Leading off today: Jack Burger has one of the toughest jobs in high school sports this week.

   He has to prop up the morale of several dozen teenagers who gave their all yesterday but still came up short.

   "The kids think when they lose that they let you down," the Troy coach said after the Flying Horses fell to Rush-Henrietta 40-28. "That's not the case. They let no one down. They carried the community, the school, the parents and the coaches on their back. We came back and pounded it right at them -- and showed them what we've done all season long. It just didn't hold up."

   And that shouldn't distract from the fact the Troy was one half of what for three solid hours was the greatest show on turf. R-H and Troy battled back and forth, entertaining and amazing the crowd at the Carrier Dome.

   In the end, it came down to a defensive play by the day's outstanding offensive player and Rush-Henrietta went home with its first NYSPHSAA Class AA football championship. With the Royal Comets clinging to a six-point lead and Troy trying to make one last run from its own 38-yard line, Ashton Broyld blitzed and rolled up Brian Marsh for an 11-yard sack to finally put the Flying Horses in a hole from which they could not escape. Davon Wofford followed with another sack three plays later to force a turnover on downs, and Broyld tacked on his second TD of the day to wrap up the triumph.

   Besides his cameo appearance on defense in the second half, Broyld ran 23 times for 196 yards, threw for 94 yards and another score and earned game MVP honors. He fell 41 passing yards short of becoming the second QB in state history to throw for 2,000 and run for 1,000 in a season, but he made an impression while continuing his superb rampage through the postseason.

   "He makes plays," R-H coach Joe Montesano said. "That's what you expect out of your best kid."

   And the game was what you would expect of of two high-powered offenses. R-H and Troy combined for 599 yards in the second half alone, including 307 on the ground by Troy, and 902 for the afternoon.

   The fireworks came at breakneck speed; the Flying Horses rang up touchdowns on three consecutive offensive snaps in the third quarter but still only outscored R-H by 21-12 in the period.

   "In my mind I was always prepared for the big plays -- what's the worst that can happen?" Broyld said. When you're prepared for that, in your mind you're like, "Oh, well, let's go handle business."

   Handling business began with Devin Wofford bringing back the opening kickoff 89 yards for a TD and Broyld scoring from eight yards out two plays after a dynamic 45-yard run midway through the first quarter.

   "We spotted then seven points to start the game," Burger said. "They turned the scoreboard on and they had seven on their side."

   Down 14-0, senior running back Jordan Canzeri ripped off a 56-yard scoring run just three plays after Broyd's TD, and the teams went to halftime with R-H up 14-7. When Troy opened the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped off by Canzeri's 4-yard run and then forced Rush-Henrietta into a three-and-out, momentum started to shift.

On the next play, the Flying Horses took their first lead when Shatiek Lewis got to the outside, tight-roped the sideline and made a nasty cut to the hash marks near the 15 to leave defensive back Chauncey Scissum in his vapor trail en route to a 77-yard TD.

   R-H answered one play after the kickoff as Broyld hit Justin Medley 30 yards downfield and the junior receiver finished off a 66-yard scoring play. But Troy countered on the next play with the same running play that Lewis had cashed in. This time, though, it was Canzeri covering 68 yards and Troy was ahead 28-20 with 5:00 left in the third quarter.

   That was three consecutive snaps and three consecutive TD plays for Troy, almost certainly a first in the 18-year history of the tournament. "I thought we had them," Canzeri said. "We just kept pounding it and doing the same things."

   But R-H then took a page from the "do the same things" playbook by ramming Broyld and Devin Wofford (20 carries, 134 yards) at the Flying Horses. They handled all nine carries in a 66-yard drive that ended with Wofford's 1-yard run and -- after Troy had a Marsh 33-yard TD throw

wiped out by a motion penalty -- all nine carries on an 87-yard drive capped by Wofford's 8-yard run.

   Though the two-point conversion after the first of those two scores failed and left the Royal Comets still trailing by 28-26, they had absorbed Troy's best shots and were in a position to win.

   By that time, Broyld had been inserted on defense at safety. He'd been the nickel back all season, but this was his first extended duty there all season.

   "We had some guys dinged up with ankles and stuff," Montesano said. "He had been practicing there all year and he was fresh. With the game on the line, you go with your best kid."

   It was the right move at the right time. Troy would record just one first down in the next 16 minutes, on a run by Lewis (17 carries, 155 yards) with 3:20 to go. On the next play, Marsh dropped back to pass only to have Broyld run him down for the sack.

   Finally, Broyld and the Royal Comets could relax and relish the final step to a 13-0 season.

   Though the first basketball practice of the season is next on Broyld's to-do list, he has grand plans in mind.

   "I've got something done at the high school level," said Broyld, now being pursued by multiple Division I teams after lukewarm interest as recently as September. "Hopefully I'll move on the bigger and better things. My goal is to win national championships. It doesn't matter where I'm at or what I'm doing. I just want to win one."

   Hornell repeats in 'B': Hornell came to Syracuse as the only team in position to defend its state championship, and the Red Raiders achieved their goal with a dominating first half en route to a 50-20

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victory against Schalmont.

   Sam Stonerock (27 carries, 173 yards) and Scott McKibben (18-106) each rushed for a touchdown and game MVP Dominic Scavo completed all four of his throws for 57 yards and two TDs.

   Hornell raced to a 28-0 halftime lead, punctuated by Scavo's 18-yard scoring strike to Jordan Schwartz after a defensive penalty on what would have otherwise been the final play of the second quarter.

   The Red Raiders outgained Schalmont 389-208 and rolled up 24 first downs en route to extending their winning streak to 26 games - the longest in the state.

   Bronxville overwhelms: Dillon Mitchell ran for one score and threw for two more in the first 17 minutes to stake Bronxville to a 21-0 lead en route to a 34-14 victory vs. General Brown. Mitchell finished 7-for-13 for 81 yards through the air and also gained 77 yards on 14 carries to gain game MVP honors.

   Mitchell ran 29 yards for the first score 2:04 into the game and then threw TD passes of 3 and 55 yards to Jack Near 1:57 apart midway through the second quarter. Ryan Grunseich kicked field goals of 32 and 29 yards in the final 2:04 to build the lead to 27-0 at the half.

   Bronxville outgained General Brown by 232-38 in the first half.

   Nike Cross Nationals: The North Shore girls cross country team was awarded a wildcard spot in next weekend's Nike Cross Nationals.

   North Shore had finished third to automatic qualifiers Fayetteville-Manlius and Saratoga in Saturday's regional qualifier.

   Free-lance opportunity: Lighthouse Wrestling is looking for writers who might be available to handle freelance assignments they have on their current story budget.

   If you're interested in picking up a few bucks, drop a line to Bill Miller.