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
