ONONDAGA COUNTY – About the only way the Fayetteville-Manlius football team’s spring 2021 season finale against Auburn could be more memorable was if the Hornets actually won it.
After four quarters of regulation and three overtime periods, the Hornets found itself on the wrong end of a 50-49 decision that no one who played in it would soon forget.
An early-April snow served as a memorable backdrop for a game where F-M was trying to deny the 4-0 Maroons its first undefeated season since 1975 – and almost pulled it off.
Fresh off a rout of Jamesville-DeWitt just five days earlier, the Hornets netted the lone points of the first quarter when quarterback Chris Hoalcraft broke loose on a 40-yard touchdown scramble.
When Auburn scored to take an 8-7 lead in the second period, F-M countered, driving to the Maroons’ 23 before Hoalcraft found Ethan Powell in the end zone. Despite a missed conversion, the Hornets led 13-8 at intermission.
Having rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Christian Brothers Academy a week earlier, Auburn again came backin the third quarter, three times finding the end zone, two of them on Troy Churney TD passes.
Still, the Hornets didn’t go away. Amid Auburn’s flurry, Hoalcraft hit Jacob Wing in the end zone from 11 yards out, Wing’s first varsity TD, so F-M only trailed 28-21 going to the fourth quarter.
Hoalcraft again hurt the Maroons by going 34 yards for his second running TD, and then had F-M driving for a potential winning score in the final minute, only to have Auburn’s Demetrius Herndon intercept Hoalcraft close to the goal line.
In OT for the third time this season (it beat CBA but lost to West Genesee), F-M went first and scored on Jack Nucerino’s six-yard run, but missed the conversion. Auburn also scored on Elijah Benson’s six-yard run, but missed a possible winning conversion.
The second extra period had Churney both score on a quarterback sneak and throw a two-point pass to Connor Mahunik. Needing eight points to keep it going, the Hornets pulled it off, Hoalcraft going 20 yards for his third rushing TD of the night and then having Nucerino get the two-point conversion.
Now, in the third OT, Nucerino scored again and F-M added the extra point. Auburn had Churney throw a 12-yard TD pass to Desean Strachan and then, going for two and the win, getting it when Churney just crossed the goal line.
East Syracuse Minoa still had two games left, including its own clash with J-D last Saturday that was decided in the first half as the Spartans handled the Red Rams 34-7 in advance of Wednesday’s finale against Indian River.
Tyler Bell twice led scoring drives in the first quarter, going in for a TD himself before throwing a three-yard pass to Nolan Palmer that made it 13-0.
That margin doubled in the second period as Bell threw his second TD pass, 19 yards to Nate Pullano, after D’Angelo Withers scored on a nine-yard run.
Marcus Payne’s 10-yard TD pass to Brendan Kohberger just before halftime prevented a shutout on J-D’s part, but Mikal Combs, who ran 15 times for 124 yards, added points for the Spartans in the third quarter with a 14-yard run.
In eight-man football, Bishop Grimes had lost, 36-6, to Thousand Islands on April 17, but rallied a week later to outscore Morrisville-Eaton 48-38 to improve its record to 2-2.
