly stuffed the run at the one to preserve the lead at the break.

Opening the second half, Chris Eichas returned the kickoff 23 yards. Smith then had a 31-yard run and put the Cadets up 20-0 with an 8-yard touchdown run. The Panthers got on the board late in the third quarter, but Smith put the game away with his second touchdown run - a 5-yard scamper around left tackle. A two-point conversion from Schwan to Heffron put Hilton up 28-7. Pittsford would gain two points on an intentional safety and a late touchdown run.

After the game, Schwan saw the second quarter defensive stand as the difference. "If the defense doesn’t stop them there, it’s 14-7 and a whole different game." Lipani added, "That was huge for us and then the offensive was able to get a couple of first downs from deep in our own end."

The news wasn’t all good news for the Cadets however. Smith came out of game with about four minutes left with a shoulder injury and was eventually taken to Strong Memorial Hospital. Lipani commented, "He popped the shoulder three times earlier this season and was already playing with a harness. We don’t know what his status will be but, if we’re healthy, we expect the same effort from this team against Webster."

Smith finished with 141 yards rushing on 30 carries while Schwan was 5-7 for 99 yards passing. Eichas led the Cadet defense with 8 tackles. Hilton, now 9-0 this season, won a Class BB title in 1992 and a Class A title in 1994. They last reached the final game in 1995 in a loss to Edison Tech.