RANDOLPH - Gary Swetland knew he had to do something different.

After all, four weeks ago, his Portville Central School football team hosted Randolph and was pulverized 41-0 by the Cardinals’ dominating running game that amassed nearly 350 yards.

So Swetland, in his 18th season (106-58-1) opted for something different.

In a one-week crash course, he installed his version of the “wildcat” offense, complete with a shotgun snap.

And it worked, especially in the second half of Friday night’s Section 6 Class D semifinal.

But not enough, as Randolph (8-1), and its relentless ground game, handled Portville, 23-13.

“WE KNEW we couldn’t win playing traditional football ... if we had, it would have been 41-6,” Swetland said. “We had to do something different so we went with (the ‘wildcat).’”

Portville was helped by the return of junior tailback Trent Unverdorben, who missed the first meeting, and flawlessly fielded the long snaps, though wearing a cast on his hand.

Trouble was, even with Unverdorben’s presence at linebacker, the Panthers were pushed around on defense.

Randolph, behind the bruising senior tandem of Matt Hettenbaugh and Alan Lockwood at running back, rushed for 236 yards on 58 carries.

Hettenbaugh finished with 29 carries for 142 yards and Lockwood added 68 on 19 tries and both scored touchdowns.

“The trouble with playing defense against Randolph,” Swetland said, “is that you can mess up their scheme, clog their blocking lanes and have guys in position (to make tackles), but they run so hard it doesn’t matter. They spin this way or that, put their hand on the ground, cut back.

“They do that to everybody. Our goal was to give up only one of those type of touchdowns and tonight they got two.”

BUT, OFFENSIVELY, Portville’s newly-installed attack confounded Randolph, especially after the Panthers were held to 53 yards in the first half then got 175 after intermission.

“I told my kids that first game was a freak,” said Randolph coach Pat Slater. “They didn’t have their tailback, and everything that could go wrong for them, did ... it just snow-balled.

“I knew tonight would be a different game. Gary’s too good a coach and I knew they wouldn’t play us the same way he’d make the right adjustments. So I wasn’t shocked (about the ‘wildcat’).”

He added, “for awhile in the second half, they had us reeling a bit.”

But while Portville abandoned a traditional offense, it lost in a traditional way.

The Panthers fumbled four times, losing two, leading to nine Randolph points.

But the most hurtful bobble was one Portville recovered.

Swetland’s team, trailing 10-0 early in the second half, faced 3rd-and-goal at the Randolph 1-yard line, when the shotgun snap sailed past quarterback Colton Lowe, who finally tracked it down at the 20-yard-line.

The Panthers got nothing on that drive.

“We went the whole night with that new offense,” Swetland said, “and we only had one bad snap ... it just happened to come at a tough time.”

He also lamented a handful of untimely offside penalties.

BUT THE overall performance impressed Slater.

“The way (Lowe) threw the ball was impressive,” he said of the Portville QBs 6-of-16 passing effort that included connections of 55 and 57 yards plus a 12-yard touchdown toss to Steve Buchanan, who made a terrific catch.

“On that touchdown, he put the ball in the only place it could be caught and not intercepted.”

Now Randolph returns to Ralph Wilson Stadium to face Maple Grove - to which it lost 7-6 in the season opener at Bemus Point - for the D championship.

And Swetland, whose team finished 7-2 including a forfeit win, thinks the Cardinals are title bound.

“They might not have as hard a game at ‘The Ralph’ as they had tonight,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, Slater keeps rolling.

In his 31st season, he’s 185-92-4, but over the past 19 years, his record is a more gaudy 144-40-2 with 16 playoff berths, 10 appearances in the Section 6 championship game, six sectional titles pending next Friday and a state championship.

Before the season, Slater, normally not inclined wax optimistic, admitted, “We have some talent and the potential to do well.”

When reminded of that statement Friday night, he admitted, “Well, so far we’ve gotten where we wanted to be.”

Portville 0 0 6 7 - 13

Randolph 7 3 0 13 - 23

First Quarter

Randolph - Matt Hettenbaugh 1 run (15 plays, 80 yards), Matt Milliman kick, 7-0

Second Quarter

Randolph - Milliman FG 22 (9 plays, 35 yards), 10-0

Third Quarter

Portville - Justin Taylor 5 run (9 plays, 57 yards), pass fail, 10-6

Fourth Quarter

Randolph - Alan Lockwood 9 run (9 plays, 86 yards), Milliman kick, 17-6

Randolph - Travis Terry 8 run (10 plays, 52 yards), kick fail, 23-6

Portville - Steve Buchanan 12 pass from Colt Lowe (4 plays, 70 yards), Terry kick, 23-6

Team Statistics

Port. Rand.

First Downs 11 19

Rushes-Yards 20-51 58-236

Passing Yards 177 53

Comp-Att.-Int. 6-16-0 2-2-0

Total Offense 228 289

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 0-0

Penalties-Yards 7-45 5-49

Punts-Avg. 1-46 2-39.5

Total Plays 36 60

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