WHITESBORO — Whitesboro knocked the Auburn Maroons from the ranks of Section III’s Class A unbeatens Thursday, Sept. 18, with a 43-20 victory at Chiz Frye Field.
Playing at home for the first time since its season-opening loss to Class AA state champion Christian Brothers Academy of Syracuse, Whitesboro (2-1) scored 22 points in the first quarter and led 36-7 after three. Senior quarterback Mike Hill threw three touchdown passes to junior Connor McDonald, and Hill and McDonald also ran for three other scores.
“We’re definitely in a better place than we were the first week,” McDonald said. “The loss made us more hungry. You can see it in practice. We’re working harder; we have to keep competing.”
Hill completed six of seven passes for 155 yards, all to McDonald who also had 133 yards rushing. The three touchdown passes covered 62, 52 and 24 yards, all in the first quarter.
“Our best athlete needs to have the ball,” Whitesboro coach Curtis Schmidt said of McDonald, the team’s second-leading rusher and top receiver as a sophomore on last year’s sectional championship team and state finalist. “Running the ball, split out as a receiver, we have to find creative ways to get the ball in his hands.”
Hill had a 15-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and ran a 1-yard sneak in the fourth after Auburn (2-1) had closed within two scores, and McDonald set up first-and-goal with a 36-yard run.
Matthew Smith threw three touchdown passes for Auburn, one to Carson Bona to briefly tie the score at 7 in the first quarter, and two to Jae’ssiest Smith in the fourth.
The Maroons’ loss leaves Carthage (2-0) and East Syracuse-Minoa (2-0) as the section’s remaining Class A unbeatens heading into their head-to-head meeting Friday in Carthage.
Whitesboro plays at East Syracuse-Minoa September 26.
West Canada Valley 48, Clinton 0
David Valasek ran for four touchdowns and the West Canada Valley defense pitched a shutout Thursday in the Nighthawks’ 48-0 victory over the Clinton Comets.
The unbeaten Nighthawks (3-0) led 24-0 at halftime and added 24 more points in the second half. Valasek scored on runs of 1 yard in the first quarter, 7 in the second, and 15 and 9 in the third; he also ran for two two-point conversions.
Tyler Dibble had a 30-yard touchdown run between Valasek’s first-half scores. The Nighthawks had a chance to add to their lead before halftime but had a pass intercepted in the final two minutes of the second quarter after Clinton (1-2) drove to the 5-yard line and turned the ball over on downs.
Carson Baslow scored the final West Canada Valley touchdown.
The Nighthawks have another Thursday night home game against New York Mills September 25. New York Mills defeated Thousand Islands 54-28 on the road Thursday for its first win of the season.
Waterville 43, Syracuse-OnTech 14
The Waterville Eagles scored 29 points in the first quarter of Thursday’s 43-14 victory over Syracuse’s OnTech Charter School.
The defense contributed two touchdowns and a safety for Waterville (3-0). After Ethan Kimball ran for the Eagles’ first touchdown, the Waterville defense pushed OnTech (0-2) back toward its goal line where the Gray Wolves snapped the ball out of the end zone, making the score 9-0.
Waterville had three more rushing touchdowns in the first quarter – two by Ian Carney and one by Ethan Wells – and its offense did not score after that. Brycen Kilt picked up a fumble and ran 15 yards for a touchdown 97 seconds into the second quarter, extending the lead to 36-0. Kayden Wells went almost the length of the field with an interception – 95 yards - for his touchdown late in the third quarter.
Elsewhere Thursday:
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Whitesboro, West Canada Valley, Waterville win big in Thursday football contests
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
