MARCY ― After moving its game to an alternate site earlier Thursday, Whitesboro opened its quest for a third consecutive Section III Class A high school football championship with a 49-21 quarterfinal victory over Central Square on Thursday, Oct. 30, on the opening night of Section III’s playoffs.
Playing on the artificial surface of the high school’s Ed Wadas Athletic Complex for the first time since the Fall II season in the spring of 2021, Whitesboro (8-1) jumped ahead 28-0 in the first quarter and led 35-0 at halftime.
“We came out fast, scored quickly,” Whitesboro coach Curtis Schmidt said. “We were fortunate to get a lot of guys in the game early.
“This game was about winning, moving on, and staying healthy.”
Junior Connor McDonald scored four of his career-high six touchdowns before halftime and the Whitesboro defense stifled Central Square (4-5), a team Whitesboro defeated 68-32 last September.
Giovanni Long got the scoring started with a 61-yard touchdown run. McDonald then ran 32 yards for his first touchdown, and caught scoring passes from Frank Zupancic covering 25 and 35 yards in the first quarter; his 6-yard touchdown run capped the first half scoring with one minute left in the second quarter.
Whitesboro’s second offense took over for the second half but the starters returned after the Redhawks climbed back within three scores. Zupancic and McDonald hooked up two more times on passing touchdowns covering 64 and 24 yards.
McDonald had five-touchdown games against Nottingham and Auburn this season. He has scored 33 times in nine games this fall.
Zupancic’s four touchdown passes were also a new high, topping the three he threw against Watertown two weeks ago.
Ciro Cecile and Connor Card ran for Central Square touchdowns in the third quarter, and Jaxx Dardano scored on a pass from Brody Sobotka in the fourth.
Whitesboro plans to return to Chiz Frye Field for next week’s semifinal against Carthage.
“I hate it (here),” Schmidt said of playing on the turf that is home to Whitesboro soccer, field hockey and lacrosse. “Our stadium is a special place to play. It’s downtown, in the village, and it’s a tradition.”
Carthage was a 21-3 winner at Auburn as the No. 5 seed; Jacob Kilbourn ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns for Carthage, and Zach Pettit ran 97 yards with a fumble for another score. Whitesboro was a 28-12 winner at Carthage in the teams’ Oct. 24 regular season finale.
Class B: New Hartford 48, South Jefferson 12
Top seed New Hartford advanced with a 48-12 Class B quarterfinal victory over South Jefferson.
New Hartford’s unbeaten Spartans (9-0) led 35-0 at halftime on their home field. Junior Niko Martinez scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, added a fourth at the start of the second half and went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season with a career-high 241 on 13 carries.
The first three Martinez touchdowns followed punts by South Jefferson (2-7) and were scored in a four-minute span. Martinez caught an 18-yard pass from John Vitullo on the Spartans’ first possession; he ran 56 yards for a score on the play immediately following a punt that rolled dead on New Hartford’s side of midfield, and went 58 yards two plays after the next kick.
South Jefferson punted again to start the second quarter, and Peyton Way ran 75 yards on the next play for touchdown that was nullified by an illegal block downfield. Three plays later, Way scored on a 15-yard run that counted. Way scored again late in the first half when he was on the receiving end of a 36-yard Vitullo touchdown pass.
The Spartans added a 3-yard Martinez touchdown run and 30-yard Vitullo-to-Way scoring pass in the third quarter. Vitullo completed seven of the 10 passes he threw for 128 yards, and Way caught four passes for 88 yards while also running for 56 yards on four carries.
South Jefferson quarterback Brayden Miick threw two touchdown passes to Tommy Piddock in the second half.
The Spartans will play at home again next weekend in the semifinals against Indian River, the No. 4 seed and two-time defending champion. The Wolves, who beat New Hartford in the section’s last two Class B title games, were a 48-28 winner Thursday over Central Valley Academy. New Hartford was a 50-48 winner over Indian River at home in the teams’ season opener; the Spartans led 28-0 in the first half of that game and 36-6 early in the second before the Wolves scored the final 20 points and closed to within two.
Class B: Indian River 48, Central Valley Academy 28
Two-time defending champion Indian River grabbed its second win this season over the visiting Thunder.
Senior Trevor Shawcross ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns on six carries for No. 4 seed Indian River (6-3) and also threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Teagan Wynne. All three of the Shawcross touchdown runs came after halftime, and the last one covered 92 yards.
Central Valley Academy (4-5) scored first and trailed 16-14 at halftime before allowing 32 points in the second half. The Thunder had trailed Indian River 30-24 at home at halftime of the teams’ Week 2 meeting, an eventual 60-24 loss.
Ariel Raymond added 109 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Wolves and added an interception. Mason Lebron ran six yards for a score on his only carry.
Indian River plays at No. 1 New Hartford in next weekend’s semifinals. The Wolves defeated New Hartford 34-26 in overtime in last fall’s Class B championship game, and won 28-27 with a touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute of the 2023 game.
Eight Player: Waterville 39, South Lewis 16
The season ended the way it started for South Lewis, with a loss to the Eagles.
Waterville (8-1), seeded third and playing at home, held South Lewis (4-5) scoreless in the first half and led 25-0 in the third quarter en route to a 39-16 victory, its fifth in a row. The Eagles had beaten the Falcons 48-20 at home to start the season.
The Eagles got the scoring started by blocking a punt, with Tyler Kitchen scooping the ball and running 25 yards for a touchdown two minutes into the game.
Ryan Mosher ran for a score in the first quarter, and quarterback Ian Carney ran 71 and 53 yards for touchdowns in the second and third quarters. Rylan Stanton returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown after South Lewis scored in the third quarter, and Mosher added an 11-yard touchdown run.
Carney had 174 yards rushing on nine carries.
Jack Teel and Gunner Galarneau ran for South Lewis touchdowns.
Waterville’s semifinal opponent will be the winner of a Nov. 1 game between Cooperstown and Morrisville-Eaton.
More Thursday, Oct. 30, New York high school football scores
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: See who won Thursday on opening night of the Section III high school football playoffs
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
