For all the disadvantages it seemed to hold, the Marcellus football team found itself within one big play of possibly winning Friday night’s Section III Class B opening-round playoff game at Mexico.
Then the quarterback took over – but it was the Tigers’ Dante Turo, and not Tom Fiacchi, making the crucial plays that helped Mexico turn back the Mustangs 32-13 and advance to next weekend’s semifinal against Homer.
For a team accustomed to playing home games (and most of its road games) on Field Turf, the transition to a wet, muddy grass field at Mexico following three-plus inches of rain figured to give Marcellus real problems.
Yet those were problems of the Mustangs’ own creation. Had it won its Oct. 14 regular-season finale against Chittenango, Marcellus would have stayed home for the first round instead of venturing to face a Tigers side that had won six in a row following a season-opening defeat to Cazenovia.
So it was time to get the Mustangs’ white uniforms dirty, and Nate Garlow didn’t mind, taking off on a 25-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to get the visitors on the board.
Marcellus led, 7-6, after one quarter, with Mexico’s points coming when the left-armed Turo threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pettit. Not content with offensive glory, Turo also picked off a Fiacchi pass in the second quarter and returned it 20 yards for six more points.
Missed conversions kept the Tigers’ margin at 12-7 going into halftime, and neither side could score in the third quarter. But the Mustangs gave itself a chance in the fourth quarter when, from midfield, Fiacchi passed it to Garlow, who went the rest of the way on a 50-yard scoring play.
All the work done by the Marcellus defense began to show, though, on Mexico’s ensuing drive, with Turo taking it to the Mustangs’ two before going in for the go-ahead TD.
Now trailing 19-14, the Mustangs needed an answer. Instead, it gave the ball back to Turo, whose 45-yard dash to the end zone broke things open, and he would add another short TD run in the closing minutes.
For area teams that did not make the sectional playoffs, Solvay improved to 3-5 with a 24-16 win over Camden. Meanwhile, West Genesee lost, 50-28, to Liverpool, with Jordan-Elbridge falling to Sherburne-Earlville 34-12 and Westhill taking a 49-6 defeat to Utica-Notre Dame.
