Kwazsi Gaddis broke down and cried.

The tears came after his pick-six and four ensuing rushing touchdowns. They came after he received an MVP plaque for his performance. They came after he and his Indian River teammates, whose seasons ended on the Carrier Dome turf two years in a row, celebrated on the block “S” at midfield.

The stage, which hadn’t been too big for Gaddis through all of that, had finally hit him.

“We work so hard,” Gaddis said, explaining the tears. “Those hot weather conditions, those cold weather conditions, fighting through it. Telling yourself, one day this is gonna pay off. And just believing that this can come true if we really work our tails off. And it did.”

The work was fulfilled for the Warriors on Friday night, as Indian River (10-0) beat Carthage (7-3), 33-21, to claim the Class A Section III crown. It came on the back of a monster performance from Gaddis, who rushed for 189 yards, ran for four touchdowns, and returned an interception to the house. Gaddis entered the night as Section III’s leading rusher, and he didn’t disappoint.

“Athletically he’s very gifted, but it’s hard to measure a man until you look at his heart,” Indian River head coach Cory Marsell said. “And Kwazsi’s heart is as big as anybody’s we have.”

On Carthage’s second drive of the game, Nick Cavellier looked toward the right flat. But his pass found the chest of Gaddis, who sprinted unimpeded for 34 yards and a touchdown.

“He came hard out of his cut, so I knew I had to play on him,” Gaddis said. “I saw the ball and I just went with my instincts and I took it home.”

Each of the last two seasons, Indian River made it to the Class A Section III final. Each time, Whitesboro knocked the Warriors out. But Carthage upset Whitesboro in the semifinals, meaning Indian River had daylight it didn’t the past two years.

And in the second quarter, Gaddis found daylight himself. A Carthage defender threatened to stop him at the goal line, but the senior ran him over. It was the first of his four rushing touchdowns.

After the score, Indian River lineman Garret Decker lifted Gaddis toward the Dome roof. The Warriors were up two scores early.

Back came Carthage with a touchdown of its own to cut the deficit to five. But Gaddis didn’t let the answer get too strong, as he ran for another 10-yard touchdown to break the game back open.

The Comets had the first half’s final tally, to go into the break down just 18-14. The third quarter was scoreless. But that set up Gaddis for the biggest 12 minutes of his high school career.

Two minutes into the fourth, Gaddis broke around the left edge and down the Indian River sideline. He tip-toed to stay inbounds, and nearly made it to the pylon before being dragged down at the one-yard line after 37 yards. He pounded it in from the one-yard line on the very next play.

“Every game he works that hard,” Marsell said. “He just puts it all on the line, and all the kids do. And to come up short just wasn’t an option.”

Then, Carthage responded again with a 67-yard passing touchdown. The game had just a four-point margin for the second time.

But Indian River put together one more drive. Third-and-goal at the six-yard line. A sweep to the right for Gaddis, and an opening around the edge, and a jog to the pylon for his fourth rushing touchdown and fifth total score of the night. Once again, for the second time on the evening, a lineman lifted Gaddis into the air.

Gaddis, though, did the heavy lifting on Friday night. Adding in a two-point conversion, he accounted for 32 of the 33 Warriors’ points, and he carried the ball 23 times, nine above his season per-game average.

“I’ve always wanted to be the top team in our league, and just dreaming of it, losing back to back seasons, it hurts, it really hurts,” Gaddis said. “So this season, we came in and we worked each and every week to get better for this day right here, and it came true.”

As the clock wound down to zeros, Gaddis hopped toward midfield. And then, he waited as his team came to him. The first hug came from behind. Then another, from in front. Gaddis sought out his head coach, Marsell, for a third.

And after the handshake line with Carthage, there was only one voice to be heard on the field. It had to be Gaddis.

“It’s home,” Gaddis screamed. “We brought it home.”

Published on November 3, 2018 at 12:14 am

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3