QB Garvin returns from injury to lead Elmira to lopsided semifinal win over Binghamton

Rise and shine is precisely what the Elmira Express football team did Saturday morning.

Elmira raced out to a 47-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 61-12 victory over visiting Binghamton in the Section 4 Class AA semifinal at the Thomas J. Hurley Athletic Complex.

The rare 10 a.m. start was the earliest for an Express varsity football game since the program started in 2011 and Elmira quarterback Evan Garvin delivered a historic performance of his own, contributing to six of his team's eight touchdowns.

Garvin was playing for the first time since suffering a concussion two weeks prior in a loss to Corning.

"I thought we had great effort today and we came out and got the job done and that was the goal for today," Garvin said. "We're on to next week and we can't wait to prepare and get back to the sectional championship game."

More: Title game secured for Horseheads football team with dominant victory over Union-Endicott

Star of the Game

Garvin, a senior left-hander, hurt the Patriots through the air and the ground. He completed 6 of 9 passes for 160 yards and four touchdowns.

His ground performance included 65 yards on six rushes, including touchdown runs of 2 and 3 yards.

The three-year varsity starter was cleared for practice after sitting out last week's loss to Union-Endicott and looked as sharp as ever. Garvin was on the passing end of three successful two-point conversions as well.

"He brings a calmness to you, especially calling the plays," Elmira head coach Jimmy McCauley said.

"I thought Zach Conklin did a really nice job for us when we played U-E. I thought he handled himself very well, but as a play-caller sometimes you feel with the second quarterback in there you don't call certain things or you don't put as much on his plate. With Evan there you feel a little more calm, you feel like you can do some things maybe you wouldn't with a second guy in there."

Game Balls

Other standouts were many for Elmira. Among them:

• Johnnie Garcia, who has moved from wingback to receiver, caught three passes for 92 yards. That included a juggling 42-yard touchdown and an impressive 34-yard reception in which he went high to outbattle a Binghamton defender for the ball.

• Kayon Flint carried eight times for 101 yards and scored on runs of 3 yards and 52 yards.

• Terrell Swan caught touchdown tosses of 15 and 23 yards from Garvin.

• Jack VanDine had a 32-yard touchdown reception and Breyan Brooks ran 10 times for 50 yards.

• Cam Wright, Chris Woodard and Kristian Knox had sacks for Elmira's defense, which got an interception from Julian Colon.

More: Section 4 football schedule/scores for the weekend including playoff semifinals

Summers stands out for Patriots

Kashif Summers essentially carried most of the offensive workload for Binghamton (1-9), which lost 59-8 at Elmira on Oct. 13. After some early sacks dented his rushing numbers, he bounced back to carry 12 times for 148 yards, scrambling for an 80-yard touchdown and throwing a 32-yard TD to Jayden Chin.

Woodard's sack forced a fumble on Binghamton's second offensive play that Elmira recovered. The Patriots also fumbled away the opening kickoff of the second half.

McCauley said his team did some good things Saturday, but he wasn't thrilled with how Binghamton scored its two touchdowns. The Express had 12 players on the field for one of them.

"We tell our kids all the time, our job is to put you in good places and prepare. Your job is to get it done, your job is to execute it," McCauley said. "I think for the most part we did, but those two plays stood out to me."

Closer look at Elmira's offense

Elmira has done most of its damage over the years through its run-focused double-wing offense. The passing game has been more of a priority this year, in part because of a slew of injuries to Express backs and also because of the weapons in the passing attack.

"We thought coming in they were going to come in in some certain defenses and we tried taking advantage of it," McCauley said of Saturday's game plan. "Evan looked good during the week and some of those skill guys do a pretty good job in the week of practice at being in the right spot at the right time."

All-state fullback/defensive back Amir Williams was injured on the opening drive of the season. He returned two weeks ago at defensive end and on Saturday he had two official carries for 28 yards, plus a 2-point conversion.

"It’s fun. I think it makes it a lot harder for the opposing team to prepare for us as well when we can get the passing game going," Garvin said. "It makes it really hard for teams to stop the run."

As for having Garcia as an option at receiver, Garvin added, "It makes it a lot easier when you know you’ve got the guy who can high point the ball and just go get it. With him being out there it just gives us a lot more options with him being a threat as a receiver. We still can get him in the running game as well."

By the numbers

Elmira put up 419 yards of offense, a reflection of a dominant effort from the line.

The Express took a 40-0 lead just over three minutes into the second quarter and officials employed a running clock the rest of the game. Only 18 offensive plays were run by the teams combined in the second half before Elmira kneeled down to end the contest.

Up Next

Elmira (4-5) will take on top-seeded Corning (4-4) in the championship game at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 at Corning Memorial Stadium. Corning was a 31-8 winner over Elmira on Oct. 20.

The Hawks own wins over Elmira in the last three Section 4 Class AA finals (14-12 in 2019, 37-8 in 2021 and 46-24 last year) and have beaten the Express eight times in a row. Elmira won four sectional titles in six seasons from 2013 to 2018.

"I’m juiced. I’m excited, I’m ready," Garvin said. "It’s a game I’ve been preparing for since last time I played there on the field when we were watching them get the medals in their hands."

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira dominated Binghamton in the Section 4 Class AA football semi