Alejandro Gienales Throws Six Touchdown Passes as Punks Rout Empire
Riley Kade — JRSports One
Alejandro Gienales threw six touchdown passes, and Seattle beat New York 49-20 behind his 346 passing yards. New York led 7-0 early, but the Punks took control in the second quarter and never trailed again.
The turning point came at 13:01 of the second quarter, when Troy Wiwood ran three yards for a touchdown that put Seattle ahead 14-10. The Punks scored 21 unanswered points from there and led 28-13 at halftime.
Seattle's scoring came mostly through the air. Gienales hit Carter Crater for a 16-yard touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7, and Crater caught another touchdown pass for four yards at 7:49 of the second quarter that made it 21-10. Wade Condson caught a two-yard score at 4:50 and then a 10-yard touchdown at 12:01 of the third quarter, and Crater added an eight-yard score at 8:15 for a 42-13 lead.
New York's offense struggled with turnovers. Sam Toorkmore threw three interceptions, two of them to Carter Tayt, who picked off passes at 7:23 and 3:18 of the second quarter, and one to Adam Kealwell at 11:45 of the third quarter. Henry Cerkley kicked field goals of 46 and 44 yards for New York, and Drew Tinnsby's 10-yard run at 2:50 of the third quarter brought the Empire within 42-20. Wyatt Veardford's four-yard touchdown catch at 9:54 of the fourth quarter sealed the 49-20 final.
Gienales completed 26 of 33 passes for 346 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Toorkmore finished 24 of 37 for 243 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Wiwood carried 14 times for 55 yards and a touchdown, and Condson caught six passes for 78 yards and two scores. For New York, Keaton Naildale caught 10 passes for 106 yards, and Logan Chommore led the defense with 12 tackles.
New York lost starting free safety Tatsuya Ninyama to a hamstring strain in the fourth quarter.
The loss leaves New York with a losing record, and Seattle put up 455 total yards against a Empire defense that gave up its most points of the season in this game.
