Kicking off: Alex Debbins made a 21-yard field goal in the final seconds to give Lancaster a 9-7 victory over Orchard Park, ending a 17-game winning streak by the defending NYSPHSAA Class AA champions.
Orchard Park is ranked second and Lancaster eighth in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association.
Lancaster drove 69 yards beginning with 4:56 to go to the winning score to beat the Quakers for the first time since 2004. "The first time in it seems like forever," coach Len Jankiewicz told The Buffalo News.
Lancaster quarterback Justin Juda was 12-for-21 for 82 yards and ran 12 times for 114 yards. He threw for a first down to Sean Pantling early in the game-winning drive and ran for another first down to get to midfield. A completion to Cory Davis moved Lancaster to the 23, and Debbins came on six plays later for the winning kick with 10 seconds to go.
Lancaster, already minus four regulars, lost receiver Andrew Mrozek to a collarbone injury in the first half.
"We had players hurt, and for our quarterback not to have a stellar day in the first half -- they just kept plugging away," Jankiewicz said. "They're a bunch of undersized, good kids, your typical field-of-dreams kind of team. They're great kids to coach."
First down: Nyack, ranked eighth in Class A, suffered a 34-33 loss to unbeaten Fox Lane in a most unusual fashion as a "gimme" kick that could have won the game with :03 left turned into a missed 34-yard extra point.
Nyack converted three fourth downs and drove 96 yards to tie the game on quarterback Ray Nichols' 15-yard TD throw to Brandon Richards, but the team was called for excessive celebration -- a 15-yard penalty. Fox Lane's Tim Muller reached up to block Orlando Rivera's extra point, the Foxes scored first in overtime and then they stopped Nyack's two-point conversion attempt to win.
Jesse Hunt (16-for-30, 202 yards) threw four TD passes, including three to Muller.
"We were so bummed when they scored that we never even thought about a penalty there," Hunt told The Journal News. "It just proved that you have to believe until the last seconds. Anything can happen and it did."
In OT, Kuranja Elliot ran 19 yards on the first play and scored from a yard out on the second, and Muller's kick was good. Nyack responded with Venson Constant's 5-yard run, but a run attempt for a winning two-point conversion came up short.
Second down: Hilton, ranked sixth in Class AA, held off upstart Brockport 14-7 to remain undefeated. Michael Ingoglia (20 carries, 129 yards) scored the winning TD as the Cadets posted all of their points in the second quarter.
Hilton rushed for 225 yards on a sloppy field. After Ingoglia left with a shoulder injury, Ross Cosentino stepped up with five carries for 48 yards.
Brockport finished with 322 yards of offense, including 194 rushing by Dylan Brown. But the Blue Devils also fumbled five times, losing one.
Third down: Sweet Home junior Ralph Neasman rushed 30 times for 187 yards and scored four TDs as the Panthers, No. 1 in Class A and the defending state champion, earned a 44-23 victory over No. 6 Iroquois.
"I hold onto the ball like it's a little baby," Neasman told The Buffalo News. "I'm not ever letting it go."
"We did what we had to do and put 44 points up there on the board," Sweet Home coach John Faller said. "I'm going to let the guys enjoy this and then it's back to work."
QB Pat McMahon ran six times for 60 yards and K.J. Zinermon rushed three times for 69 yards in the win.
Fourth down: Winless a year ago, Ithaca improved to 5-0 under second-year coach Ed Redmond with a 34-6 triumph against Horseheads. Ithaca last won five games in 1994, when it finished 6-3.
"Ithaca's going to be a tough competitor and tough team to beat for anybody," Horseheads coach Damian Saks told The Ithaca Journal. "I don't care who it lines up across. I mean, the way they played tonight, with the
