First down: New personnel, same results. So Sweet Home is going back to the Carrier Dome despite a slew of turnovers Friday in Rochester.

   Senior Jahaan Williams made a 28-yard touchdown catch and picked off two passes, returning the second one 46 yards for the clinching score as the Panthers defeated Whitesboro 36-13 in the NYSPHSAA Class A football semifinals.

   "It was such a momentus achievement to get there once, and to get there twice in back-to-back years, with all the new guys we've got in here playing, I don't know what to say," veteran coach John Faller told The Buffalo News. "It's just hard work, a lot of enthusiasm, kids that wanted to repeat and have their own identity."

   Coming off a polished performance to beat Aquinas in the quarterfinals, Sweet Home was sloppy at times vs. Whitesboro and gave up three turnovers in a first half despite building a 22-7 lead, then D.J. Nettles fumbled away the second-half kickoff near midfield.

   But Williams made his first interception two plays later to get the ball back at the Sweet Home 47 and set up a six-play drive capped by Nettles' 4-yard TD run. Whitesboro regained momentum with a TD and the recovery of an onside kick, but Williams reached over wideout Mike Sullivan to snatch the ball away on a highly athletic move and blazed down the Whitesboro sideline for the clinching score.

   Sweet Home draws a rematch with Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in the final. Sweet Home was a 35-28 winner at the Carrier Done in the 2008 final.

   Second down: Burnt Hills wore down Cornwall with a steady diet of Evan Nusbaum en route to a 41-16 semifinal triumph over the Green Dragons.

   Nusbaum ran for 319 yards and three touchdowns to power a ground game responsible for 445 of the Spartans' 532 yards on offense. "We wanted to make it clear who deserves to be (in the Carrier Dome)," Nusbaum told The Times Union.

   Burnt Hills' third possession was a six-play, 86-yard drive capped by Nusbaum's 29-yard run. A 29-yard Keaton Flint catch on third-and-19 on the next series set up a 2-yard TD run by Brandon Beatty to make it 14-3, and then Nusbaum intercepted a pass and followed up by ripping off a 96-yard scoring run in the final minute of the first half.

   The result brings about a battle of unbeatens in Syracuse.

   "They are a first-class team," Burnt Hills coach Matt

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Shell said of the Panthers. "We are excited to play Sweet Home. They are top-notch football. You want to play the best. They are the best."

   Third down: Ron Schofield rushed 38 times for 295 yards and two touchdowns to spark Moriah's 22-13 victory over Eldred and a return to the NYSPHSAA Class D final.

   The Vikings defense got three sacks from Wally Edwards and two from Nate Gilbo. Kicker Ryan Mascarenas, who had an extra point blocked and missed a field goal try earlier, sealed the win with a 21-yarder field goal with 1:59 to play.

   Nick Gilbo scored the first touchdown on a 2-yard run and the Vikings stopped Eldred inside the Moriah 1 on the ensuing possession.

   Fourth down: Randolph took a pass on throwing passes -- to the surprise of no one and to the detriment of Groton.

   The Cardinals ran 60 times for 601 yards in a 61-8 thumping of Groton in Class D action in Rochester. Alan Lockwood rushed for four TDs, including three on carries of 36 yards or longer, and finished with 220 yards on 16 carries. Matt Hettenbaugh chipped in with 26 carries for 228 yards.

   However, the Cardinals may have lost linebacker Tyler Mendell for the final. Mendell suffered a knee injury while making a third-down tackle for a loss in the second quarter with Randolph clinging to a 6-0 lead.

   "When one of our captains went down everyone stepped up and said let's bring it home for our boy," said Travis Terry, who ran for two TDs.