Leading off: Sweet Home coach John Faller understands all too well that these are kids games being played and that the fame that comes with victories can be so fleeting, triumphs snuffed out by tragedies.

   On the far sideline Saturday stood Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake coach Matt Shell, whose 8-year-old son is undergoing cancer treatments in Massachusetts.

   And on his own sideline was the Panthers' No. 4, who was supposed to be Sweet Home's featured player this year but instead will never play another down of football. An offseason car wreck having left him confined to a wheelchair, all Deshanaro Morris -- "Day-Day" to his friends -- could do was cheer his teammates on during an impressive 34-7 victory to defend the title in the NYSPHSAA Class A football final at the Carrier Dome.

   "It's a great finish to a story," Faller said. "I talked to them before the game and said we had a team here that won a championship of the state when 'Day-Day' was playing. He didn't know it would be his last game but it was.

   "I asked the kids yo go out and play like it could be your last game. Day-day said a few things to them about it being a family and going out and getting the job done. No one is happier about it that he is."

   The message reverberated with senior Patrick McMahon, Sweet Home's first-year quarterback and one of 10 new starters on offense. He was at his finest in his finale, going 13-for-20 for 297 yards and a pair of long scoring plays in the second quarter of the rematch of the 2008 final.

   McMahon had modest stats in the first 12 games this fall -- a 53 percent completion percentage and 1,230 yards -- but don't try telling that to Burnt Hills. The senior was 6-for-8 for 220 yards and both of his TDs in the first half to build a 19-0 lead. It scarcely mattered that the Spartans were dominating first downs (10-5) and time of possession (18:22-5:38) because Sweet Home owned the scoreboard.

   Ralph Neasman scored on a 1-yard run 1:51 into the second quarter, then McMahon engineered three-play drives that ended with catch-and-run TDs of 91 yards to Jahaan Williams and 54 yards on a screen to D.J. Nettles.

   "In a big game, big players step up when they need to," McMahon said of Williams when he could also have been referring to himself. "Jahaan stepped up and ran a great hitch and go. I just put it up the sideline where only he could get it. We had to capitalize on it and we did."

   And referring to Nettles' play, he said: "When you throw it four yards and he takes it 50 it makes my job a lot easier."

   Said Nettles: "It was just execution and who wanted it more."

   Brandon Beatty gave Burnt Hills life on its opening possession of the second half by ripping off a 63-yard run for a touchdown, and then Evan Nusbaum stepped in front of Williams for a sideline interception on Sweet Home's ensuing possession. But Nettles returned the favor three plays later with a lunging interception of junior Marc Cerrone - who replaced an injured Phillip Neumann at the half -- at the 50.

   Sweet Home subsequently punted, but Nettles pulled down his second pick of the game. It resulted in a Neasman 3-yard run for a 26-7 lead with 10:13 left in the fourth quarter, and the junior running back made it a hat trick with a rugged 1-yard scoring run with 3:57 to go.

   "We built some momentum before that and then once all that happened we just lost it," said Beatty, who ran 22 times for 110 yards.

   Nettles finished with seven receptions for 142 yards, the two interceptions and six tackles. The 6-foot-3 senior, who has an offer from Syracuse and is also talking to several other Division I staffs, was selected the game's MVP.

   "There are some games when we don't get it to him six or eight times," Faller said, "but when we need him he's there. He's very reliable and has that talent. He's just one of those kids, I haven't had too many like him, but when he touches the ball you better hold your breath."

   Southwestern repeats: For a fleeting moment, Bronxville had the momentum following a score on the last play from scrimmage before halftime.

   And then it was gone, eviscerated in a 5:27 span of the third quarter as a 13-7 score became 26-7.

   Game MVP Zack Sopak threw a pair of short TD passes on Southwestern's first two possessions of the first half to refocus the Trojans and pave the way for a 40-

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14 victory.

   Southwestern has won 29 consecutive games following its second straight 13-0 season and NYSPHSAA championship.

   "We were really confident," Bronxville senior Brian Murray said of the halftime atmosphere in the locker room. "We thought we were going to go out, stop them, get the ball and score. That really killed us right there."

   The Trojans took the second-half kickoff and marched 55 yards to a short 7-yard Levi Bursch TD reception in just 1:50 into the third quarter, then held Bronxville on downs.

   Seven plays and 60 yards later, Sopak (8-for-16, 220 yards and four TDs) hit Nick Austin on a quick-hitter from the left side to score from 6 yards out three snaps after senior Will Sleggs (four catches, 153 yards) picked up 52 yards down the right sideline after a catch.

   And just that quickly it was game, set and match to Southwestern.

   "We played the same game we've played all year," Austin said after finishing with two TD catches for 34 yards, six tackles and an interception. "Defensive stop and score, stop and score."

   Southwestern held Bronxville to 44 second-half yards after a bend-but-don't-break first half by its defense left the Trojans with a 13-7 lead. Bronxville dominated first-half action but had nothing to show for it until the last play from scrimmage in the second quarter as quarterback Jack Near scrambled in from the 4-yard line to cap an 11-play, 54-yard drive and cut the deficit to 13-7.

   Bronxville held the ball for 46 plays (gaining 200 yards) to just 15 (for 174 yards) for Southwestern in the first two quarters. Time of possession was 19:07 to 4:53 in favor of the Broncos.

   "Man they're good," winning coach Jay Sirianni said. "They're big, physical and fast. We got some big plays in the first half or that's 21-13 at halftime, us down.

   The Trojans held Bronxville on downs at the Southwestern 15 midway through the first quarter, and Sopak connected for 52 yards to Jimmy Rauh. Two plays later, Sopak went 28 yards to Austin, who shook off Near at the 15 for a TD on a well-executed middle screen.

   Bronxville (11-1) drove again in the second quarter, but Sleggs intercepted Near's throw and made a short return to the Southwestern 37. Five plays later, Sopak lofted a ball to the back left corner, and Bursch reeled it in over junior Ryan Hackett for a 13-0 lead.

   Bursch led Southwestern with 79 yards in eight carries and made two TD catches foa nother 33 yards.

   Near topped Bronxville with 67 yards on the ground and finished 10-for-22 for 11 yards and two interceptions.

   Randolph rolls past Moriah: Mike Maycock ran for one score and threw for another in the final 44 seconds of the first half to break open a 14-0 game and spark Randolph to a 41-0 victory against Moriah in the Class D final, the opening game of the day's tripleheader.

   Maycock, a senior, scored on a 4-yard run with :44 left, then connected on a 15-yard pass to Eric Gruber to cap a two-play, 47-yard drive with :03 to go in the quarter. The Cardinals had gotten the ball back when Matt Lundsten recovered an onside kick.

   Maycock was selected the game's MVP after going 3-for-3 for 76 yards for the Cardinals (12-1), who ran the table in the small-school classification after suffering a 7-6 loss to 2008 state champion Maple Grove in the opener.

   The passes were the first attempted by Randolph since the Section VI semifinals. The Cardinals rolled up 601 yards on 60 rushes in the state semifinals to eliminate Groton.

   Matt Hettenbaugh (17 carries, 111 yards) and Alan Lockwood (12-92) helped Randolph grind out 364 yards in 55 attempts. Randolph held a 23-6 advantage in first downs against Moriah, which picked up just 121 yards of offense. The Vikings (9-3) played the first half minus Ron Schofield, a 295-yard rusher in the semifinals, due to an unspecified violation of team rules. Schofield finished with 8 carries for 19 yards.

   Randolph had previously won a NYSPHSAA championship in 2005.