By all normal measures, the Westhill football team’s encounter with Marcellus Thursday night in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome should have been decided early.

The Warriors forced turnovers on the Mustangs’ first five possessions of the game, yet made enough mistakes of its own to allow Marcellus to hang around and even take the lead late in the third quarter.

Somehow, Westhill weathered the comeback and, ultimately, forced eight turnovers, too much for the Mustangs to overcome as the Warriors pulled out a 34-28 victory.

Ambition was the theme for Marcellus. Fans donned T-shirts that proclaimed “Start at the Dome, end at the Dome”, meaning that, at least, the Mustangs want to get to the sectional final in early November at this same location.

Westhill chose a color scheme, going with all-white jerseys, including new white helmets, as its student section took part in a “White Out” with their outfits, too.

Fashion statements aside, the game was a crucial opening statement for both teams for various reasons. Marcellus missed the sectional playoffs in 2015 and had hired Nick Patterson as defensive coordinator to fix that side  of the ball.

On the other side, Westhill’s new head coach, Adam Griffo, wanted a successful debut, and that meant maintaining the upper hand on the Mustangs – which it did, with lots of help from the opposition.

Sophomore tailback Marcus Welch’s 32-yard run started an 85-yard opening drive that culminated on fourth down at the Mustangs’ 34 when Zavion Barrott found Jordan Marcano over the middle and Marcano outraced the Marcellus defenders to the goal line.

The Mustangs didn’t answer – instead, Tom Fiacchi fumbled at his own 37 and Westhill’s Nick Hartman recovered. Welch did the rest, catching a 28-yard screen pass and then scoring from 18 yards out. For the night, Welch had 155 yards on 20 carries.

Barrett’s two-point pass to Wyatt Lavigne made it 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game, and Marcellus was already at risk of seeing things get away, especially after two more fumbles on its next two possessions – one recovered by Owen Rodgers, the other by Casey Rogers.

Neither of those takeaways led to points, and a fourth turnover, Chris Holt’s interception of Fiacchi’s deep throw at the Westhill 21, didn’t, either, when an 80-yard TD pass from Barrett to Rogers was wiped out by offensive pass interference.

So it was the long-maligned Marcellus defense keeping the team in it. But it had to work again after Fiacchi, under pressure, threw a second interception, this one to Marcano, making it five turnovers in as many possessions.

Again, though, the Mustangs made a stop in its own end, and with 22 seconds left in the half, Fiacchi atoned for earlier miscues by flinging a 60-yard scoring pass to Jordan Hixson, and it was 14-7 at the break.

That momentum carried over into the third quarter. Taking the kickoff, the Mustangs marched 78 yards, mixing runs and passes  until Fiacchi scrambled 17 yards to the goal line, and his PAT tied the game, 14-14.

It took just five plays for Westhill to get the lead back. A 42-yard Barrett-to-Marcano pass started it and Welch, with two long runs, set up Barrett’s three-yard TD pass to Marcano. But the extra point was missed.

Now in rhythm (and hanging on to the ball), Marcellus unleashed another long drive, 74 yards, with fullback Nate Lukins making two key runs to set up Fiacchi’s two-yard scoring run that again tied it, this time at 20-20 when the PAT snap was botched.

And right before the third quarter ended, Lukins, the 6-foot-1, 197-pound senior, rumbled through a big hole 38 yards to the go-ahead TD, Fiacchi adding a two-point pass to Shane Rohe.

Down for the first time, Westhill didn’t flinch. Instead, Barrett went deep and found Rogers, and this time there wasn’t a flag. The 53-yard scoring play and Barrett’s two-point pass to Marcano created a 28-28 deadlock, the third tie of the second half.

And at the worst time possible, the Mustangs’ turnover issue resurfaced. Lukins was stripped on the first play of the ensuing possession and Sil Argentieri picked it up, the sixth time Marcellus had given up the ball.

With a short field, Westhill regained the lead as Barrett scored on a two-yard run with 9:17 left. Then another Marcellus chance got snuffed out when Marcano intercepted Fiacchi at the Warriors’ 10, a seventh turnover.

Despite all this, with 1:43 left, Marcellus got the ball at its own seven-yard line with a chance to win it. Aided by two pass interference calls, the Mustangs got past midfield, but Welch sacked Fiacchi with two seconds left and forced a fumble that Rogers recovered.

Westhill will take on Skaneateles next Friday in its home opener, while Marcellus visits defending Class B West champion Homer.