This story has been updated with new information.
SAUQUOIT — Sauquoit Valley’s Red Hawks made their defensive stand at the start of the fourth quarter and their offense extended the lead from there in a 41-20 high school football victory over West Canada Valley on Friday, Oct. 10.
The meeting of teams coming off Week 5 losses was tied at 6 after the first quarter and 14 at halftime. A successful two-point conversion was the difference in a 22-20 Sauquoit Valley lead at the end of the third quarter, but the fourth started with the West Canada Valley offense on the Red Hawks’ 8-yard line.
“We didn’t pound that one in,” West Canada Valley coach Todd Hobin said. “I think that changed the momentum.”
Tyler Dibble took the ball to start the fourth quarter and ran it to the 2. He was stopped again on third down with his elbow on the goal line. The ball was initially spotted with its nose on the red field hockey end line, which runs along the goal line, before being repositioned about a foot away.
The ball got loose in the backfield on fourth down, and the Nighthawks were stopped.
“That one would have helped,” Hobin added.
The Nighthawks (4-2, 2-1 8 South East), who had been unbeaten through four games, would not score after that. Sauquoit Valley worked its way the length of the field and scored, and the Red Hawks (4-2, 2-1 8 South East) would add two more touchdowns.
Rocco Femia’s 70-yard touchdown run extended the Sauquoit Valley lead to 28-20 and, after a fourth-down stop by his team’s defense, Femia ran 36 yards for another touchdown when he took a direct snap in a wildcat formation after quarterback Colten Larsen lost his helmet on a run and was sent to the sideline for one play.
The Red Hawks got the ball back one minute later when Levi Vaber intercepted a pass, and Patrick Jones raced 70 yards for a touchdown on the next play.
“When you get a turnover, a takeaway, you want to capitalize,” Sauquoit Valley coach Drake Carnot said.
Sauquoit Valley scored first midway through the first quarter, and West Canada Valley tied the game with a Samuel Stewart-to-Owen Baslow touchdown pass in the last minute of the opening period.
The Nighthawks went up 14-6 on a 10-yard Dibble touchdown run and Baslow’s conversion run. Larsen countered with a 1-yard touchdown, and Femia ran in the conversion to tie the score with 35 seconds left in the first half.
“When it was 14-14 at halftime, we told the kids it was going to be a four-quarter fight,” Carnot said. “It was still that way after the first drive of the third quarter, then we scored and we looked ready to roll.
West Canada Valley went up 20-14 on 37-yard touchdown run by Baslow on the opening drive of the second half. Femia ran three yards on a sweep to the right side to tie the score, then cut inside to the right on his two-point run that gave the Red Hawks a two-point lead late in the third quarter.
West Canada Valley, which was beaten 26-14 by Cooperstown one week ago, had last lost back-to-back games during the 2018 season. The Nighthawks played without four injured starters Friday and dressed just 14 players, two more than the minimum required for eight-player competition.
“We’re very banged up,” Hobin said. “With four starters on the sideline, everybody has to contribute.”
West Canada Valley returns home for an Oct. 17 game against 5-1 Waterville, a 26-19 winner Friday over Cooperstown. Sauquoit Valley plays at New York Mills on Oct. 18.
Waterville 26, Cooperstown 19
Ian Carney threw three touchdown passes to Rylan Stanton Friday in the Waterville Eagles’ 26-19 victory over the Cooperstown Hawkeyes.
The third Carney-to-Stanton scoring pass broke a 19-all tie in the third quarter and proved to be a game-winner when neither team scored in the fourth.
Carney completed six of nine passes for 155 yards with Stanton accounting for 141 of the yards on his three touchdown catches that went for 53, 27 and 61 yards.
Carney also led Waterville (5-1, 2-1 8 South/East) with 96 yards rushing and scored on an 11-yard run in the first quarter. Kian Mayne added 64 yards rushing, and Ethan Kimball had 52.
Brenin Dempsey threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Spaulding for Cooperstown (3-3, 1-2 8 South/East), and Max Koffer had two short touchdown runs.
Both teams play on the road October 17, Cooperstown at Frankfort-Schuyler, and Waterville at West Canada Valley.
Central Valley Academy 42, Camden 28
Cal Jacquays ran for four touchdowns Friday in a 42-28 Central Valley Academy Thunder win over the Camden Blue Devils.
Jacquays ran 35 times for a career-high 236 yards and scored on runs of 7, 1, 2 and 12 yards. Quarterback Brayden Voorhees threw a touchdown pass to Brody Vogel and added an 18-yard scoring run among his 13 carries for 72 yards rushing.
Adam Gonzalez had 192 yards passing for Camden (1-5, 0-3 B East) and threw touchdown passes to Evan Gonzalez and Alex Lallier in the fourth quarter; he also led the team with 72 yards rushing and scored on a 1-yard run. Brayden Fuller also ran for a touchdown.
Both teams play on the road October 17; Central Valley Academy (3-3, 1-2 B East) at Chittenango, and Camden at Cortland.
Cicero-North Syracuse 35, Utica-Proctor 26
The Cicero-North Syracuse Northstars rallied past Utica’s Proctor Raiders on Friday, scoring the final 21 points to claim a 35-26 victory.
Proctor (2-4, 2-3 AA-1) led 26-14 in the second half after quarterback Wyatt Robinson III and receiver Walter Phillips connected on their third touchdown pass of the game.
Miy’Jon McDowell Reid ran 27 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and Cicero-North Syracuse (4-2, 3-1 AA-1) trailed by five points entering the fourth.
The Northstars took the lead on a 27-yard Braydon Dems-to-Alexander Salloum touchdown pass, and McDowell Reid added a 5-yard run for his second touchdown.
McDowell Reid ran for 201 yards for Cicero-North Syracuse, and Dems passed for 122 with 64 yards rushing, including a 55-yard touchdown.
Robinson was 15-for-22 passing for 157 yards, and Phillips caught 11 passes for 113 yards, including second quarter touchdowns of 30 and 5 yards. Dennis Allen led the Raiders with 63 yards rushing and scored a touchdown.
Proctor has an October 18 home game against Newburgh Free Academy from Section IX.
Lowville Academy 52, Herkimer 3
Class D newcomer Lowville Academy continued its dominant run through its new level of competition with Friday’s 52-3 victory over the Herkimer Magicians.
Lowville Academy’s unbeaten Red Raiders (6-0, 6-0 D-1) matched their season’s scoring high from one week ago and continued a streak that has seen them win each game by at least two touchdowns. A Class C team in the past, Lowville Academy competed in C East last year with a 5-2 regular season record; the school’s enrollment dropped below the C/D cutoff line for this season.
Toran Zehr threw two touchdown passes to Carter Fowler for Lowville Academy, and four Red Raiders ran for touchdowns.
Herkimer (2-4, 1-4 D-1) scored first but led only briefly. Shane Maxon kicked a 23-yard field goal to get the scoring started, but Ethan Myers ran the ensuing kickoff back 95 yards for a Lowville Academy touchdown.
The Red Raiders added three more touchdowns in the first quarter and led 45-3 at halftime.
Herkimer plays its final home game October 17 against Notre Dame of Utica. Lowville Academy plays on the road next week at General Brown, a rival from Class C that also entered Week 6 undefeated.
Morrisville-Eaton 68, South Lewis 0
Morrisville-Eaton won its fourth consecutive game and shut out its second consecutive opponent Friday when the Mavericks won 68-0 at South Lewis.
The Mavericks (4-2, 2-0 8 North/West), who also scored 68 points against Section II Corinth two weeks ago, scored 30 points in Friday’s second quarter and 22 in the third.
Mason Marland ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns for Morrisville-Eaton. Taiden Eaton had 109 and one score, Wesley Dimperio ran for 76 and two, Noah Mudge had the team’s sixth rushing touchdown.
Marland and Gavin Baker added touchdowns on fumble recoveries, and Cade Zaleski forced two fumbles to go with his nine tackles and two sacks on defense.
Mavericks quarterback Landen Highers completed all three of the passes he threw.
The loss snapped a three-game win streak for South Lewis (3-3, 2-1 8 North/West).
Morrisville-Eaton plays at home against Thousand Islands on October 17.
Adirondack 26, Weedsport 19
Robert Weiler ran for four touchdowns Friday in the Adirondack Wildcats’ first win of the season.
Adirondack (1-5) led 20-7 at halftime on its way to a 26-19 victory at Weedsport (3-3).
Weiler scored on runs of 50, 5 and 9 yards in the first half, and 54 yards in the third quarter.
Trevor Moon ran for three touchdowns for Weedsport’s Wolverines.
Adirondack plays at home October 18 against Oneida.
Utica-Notre Dame 26, Cato-Meridian 24
The Notre Dame Jugglers made it three wins in a row Friday when they defeated the Cato-Meridian Blue Devils 26-24 on the road.
The Jugglers (3-3, 2-3 D-1), who ended a long victory drought two weeks ago, scored twice in the second quarter and went ahead 14-8 at halftime. Quarterback Owen Bougourd threw two touchdown passes, and D’Marco Santiago ran for two scores.
The loss was the second for Cato-Meridian (4-2, 3-2 D-1) after a 4-0 start to the season.
Santiago ran 25 times for 178 yards and his two touchdowns, giving him 560 yards and 10 touchdowns during the Notre Dame win streak. Bougourd was 11-for-19 passing for 261 yards and threw both touchdowns to Clyde Taylor, who led the team with five receptions for 103 yards. Andrew Guidera caught three passes for 91 yards.
Ryan Pollock ran for 106 yards and scored two touchdowns for Cato-Meridian.
Notre Dame next plays October 17 at Herkimer.
Mt. Markham 42, Beaver River 26
The Mt. Markham Mustangs earned their first on-field victory Friday when they defeated the Beaver River Beavers 42-26.
The Mustangs (2-4, 1-4 D-1), who had scored 20 points in four previous games, led 22-20 at halftime Friday and limited Beaver River (2-4, 1-4 D-1) to a single touchdown in the second half.
Jamison Young ran for 152 yards, caught six passes for 137, and scored four touchdowns for Mt. Markham, two each rushing and receiving. Asher Pasquale completed eight of the nine passes he threw for 144 yards and the two touchdowns; he also ran for 90 yards and a touchdown. Evan Kocienda had 61 yards rushing in the win.
Beaver River quarterback Matthew Moon passed for 224 yards and one touchdown, and Alex Kloster ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Mt. Markham plays on the road October 17 at Dolgeville, the Mustangs’ opponent in Section III’s last two Class D championship games.
Elsewhere Friday:
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Goal line stand sparks Sauquoit Valley win, and other area high school football scores
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
