To the optimistic followers of the Fayetteville-Manlius football team, the come-from-behind, 29-22 conquest of Henninger on Homecoming Oct. 2 signaled the end of the Hornets’ season-long misery and the beginning on an inspired run to the Section III Class AA playoffs. Or at least that was the intention.
As soon as F-M was up off the ground, it found itself knocked down again Friday night at Utica Proctor as the Hornets lost to the Raiders 40-28 at D’Allesandro Stadium. With the defeat, the Hornets fell to 1-3 in Class AA-2 division play (1-5 overall), meaning that F-M must beat West Genesee Friday night in Camillus to have any chance of reaching the post-season. Proctor, like F-M, arrived with a 1-4 record. And due to its 0-3 league mark, it faced a must-win situation – and played with that kind of urgency right from the start. The Raiders dominated the first quarter, quickly putting the Hornets in a 14-0 hole with some big plays. To begin with, quarterback Brad Jones hit Walkery Mills on a 40-yard scoring pass. Then, with the ball in Proctor territory, diminutive running back Richard Pete found a hole and took off 57 yards to the end zone, with Will Hawkins converting the extra point again. Of course, trailing a game was nothing new for F-M, so it didn’t surprise anyone that the Hornets staged a 21-point uprising in a wild second quarter of action. Briefly, F-M cut it to 14-7 when Kyle Greer scored from one yard out, only to have Proctor pull further in front with a pair of Jones TD passes – 13 yards to Karmon Stubbs, then 22 yards to Will Hawkins. Down 27-7, and facing a rout as the Raiders got the ball back again, F-M staged a big comeback just before halftime. Mike O’Neil struck on the defensive, intercepting a Jones pass and returning it 40 yards for a TD. Then the Hornets got the ball back, and Matt Moro scored on a five-yard run. Just like that, F-M only trailed 27-21, and with two quarters to play, every Hornet partisan had to feel that a Henninger-style comeback was at hand. But Proctor did not fold. Instead, it shut out F-M in the third quarter, building the margin back to 33-21 when Jones tossed his fourth TD pass of the night, 18 yards to Hawkins. Overall, Jones was 10-for-16 for 176 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Pete returned to dash 39 yards for the Raiders’ last touchdown, part of a night where he had 176 yards on the ground, giving Proctor near-perfect offensive balance. O’Neil would get a late 11-yard TD pass to Ari Waffle. F-M now faces that must-win situation at West Genesee, who has fallen back from the form that took them to the 2007 state title and 2008 sectional finals. The Wildcats share the same 1-3 league mark and 1-5 overall record as the Hornets after last Friday’s narrow 30-28 defeat to Corcoran. Thus, both teams will feel urgency and desperation in what amounts to a playoff elimination game.