Twenty years ago, the Corning East High football team captured the New York State high school football championship to cap a perfect 13-0 season. It was the most wins in one football season in the history of the school.
After winning state titles for lacrosse (East High in 1990), girls basketball (West High in 1995), baseball (East in 1995) and volleyball (West in 1997), the Corning-Painted Post School District captured its fifth state title in five different sports.
After rolling through the regular season with 10 straight wins, the Trojans were more than ready for the postseason and armed with weapons most teams only dream about. While size and strength are essential for most high school teams, this squad relied on speed, quickness and plenty of football savvy. While the offense received most of the headlines, it was a smothering defense that paved the way to title town.
Speed and more speed was the key to the Trojans offense led by the Flory twins, quarterback Coleman and running back Cameron. These speedsters were complimented by bruising backs Brad Comfort and Alex Hamilton. And with an offensive line anchored by All-Stater D.J. Laughlin-Pope and his cohorts Conor Flynn and Mike Sharp creating running space, it was off to the races with clock eating drives and breakaway runs.
While this offense was seemingly scoring at will, it was the swarming defense, led by defensive back Shawn Roe and a bunch of undersized defenders that yielded just 7.5 points per game. Not only did most of the offensive line contribute to the rock solid defense, they had plenty of help from guys like Patrick Granger, Dan Telehany and Thomas Aldrich rotating in and out. A number of players on this Trojans squad played both sides of the ball and their conditioning was a deciding factor when the state playoffs rolled around.
In the first round of the state playoffs against a tough defensive minded East Syracuse-Minoa team, East High got just enough offense for a 10-3 victory. The defense proved they could play with anybody as Syracuse area teams were always tough.
It was the state semi-final game versus Aquinas of Rochester, when the defense rolled out their best performance of the year. While the offense turned it up a notch putting 23 points on the scoreboard, the defense turned it up two or three notches. Not only did Roe and company smother the Li’l Irish, they shut them out. That victory put the Trojans in the title contest against Cornwall Central High School near New Windsor.
After a nip and tuck first half that saw the Dragons go up 14-13 at halftime at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, it was time to see who wanted it the most. With both teams using a lot of players on both sides of the ball, it was the Trojans who showed the stronger stamina. They dominated the line of scrimmage during the second half and got touchdowns runs of 5 and 14 yards from QB and leader Coleman Flory.
Those two long sustained TD drives were the difference. All the hard work paid off to the tune of a 27-14 victory and a state title. The second half was a microcosm of the East High football season. The offense rattled off first down after first down with big runs off key blocks while the defense just simply shut down the other team’s offense.
Coleman Flory was named the MVP of the championship game with his 176 yards rushing and three touchdowns but he had plenty of company, especially that smothering defense in the second half. It was a team trophy.
Going into the season, head coach Randy Holden knew his team would be outmatched size wise, but he knew the hearts of his players and knew they would never be outworked.
“You look at that team and we were small – we were tiny but they were like piranhas on defense. Everybody talked about our offense, and we had a great offense, don’t get me wrong. We had three guys close to 1,000 yards rushing, but we gave up one touchdown on defense in the state tournament and it’s because they were just nasty,” said Coach Holden.
“People don’t realize what incredible shape our kids were in. We wore them out. We had five kids who played both ways and Coleman never stepped off the field. They were exhausted and we weren’t,” added Coach Holden.
It was time to open the trophy case at the C-PP school district again. The Trojans football team was bringing in another addition to the growing collection. That’s five and counting.
This article originally appeared on The Leader: Corning’s 2006 football state champions were outsized, never outworked
Reporting by Larry French, Special to The Leader / The Leader
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By Larry French, Special to The Leader | USA TODAY Network
