AUGUSTA — Riley Geyer, Cony’s sophomore quarterback, has butterflies churning away in his stomach on game nights.

“I’m still very nervous before each game,” he said. “As a sophomore I’m probably one of the youngest.”

Geyer hid any jitters he had well Friday night, compiling a game’s worth of statistics in two quarters of play as the Rams rolled over Brewer 47-0. Cony is 4-1 in Class B North play while Brewer falls to 1-4.

The Rams led 40-0 in the first half as Geyer and his corps of talented receivers shreded Brewer’s secondary. He completed 15 of 19 passes for 370 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half. Geyer’s night ended early in the third quarter along with the rest of the starting lineup.

“The playbook is expanding,” Cony coach B.L. Lippert said. “We’ve got the receivers. When you’ve got a young sophomore quarterback I was a little apprehensive to let him throw the ball. He’s kind of emerging throwing the ball really, really well and we’ve got a ton of seniors around him so he doesn’t have to do everything.”

Senior Reed Hopkins caught touchdown passes of 62 and 28 yards and rushed for another. Both TD catches were over the middle and Geyer hit Hopkins in the hands as he leaped for the ball.

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“I couldn’t have asked for any better throws from Riley,” Hopkins said. “He put the ball up there and I just came down with it.”

The Rams scored on their third play of the game when Geyer threw a shovel pass to senior Ashton Cunningham who took the ball 68 yards down the left sideline. On the next series, facing third down and 23 yards to go, Geyer found Hopkins 30 yards downfield over the middle, Hopkins cut toward the sideline, picked up a block and scored from 62 yards out.

The air assault continued on the next series of downs. This time Geyer hit Matt Wozniak down the left sideline and he beat the defense to the end zone for a 61-yard score.

“I really wasn’t expecting to throw that much,” Geyer said. “I thought I was going to run more like I did against Lawrence, but hey we got the job done.”

Wozniak finished with three catches for 122 yards while Cunningham, who also rushed for a touchdown, had three for 98 yards and Hopkins two for 90.

Senior lineman Nic Mills got the call on the next series of downs and scored from two yards out for his first varsity score. Mills and the rest of the Cony defense limited the Witches to just two first downs and 32 yards in the first half.

“Every week we work our defense and push them to the limit,” Mills said. “We have a good look team. We’ve got coach (Brandon) Terrill who is a great defensive coordinator. All of our guys have really good discipline. It’s just hard work.”

Hopkins capped the first half with a fine leaping catch in the end zone from 28 yards out with a defender on his back. Geyer ran one series in the second half and didn’t attempt a pass. Sophomore Jamal Cariglia ran well for the rams, gaining 46 yards on six carries in the third quarter. Cunningham finished the scoring with a two-yard run as both teams kept the ball on the ground while the running-time rule was invoked.


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