Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014: Niagara Falls wins with late miracle

   Leading off today: Friday's action in Cheektowaga reminded us that football games are 48 minutes and not 47 minutes and change.

   Trailing by six with 4:02 to play, Niagara Falls found itself burning timeouts and watching Cheektowaga move the chains.

   And then the tables turned.

   With :20 left, senior safety Joey Medley stripped the ball from Jeffrey Menyah after the Niagara Falls line stood the running back up and returned it 82 yards for the tying touchdown. Jeffrey Menyah kicked the extra point and the Wolverines went home with a 22-21 victory.

   "The linemen held him up and I just grabbed it," Medley told the Niagara Gazette. "Then I didn't hear the referees blow the whistle, so I took off."

   More from Section 6: Jamestown swamped West Seneca West 68-7 as QB Nick Holland scored four rushing TDs and was 7-for-7 passing for 90 yards.

   North Tonawanda downed Williamsville East 41-14 as Chris Woodard ran for three TDs and threw for the other three. Woodard rushed for 208 yards and threw for 78.

   Furious comeback: Middletown capped a huge fourth-quarter comeback and beat Port Jervis 36-33 on a 56-yard halfback option pass from Ben Akoko to Gillespie with :32.5 to play. The Middies had trailed by 19 points with over 5:37 remaining.

   Middletown leads Port Jervis 71-58-7 in the all-time series, the state's longest in terms of games played.

   "I just let it fly," Akoko told the Times Herald-Record. "I saw Eamon open and I just threw it. I knew I just had to make one move. We still had hope on the sideline. We never gave up. But I still can't believe it. I can't believe it."

   Port Jervis took a 33-14 lead on a 29-yard pass from Noah Knesel to Jack Piscitelli, but Middletown responded with a 38-yard touchdown from quarterback Brandon Nugent to Isahiah Reyes and then a 2-point conversion. Nugent connected with Cleveland Perez for a 38-yard TD with :43.2 seconds left and converted another 2-point conversion to make it 33-30.

   The Middies' Rachi Jordan then recovered an onside kick at the Middletown 44.

   On the next play, Akoko took a hand off from Nugent, avoided a defender and got the pass off to a wide-open Gillespie.

   "I'm at a loss for words," Gillespie said.

   Run for it: Corning amassed 625 yards of total offense, including 579 on the ground, in beating Windsor 56-8. The

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Hawks' first three scoring drives consisted of two, two and three plays.

   Steve Crouch went over 100 yards on the ground in the first quarter and finished with 11 carries for 145 yards, and seven others carried for at yeast 34 yards.

   Nearly flawless: Junior quarterback Todd LaRocca, who was a Rush-Henrietta receiver last fall, completed 12 of 13 passes for 239 yards and four touchdowns as Bishop Kearney routed Canisteo-Greenwood 65-0.

   LaRocca also ran 22 yards for a score.

   Jalen Long caught five passes for 109 yards and one TD for the Kings.    Section 3 surprise: Sherburne-Earville topped General Brown 40-21 as Ben Khoury ran back an interception 60 yards and Matt Hull returned a kickoff 73 yards for scores. Cody Marango and Brodie Roebuck each scored a pair of TDs for the winners.

   Heartbreak averted: Whitesboro squandered a three-TD lead but beat Jamesville-DeWitt 24-21 on Gary Caseb's 32-yard field goal with :04 to go.

   Donte Filleti threw two touchdowns for the Warriors.

   Scoreboard: Friday's list of scores from around the state has been posted.