Nazareth went back to basics for Week 2 and it was a successful formula.
The Roadruners shook off their season-opening loss to IC Catholic and rolled by visiting York 27-3 on Aug. 28.
“I absolutely agree that IC really handled us,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. “I was really impressed with that team and not so impressed with our overall effort. Not that it would have changed the outcome, but I think we could have been a lot more competitive and it just wasn’t Nazareth football (the previous) week.
“So my biggest focus this week was (seeing) that enthusiasm and the grit for 48 minutes of a football game that is our standard at Nazareth. So I kept it really simple and just really based it on effort and energy. I didn’t even talk about schemes or offense, defense and special teams.
“It was just an overall attitude adjustment and I wanted to see a 5% improvement. That was my challenge and they exceeded that this week. That was Nazareth football (Friday) night.”
Leading the way offensively for the Roadrunners (1-1) was senior running back Charles Calhoun, who ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns. The North Dakota recruit gave Nazareth a 10-3 lead late in the second quarter on his first 1-yard scoring run. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior added another 1-yard TD plunge in the third quarter to widen lead to 20-3.
Calhoun is a three-year starter at running back for Nazareth and was called up to the varsity for the state playoffs in his freshman season.
“Charles is a workhorse,” Racki said. “His vision, aside from his ability to break off of tackles and find the opening in the smallest of seams, is very rare for a kid his age.
“And he’s tough. He doesn’t look that big but he really also gets those tough yards for us aside from the explosiveness he has when he gets into the open field.”
Also standing out for the Roadrunners was their defense as they limited the Dukes (1-1) to just a field goal.
“I definitely liked our tenacity and our mindset and that we are bringing guys to the ball,” Racki said. “What’s funny is that IC engineered long drives on us last week and our body language was horrible. Even though they were driving the ball and not scoring, we were very lethargic.
“Whereas last night, York had some really nice long drives between the 20(-yard lines) on us and we didn’t bat an eye. We just kept fighting and we actually got stronger as the game went along. I watched the film and that was very impressive to me as well.”
Nazareth also had a 20-yard TD pass from junior quarterback JJ Chapman to Jackson Flickinger along with field goals of 20 and 37 yards by Billy Harding.