Even as the Marcellus football team was wrapping up a 5-2 regular season with a 62-7 destruction of Phoenix Friday night, its eyes were toward another contest that would determine its future itinerary.
The Mustangs were locked into third place in the Class B West division behind Homer and Westhill, so it knew that it would have to go on the road for the opening round of the Section III playoffs this weekend against the second-place finisher in B East, which would be whoever lost the showdown between Cazenovia and Oneida.
And when the Indians fell hard to the Lakers, 64-18, not only was the matchup set between Marcellus and Oneida next Friday night at 7 p.m., but the Mustangs had to feel that it stood a good chance of winning that playoff opener, and seeing where things went from there.
Phoenix, sporting an 0-6 mark, did not provide a major hurdle to the Mustangs, who reveled in Senior Night festivities, and then went out to put lots of points on the board.
The first quarter alone featured long touchdown runs of 33 and 75 yards by Ian McGloon, with Nate Long scoring from 36 yards out, too. All of this created an 18-0 margin, and when Mike Keegan found Long for a 29-yard scoring pass, the lead grew to 24-0 by halftime.
Marcellus pulled further away in the second half, McGloon (from 34 yards out) and Long (from 10 yards out) each adding a third TD to the ledger. Keegan also scored on a one-yard sneak, with Nate Garlow breaking loose with the game’s longest play, a 74-yard TD run, and Noah Townsend returning an interception 45 yards for six more points.
Unlike Marcellus, Solvay will miss the sectional playoffs. The Bearcats looked for back-to-back wins when it visited Chittenango last Friday night, but fell to the Bears 36-20.
Hunter Hendrix provided the Bears’ spark, on both sides of the ball. First, he caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Justin Gondeck to get Chittenango on the board as Solvay scored on Ben Durst’s three-yard run.
Then Hendrix intercepted a Solvay pass and brought it back 33 yards for another score, and went on to catch the two-point pass from Gondeck that put the Bears in front, 14-6.
They traded blows in the second quarter, Solvay getting even, 14-14, on Nick Perry’s 15-yard scoring run and two-point conversion, Chittenango reclaiming the lead on a 19-yard TD pass from Gondeck to Duncan Smith. Hendrix returned to catch the two-point pass, making it 22-14 at halftime.
The game’s pivotal sequence came during the third quarter. After Perry scored on a nine-yard run to cut the Bearcats’ deficit to 22-20, it went for two points, but Chittenango made the stop.
Moments later, on the ensuing kickoff, Smith, fielding the ball at his own 16, picked up blocks and didn’t stop until he was in the end zone 84 yards later.
That, plus a successful two-point play, made it 30-20, and Solvay never recovered, the Bears clinching the game in the fourth quarter on Mike Addison’s 24-yard scoring run.
