Kicking off: Eastchester made a goal-line stand in the closing moments yesterday, denying QB Connor Eck on fourth down from the 2 to beat Rye 13-7 and hand the Garnets their first Section 1 loss in 60 games.
Rye is ranked third and Eastchester 15th in Class A in the New York State Sportswriters Association rankings.
Eck had driven Rye, the 2008 NYSPHSAA Class B champion riding a 27-game winning streak, 62 yards in the final three minutes by converting three third downs with completions to set up the decisive moment. The ball squirted loose as Eck hit the ground inches short of the end zone with 15 seconds to go.
Eastchester coach Fred DiCarlo gambled and lost with a 13-0 lead midway through fourth quarter, opting to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Eastchester 24. Rye made the stop, and Cole McCormack scored on a 7-yard run six plays later.
"I thought we were moving the ball well," DiCarlo told The Journal News. "We threw a snap over the punter's head earlier, so I had that in the back of my head. I figured if we got first down there, it would put a nail in the coffin, and I took a chance. Looking back, am I second–guessing myself? Absolutely. The kids bailed me out."
First down: Rush-Henrietta junior Ashton Broyld threw three TD passes, including two to Devon Maio, and scored on a 55-yard run, as the No. 10 Royal Comets beat No. 15 Pittsford 35-21 in Section 5 Class AA action.
A 2-yard run by Dom DeLucia (17 carries, 107 yards) after a Broyld personal foul gave Pittsford a 21-20 lead with 4:44 left in the third quarter. The Royals Comets then drove 80 yards -- 75 on a pass play to Jeremy Lawrence -- to Broyld's 3-yard toss to Shaquille Barnes for the lead. Senior Clay Harris Jr. (27 carries, 184 yards) scored on a short run early in the fourth quarter.
Second down: Jake Meek (11-for-20, 272 yards, two TDs) found junior running back Quentin Gause for an 82-yard scoring pass with about four minutes left to lift Bishop Kearney past Canisius, 24-23.
The clock ran out on Canisius inside the Kearney 5 to end the game. The Crusaders had rallied from an 18-0 deficit to lead 23-18 on the strength of three Ricky Pringle scoring runs before Gause's TD for the Kings, ranked 10th in Class C.
Meek also forced two fumbles and made a recovery on defense.
Third down: Jimmy Miller's 53-yard scoring run ignited a 20-point second quarter and carried No. 2 Chenango Forks past No. 19 Walton 27-6 in Class C.
Chenango Forks recovered a deflected punt at the Walton 35 following Miller's TD and drove eight plays to a Jordan Barnett 1-yard TD run for a 14-6 lead. The Devils outgained Walton 135-27 in the second quarter.
"You know where they are, you know what they're going to do, it's a matter of blocking them," Walton coach Jim Hoover told The Press & Sun-Bulletin. "Their big tackle (Andy Lewis), we couldn't move at all. He was just taking care of our people."
Fourth down: Hamburg played for the win with 27 seconds left, but junior lineman Jeff Sley foiled a two-point conversion attempt with a hit on QB Nico Zarcone to preserve No. 7 Iroquois' 20-19 win in Class A.
Hamburg, coming off an 1-8 season to start this year 3-0, forced five turnovers and had closed to within a point on Zarcone's 14-yard TD run.
"I was actually going to go for one (point) originally, but they worked their butts off, and to a man, they all said they wanted to go for two, and I wanted to leave it to
