Leading off today: A backup quarterback throwing a halfback option. A first-year receiver running a play that hadn't worked for him all season. And coverage by the other team's play-making defensive back.

   Not much that could go wrong with that formula, huh?

   But somehow North Tonawanda stitched the elements together for a 12-yard touchdown pass and won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championship 14-7 over New Rochelle on Sunday at the Carrier Dome.

   Senior Darrik Bloomfield made the reception on a throw from junior Joe Montesanti, out-jumping Jonny McGhee in the right front corner of the end zone and gingerly clutching the ball as the defender took a final, futile swipe at it on the way down.

   "I didn't put a lot on it, but he's such a good athlete and he made the play," Montesanti said. "I knew it was good as soon as it went up."

   The play stood up to give Section 6 its second straight season with four state crowns. On Saturday, Sweet Home (Class A) and Southwestern (C) defended titles, and Randolph won its first crown since 2005.

   "What was that movie, Angels in the Outfield?" New Rochelle coach Lou DiRienzo asked. "Sometimes you need angels in the Dome and knock that thing down. They didn't have (any) wind blowing here today."

   For New Rochelle, it was heartbreak for the second time in five years under eerily similar circumstances. In 2004, future Rutgers and NFL star running back Ray Rice - a two-way starter, punter and return specialist -- was knocked from the game was a broken collarbone, opening the door for Greg Paulus to rally Syracuse CBA to a 41-35 triumph.

   This time, senior quarterback Lewis Edney exited with a badly injured left ankle with 3:24 to go in the first quarter and could not return. He emerged from the locker room at halftime on crutches and with the ankle heavily wrapped.

   With McGhee, last year's quarterback, remaining on the field at wide receiver, little-used junior Khaliq Butts overcame a slow start to rally New Rochelle into a 7-7 tie and establish momentum in the second half before North Tonawanda drove 11 plays and 77 yards to Bloomfield's leaping catch.

   "Khaliq is our backup quarterback," DiRienzo said. "He's worked hard all year long and he deserved that shot. We're a better football team with Jonny being a threat as a receiver."

   New Rochelle weathered back-to-back hits to limp to halftime trailing by just 7-0.

   First, the Lumberjacks drove six plays and 49 yards to a score - Mike Tuzzo's 21-yard strike over the top to junior Travis Charsley, open at the goal line behind two defenders - on its first possession of the game midway through the first quarter.

   Then, New Rochelle lost Edney. He had to be helped off the field by two coaches after a second-down carry and was unable to put weight on his left leg.

   New Rochelle punted one down later and North Tonawanda then drove methodically10 plays and 59 yards before turning the ball over on downs at the 19 when a third-and-10 screen pass to Charsley netted only six yards.

   New Rochelle went three-and-out in Butts' first full series and he missed on all four second-quarter throws, but the offense grew more successful in moving the ball on the ground later in the half, even driving to the North Tonawanda 13 in the closing moments only to have Eric Reid's 20-yard field-goal attempt nail the right upright and fall harmlessly into the end zone to keep the score 7-0.

   After North Tonawanda stalled out on the opening possession of the third quarter and punted, New Rochelle drove six plays and 69 yards to a TD. Diminutive halfback Julian Griffin scored on a 53-yard run down the right sideline after fullback Sir-Tay Jackson opened room on the corner with a blowout block of linebacker Travis Barke.

   "I thought we were going to win the game," Hugenots senior linebacker Lou DiRienzo Jr. said. "They weren't moving the ball like they were in the first half and we started move the ball offensively. That was a great sign.

   "Unfortunately, it was a great catch by No. 17, probably the greatest catch I've even seen. Great catch, great team and a classy program."

   The game remained tied until Tuzzo directed the 77-yard drive beginning late in the third quarter. Facing third-and-7 at the 12, Tuzzo pitched right to Montesanti, who

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threw to Bloomfield as McGhee charged hard to make a play.

   Bloomfield, listed in the program as two inches than McGhee but realistically holding a four-inch advantage, jumped too soon as the ball descended, but he used the reach advantage to reel in the throw at almost the same instant that McGhee was at his highest point, the ball gingerly resting against finger tips on either side.

   "I saw the ball was hung up in the air, and I just leaped up and I got it," Bloomfield said after being selected the game MVP for his five catches and seven tackles. "In the beginning of the season, people were talking about you guys are going to be good. I had faith in my team all along and we proved it to everybody now: state champs."

   As DiRienzo, the New Rochelle coach alluded to, Bloomfield's grip was so precarious that a gust of wing could have shaken the ball loose.

   "I know, I know," Bloomfield said.

   Said DiRienzo: "We were in a rolled-up coverage and the safety didn't get over the top there, so Jonny had to do double duty there. If you've got a guy you want going up for a jump ball it's him because he's got tremendous hops."

   Hornell rallies in second half: Hornell had some success throughout the year with letting sophomore quarterback Dominic Scavo throw the ball enough to keep opposing defenses honest.

   And the Red Raiders made a decent living springing star running back Austin Dwyer to the outside for lengthy rambles down the sideline.

   But there's something that Gene Mastin's team does even better. And returning to it in the second half made the difference in a 16-14 victory over Nanuet for the Class B championship.

   Nanuet held Hornell to 48 yards on 28 plays, largely a mix of incompletions or finesse running, to take a 7-0 lead into halftime. But the Red Raiders put up 163 yards in the second half - all but five on the ground - to grind out the win.

   "We wanted to throw the ball on them and we couldn't," Mastin said. "We wanted to get Austin outside and we couldn't. It just came down to what we do best and that's go straight ahead. We haven't had to do that a lot, but our kids are pretty tough kids."

   A Pat McCormick fumble recovery on the first play of the second half launched an 11-play, 38-yard drive that included nine straight carries by Dwyer and concluded with the senior's 2-yard TD run. That play and some trickery on the extra point switched the momentum just enough to make a difference.

   "We didn't do that much wrong," said Nanuet fullback Bret Bonomolo. "They just played a better game than us and they were a better team than us."

   And they had luck on their side to boot. New York rules require playoff football teams to supply opponents with tapes of their last three games. Had they been required to go one game further back, Hornell would have tipped Nanuet off about the "muddle huddle," a formation on extra points in which all the linemen except the center set up on the line of scrimmage near the left sideline.

   It's up to Scavo to execute based upon how the defense reacts. If the opposition lines up over the ball, he fires to a well-protected Dwyer on the far sideline and he walks in for the two-point conversion. Otherwise, he throws between the hash marks or scrambles. This time he hit junior end Jordan Schwartz straight ahead for the 8-7 lead.

   "We used it in the (Section 5) semifinal game," Mastin said. "But the problem is was a penalty on the two-point conversion and it moved it up by a yard and a half. Our people went like sheep and lined up in their spots and we had everybody off the line."

   The was no such misfortune this time, and Hornell came back in its next possession to drive eight plays for 79 yards as Scavo hit Keegan Piece for a 5-yard TD pass and a 16-7 lead.

   Nanuet drove to a TD late in the game and had a final possession at its 20 with 1:58 to play, but Dwyer intercepted a third-down pass to end the threat.

   Dwyer was selected the game's MVP after carrying 35 times for 169 yards, bringing his season total to 2,836 yards. That's the No. 6 mark in state history.