Corcoran is still in charge of its own fate atop the Class AA-2 division, while Henninger will need to scramble to make the playoffs. Meanwhile, Nottingham is in better post-season shape, and Fowler needs a fast finish.
Such were the lessons of a quartet of Friday football games involving the city’s high school teams. At home to face Utica Proctor, Corcoran dominated the game’s middle stages and beat the Raiders 33-20 to improve to 4-1 on the season. Other than Will Hawkins’ 79-yard touchdown pass to Valkery Mills in the first quarter, Corcoran’s defense shut down Proctor until the final period, by which time the Cougars were in firm control. Shakem Buckmon’s one-yard TD plunge and Riley Stroman’s extra point put Corcoran out in front, 7-6, late in the first quarter, and 14 points followed in the second period, thanks to Travon Burke’s 21-yard run and Chao Porch’s one-yard run. Porch, overall, had 158 yards on 17 carries, and scored a second TD on a 24-yard run in the third quarter that made it 33-6, and out of reach. As this was going on, Henninger was falling to 1-2 in league play, stunned by a Fayetteville-Manlius comeback in a 29-22 loss to the previously winless Hornets. The Black Knights looked at first to quiet F-M’s Homecoming crowd, seizing a 14-0 lead on a pair of short TD runs by Langston Lambert. And when, on the final play of the first half, Shawn Bryant hit Cole King on an 18-yard TD pass, Henninger took a 22-8 lead to the break, and seemed to have all the momentum. Instead, all that did was anger the Hornets, who used a power running game (Mike Greer had 27 carries for 156 yards) to take over in the wet, muddy conditions. F-M tied it, 22-22, by the end of the third period, the big blow coming on Mike O’Neil’s 22-yard TD pass to Mike Lee. Greer put in the go-ahead score on a five-yard run early in the final period, and the F-M defense made several key stops to secure the upset. Nottingham got a key win in the Class A American division by displaying all kinds of offense in a 46-14 romp over the Cortland Purple Tigers. All told, the Bulldogs had 560 total yards, Antron Irby setting the tone with TD runs of 48 and 30 yards in the first quarter as Nottingham took a 13-0 lead. Irby had 158 yards on the ground. So it continued, 13 points in each quarter, until the margin was 39-0. Jawan Simmons, who threw for 201 yards, had scoring passes of 15 yards to Josh Mims and six yards to Charles Gary. Irby returned to sprint 68 yards for his third TD as Shamar Williams scored, too. Fowler put up plenty of points in Friday’s home game against undefeated Fulton, but still could not get enough in a rain-soaked 39-26 loss to the Red Raiders. Fulton roared out to a 20-0 lead by the second quarter with a trio of scoring drives, as D.J. Ingham scored twice and Don Watson added a touchdown. The Falcons got on the board in the second quarter when Kelvin Amparo threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Josh Cruz, and Amparo hit Mike Sistrunk on a two-point pass. Still, Fulton led, 20-8, at halftime, and got away with three more scoring drives in the third quarter, Ingham adding two more TD’s on his way to 137 yards on 22 carries. Watson added 127 yards on 21 carries. Battling to the end, Fowler had Amparo score on runs of 62 and 38 yards and throw a second TD pass (27 yards) to Cruz in the fourth quarter. Fowler fell to 2-3, the same record as Nottingham, as the Falcons visit East Syracuse-Minoa next Friday and the Bulldogs host Mexico. As for Corcoran, it visits West Genesee as Henninger hosts Auburn, trying to break up a possible league title showdown between the Maroons and Cougars on Oct. 16 at Holland Stadium.