Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018: Saratoga turns the tables on Shenendehowa

   Leading off today: Reversing a 28-point loss a week earlier, Saratoga withstood a fourth-quarter rally and defeated Shenendehowa 34-26 in the Section 2 Class AA football semifinals Friday.

   "We had to forget about that and we were really motivated after getting smacked by them. We got embarrassed," Saratoga junior Christian Kondo said. "But this is the one that meant something."

   With their win against the No. 18 Plainsmen, 30th-ranked Saratoga advances to take on No. 9 Shaker in Friday's final.

   Saratoga fell behind 35-0 last week before scoring. This time. the Blue Streaks drove 71 yards in seven plays with the opening possession to go ahead on a 9-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jake Williams (12-for-24, 189 yards, two TDs) to Kondo.

   Shenendehowa responded by driving 73 yards over 15 plays to pull within 7-6, but 'Toga's Carter Steingraber returned the ensuing kickoff up the middle for an 85-yard TD.

   More Class AA: Lancaster pulled out a 21-20 victory over Williamsville North in a semifinal rematch of last year's Section 6 AA title game, driving 78 yards to a short Gianluca Fulciniti TD run early in the fourth quarter.

   WSW barely advances: QB Maurice Robertson, who played the second half with an injury to his left leg, ran in a 2-point conversion after Bryan Ball's TD with :41.3 left as defending NYSPHSAA Class A champion West Seneca West edged Starpoint 50-49.

   John Speyer then capped a four-touchdown night by intercepting Starpoint QB Aaron Chase (29-for-39, 382 yards) with :32 left to wrap up the Indians' 24th straight victory.

   No. 21 Starpoint fought back from a 21-0 deficit created by three Speyer scoring carries in the first quarter and led 49-42 with 3:38 left.

   "Starpoint caught us off-guard and found our weaknesses," said Speyer, who ran for 253 yards on 12 carries for the state's co-No. 1 team. "They just kept doing it. But we overcame it, and we came back."

   Rye pulls upset: Sixteenth-ranked Rye scored three touchdowns in the second quarter and avenged its only loss with a 28-21 win over No. 6 Clarkstown South.

   QB Declan Lavelle punched in a 1-yard touchdown with 5:19 left in regulation to cap a 97-yard drive and close out the scoring.

   "It wasn't perfect, but man, we did enough perfect stuff," Rye coach Dino Garr said.

   More Class A: No. 23 Victor and No. 4 Irondequoit will play for the Section 5 crown next weekend.

   Victor scored on the third play from scrimmage on a 55-yard run by sophomore Rushawn Baker en route to a 27-7 win over No. 12 Canandaigua. The Blue Devils' next possession was an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by Baker's 8-yard rush.

   "We weren't ready to play, for whatever reason," said Canandaigua coach Jeff Welch. "And we were making mistakes that we hadn't made all year and you just can't do that in the playoffs."

   Irondequoit crushed No. 25 Rochester East 39-8, holding its opponent without a first down in the first 23:39 of the contest and to just 33 yards of offense in its first 34 plays on the night.

   "We spent a long week in practice reading their offense, watching their plays and that really paid off tonight," senior linebacker Jimmy Clements said. "We read their guards, our corners played great and locked down. I'm proud of what we accomplished tonight."

   QB Freddy June Jr. helped stake the winners to a 39-0 lead with TD runs of 23, 37 and 8 yards. He finished with 14 carries for 116 yards.

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    • D'Andre Lashley and Vincent Daviero ran for more than 100 yards apiece as No. 18 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake posted a 35-12 win over No. 20 Troy, winner of the previous two Section 2 Class AA champions and a 2018 state titlist.

   Jakai Townsend's 64-yard TD run gave the Spartans a 14-0 advantage early in the third quarter before Lashley scored his second touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run with 6:08 left in the period. Following a Troy fumble, Daviero scored on a 3-yard run to push the lead to 28-0.

   Troy lost sophomore quarterback Alex Wolfe to a hyper-extended knee late in the first half.

    • Carthage avenged one of its two losses this season with two TDs by Fombo Azah and a 38-yard field goal by Casey Farrell to upset No. 9 Whitesboro 31-9.

   Jacob Demko finished with 148 yards and a TD on 33 carries.

   Class B: Donovan Pacatte threw three TD passes, rushed for a touchdown, returned a fumble for a score and kicked a field goal to lead Cobleskill-Richmondville past Schuylerville 36-30.

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   No. 19 C-R took a 30-0 halftime lead but No. 12 Schuylerville responded with 23 third-quarter points to make it a game down the stretch.

    • Mike Rigerman finished with 30 carries for 204 yards and three touchdowns, while adding nine tackles and a fumble recovery on defense in No. 4 Pioneer's 28-0 win over No. 15 Fredonia/Brocton.

   Class C: Junior defensive lineman Cooper Pannes stopped Wilson QB Steve Frerichs' 2-point conversion attempt in overtime to secure Southwestern's 45-44 victory in a Section 6 semifinal.

   The ending was similar to the 2017 semifinal in which Wilson trailed by a point late in the fourth quarter and missed on a 2-point conversion attempt in a 28-27 loss to the Trojans.

   "The same thing happened last year, so we're used to it. It doesn't feel any better. They played their butts off," Wilson coach William Atlas said. "Once again, we were down and not one person quit. ... We came up a yard short."

   Southwestern had the ball first in OT, using two Lakemen penalties and a 4-yard run from Cole Snyder to set up a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Zishan Munir's third consecutive carry was a 1-yard TD, and the conversion kick made it 45-38.

   Three rushing plays set up Frerichs' 1-yard keeper to the right for the TD, setting up the decisive conversion try.

   Frerichs went 15 of 32 for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Snyder threw for three scores and rushed 23 times for 107 yards. Alex Card kicked three field goals, caught a TD and intercepted a pass in the win.

   Long Island: Trey Berry went 6-for-7 for 246 yards and four touchdowns to lead Ward Melville past Commack 43-7. J.J. Laap caught four passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns, and added a 30-yard interception return for a score in the second quarter.

   Eight-man football: Weedsport scored twice on its first four offensive plays and finished with five rushing scores of over 50 yards in a 76-46 win over South Lewis in the Section 3 semifinals.

   Max Horsford rushed for 178 yards and four touchdowns, caught a 35-yard TD pass and returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score. Aidan Mabbett ran for 173 yards on only five carries and also returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown.

   Also noteworthy: In a matchup of winless opponents, Copiague defeated Deer Park 20-14 and snapped a 27-game losing streak.

   Junior Noah Tiringer threw three touchdown passes to receiver Khalil Chester, including a 78-yard winning score with 3:05 left to snap a 14-14 tie.

   "I wanted to get a win for the seniors," said Chester, a junior. "That's all I wanted. I wanted them to get a win before they got out of here."

   More big numbers: Sam Florio of Port Jefferson ran for a school-record 417 yards and scored six touchdowns on 33 carries in a 52-41 win over Greenport/Southold. Florio also passed for a score. ... Reno Molina ran for 303 yards on 17 carries with four touchdowns to lead Comsewogue past Hauppauge 49-6. He also led the defense with seven tackles.

   Matt Jones went 15-for-24 for 400 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown to lead Bellmore JFK over New Hyde Park 52-6. Zach Schuit made six catches for 220 yards. ... Jacob Ritts played only a half but completed 9 of 12 passes for 270 yards and four touchdowns as St. Francis dominated Bishop Timon-St. Jude 44-8.

   Scoreboard: You can check out all of the Week 9 scores on our Road to Syracuse website.