CENTRAL NEW YORK – In consecutive weeks the Marcellus football team saw its perfect mark threatened by a local rival on the road and, on each occasion, the Mustangs kept itself undefeated.
First it was Solvay in a 28-26 classic on Oct. 4. Then, eight nights later, it was Bishop Ludden/SAS who stayed close only to have Marcellus answer it and battle its way to a 30-22 victory.
Not until X’zavion Streiff’s pass fell just out of Tom Cervantes’ reach in the closing seconds were the state Class C no. 13-ranked Mustangs safe, despite Chris Doshna adding four more touchdowns on the ground.
Two of those scores came in the opening period, Marcellus jumping out to a 16-0 advantage with two patient drives culminated by Doshna going in on one-yard plunges.
But the Mustangs were contained in the second quarter, Ludden/SAS putting together a drive of its own and Streiff scoring his own one-yard sneak and a two-point conversion cutting it to 16-8, where it stood at halftime.
Streiff scored again early in the third quarter, only to have the tying two-point try get stopped by the Mustangs, who then saw Doshna dash off on a 35-yard TD run and then convert the two-pointer.
Trailing 24-14, the Gaelic Knights did not go away. The defense forced a Mustangs fumble early in the final period and, despite some dispute on whether it counted, Darius Mitchell returned it 25 yards for six points, Streiff adding two points.
Again the Mustangs were pushed and again it responded, a drive eating up crucial minutes and reaching the Ludden/SAS eight before Doshna took it home for his fourth TD of the night.
As time ticked down the Gaelic Knights moved it all the way to the Marcellus 25 before getting contained, leading to one final Streiff throw that Cervantes couldn’t reach.
The Mustangs’ defense held Streiff to 57 passing yards, but Jahbari Clarke carried the ball 18 times and gained 124 yards on the ground, also recording a team-best 10 tackles on defense as Tiziere Sheard had eight tackles and Jayden MacKool added seven tackles.
Marcellus goes for seven in a row Friday night when it hosts Cazenovia, the Lakers having recovered from an 0-3 start with back-to-back wins including its trip to Solvay that resulted in a 20-6 Bearcats defeat.
Skaneateles had taken its first defeat to Ludden/SAS on Oct. 5, but six days later it turned around in a big way against Southern Hills, easily defeating the Storm 41-14.
The key to this game was the middle stages as, over the course of the second and third quarters, the Lakers’ defense kept Southern Hills off the board as the lead grew. Luke Logan led the defense with 10 tackles, Colton McDonald adding seven tackles and Coiln Henry earning six tackles.
Gaining more than 200 yards on the ground as a team, Skaneateles had Colin Henry score twice and Hugh Caroll turn his four scrambles into 90 yards as Landon Brunelle gained 80 yards on just two long runs. Carroll also completed 13 of 17 passes for 141 yards, with Luke Bruna making three catches amounting to 56 yards.
