Herkimer Magicians earn first football win in home opener

HERKIMER – Playing back in front of a home crowd for the first time in two years, the Herkimer Magicians’ defense gave their offense time to warm up in a 28-15 victory over Waterville/Hamilton.

The win its home opener was the first for a Herkimer team that was beaten 20-18 in overtime on the road by Sandy Creek in Week 1.

“First time in two years,” senior Dylan Hart said. “It was different, having all of those people watching.”

Hart, a third-year varsity player, and other returning players across Herkimer County played a Fall II schedule within the county in the spring with limited access for live spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those restrictions have been lifted with the return to fall play.

Hart ran for a late touchdown after the Magicians (1-1, 1-0 D East) had the game in hand.Herkimer only trailed at one point and led 14-9 after a grueling first half. Quarterback Nick Caruso threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third. The passes were set up with field by field position but the run was a long one after Waterville/Hamilton had taken its only lead.

Herkimer led 8-0 after Caruso’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Dontay Howard in the first quarter. Caruso had a fourth down pass into the end zone intercepted on Herkimer’s previous drive but Herkimer got the ball back at the Waterville/Hamilton 12 after Jacob Huyck intercepted the ball back two plays and two Waterville/Hamilton penalties later. Facing fourth down again, Caruso connected with Howard between two defenders for the touchdown then threw to him again on the conversion.

Caruso was intercepted by Brent Barnes again early in the second quarter amid a flurry of activity, one play after Waterville/Hamilton missed one field goal attempt and three plays before missing another. Herkimer snapped the ball over Caruso’s head when it got the ball back after the second kick and the quarterback was tackled in the end zone for a Waterville/Hamilton safety.

The visiting Indians (0-2, 0-1 D East) drove for a touchdown following the free kick. Matthew Marceau took a short pass from Kane Patterson for a 41-yard gain on fourth down when Waterville/Hamilton correctly anticipated a Herkimer blitz and Barnes ran three yards for the tying touchdown on the next play. Nathan Pryputniewicz kicked the extra point for a brief 9-8 lead.

Caruso put Herkimer back on top with a 56-yard touchdown run on a keeper to the left sideline.

“It was nice to see the guys win tonight,” said Mike Jory, Herkimer’s first-year varsity coach. “We got down but they didn’t hang their heads. We had some mental mistakes but we were able to snap back into shape.”

The score went unchanged until the final play of the third quarter when Caruso threw a screen pass to Huyck who ran five yards for a Herkimer touchdown set up by a long Howard punt return.

Hart added a short touchdown run and two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 28-9, Waterville/Hamilton tacked on a 40-yard Zach LaFrance-to-Pryputniewicz touchdown pass in the final minute.

Caruso completed five passes for 30 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions; he also led the Magicians 61 rushing yards. Hart ran for 35 yards and had a team-high eight tackles on defense along with two of the team’s seven sacks. Michael Conley was credited with three and one-half sacks.

Waterville/Hamilton plays at home Friday against Westmoreland/Oriskany. Herkimer travels to Utica for a Saturday afternoon game at Notre Dame in Week 3.

HERKIMER 28, WATERVILLE/HAMILTON 15

Waterville/Hamilton  0  9  0  6 – 15

Herkimer  8  6  6  8 – 28

First Quarter

HERK – Dontay Howard 15 pass from Nick Caruso (Howard pass from Caruso), 4:11.

Second Quarter

W/H – Safety, Nathan Pryputniewicz tackled Caruso in end zone, 8:51.

W/H – Brent Barnes 3 run (Pryputniewicz kick), 6:42.

HERK – Caruso 56 run (pass failed), 2:34.

Third Quarter

HERK – Jacob Huyck 5 pass from Caruso (pass failed), :06.4.

Fourth Quarter

HERK – Dylan Hart 2 run (Hart run), 1:08.

W/H – Pryputniewicz 40 pass from Zach LaFrance (kick blocked), :37.9.

Records – Waterville/Hamilton 0-2, 0-1 D East; Herkimer 1-1, 1-0 D East.

More:Little Falls comes from behind to beat Canastota in football opener

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Little Falls 35, Sherburne-Earlville15

SHERBURNE – The Little Falls Mounties struck quickly at the start of Friday’s game and defeated the Sherburne-Earlville Marauders 35-15 on the road.

Logan Frederick scored on a 99-yard pass play from Rikki Smith on the Mounties’ first offensive play. Frederick got behind his coverage along the right sideline, caught Smith’s pass as he reached the Little Falls 25-yard line and outran the defender to the goal line at the other end of the field.

The Little Falls defense had forced a Sherburne-Earlville punt on the game’s opening drive and the ball hit the pylon as the kick rolled out of bounds at the goal line, setting the Mounties up as far from their target end zone as possible.

Sherburne-Earlville scored in the second quarter and took its only lead at 7-6 with a successful kick for the extra point. Mason Rowley ran for the first of his two touchdowns and the Mounties regained the lead. Smith’s second touchdown pass – a 20-yarder to Chase Regan – and two conversion passes to Frederick gave Little Falls a 22-7 halftime lead.

The Mounties’ special teams contributed a touchdown in the second half when a penalty for too many players on the field backed the Marauders up and forced them to kick from inside their 20-yard line. Little Falls sent its punt block unit in and a swarm of players got to the kick, knocking the ball down and sending it rolling to the end zone where Brayton Langdon and others pounced on it for a touchdown.

Rowley carried the ball only four times but gained 33 yards and scored a second touchdown in the fourth quarter. Smith ran for a team-high 36 yards and completed 10 of his 15 pass attempts for 260 yards with Frederick catching seven of those passes for 215 yards.

Derick Miller ran for a late touchdown for Sherburne-Earlville with Little Falls leading 35-7 in the fourth quarter.

Little Falls (2-0, 2-0 C-2) plays at home Friday against Lowville Academy which is 0-2 after a 38-12 loss to Cazenovia Saturday. Sherburne-Earlville (0-3, 0-2 C-2) travels to play at General Brown Friday.

LITTLE FALLS 35, SHERBURNE-EARLVILLE 15

Little Falls  6  16  6  7 – 35

Sherburne-Earlville  0  7  0  8 – 15

First Quarter

LF – Logan Frederick 99 pass from Rikki Smith (kick failed)

Second Quarter

S-E – n/a 15 pass from n/a (kick good)

LF – Mason Rowley 1 run (Frederick pass from Smith)

LF – Chase Regan 20 pass from Smith (Frederick pass from Smith)

Third Quarter

LF – blocked punt recovered in end zone (pass failed)

Fourth Quarter

LF – Rowley 10 run (Xavier Dunn kick)

S-E – Derick Miller 3 run (n/a pass from n/a)

Records – Little Falls 2-0, 2-0 C-2; Sherburne-Earlville 0-3, 0-2 C-2.

Canastota 36, Mt. Markham 6

CANASTOTA – Devon Youker scored four touchdowns Friday and the Canastota defense shut out the Mt. Markham Mustangs until the fourth quarter of the Raiders’ 36-6 victory.

The win was the first of the season for Canastota (1-1, 1-1 C-2) which had led in the fourth quarter at Little Falls in a 32-28 Week 1 loss.

Youker ran 50 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, six for six second before halftime and three for another in the third quarter. He recovered his own fumble in the end zone to put the Raiders up 30-0 in the fourth quarter.

Mt. Markham (0-2, 0-2 C-2) ran the kickoff after the fumble back for touchdown in the fourth quarter to break up the shutout.

Landon Mead added a late touchdown for Canastota.

Mt. Markham plays at home Friday against Holland Patent which is 1-1 after a 28-6 loss to General Brown Saturday, Canastota plays a crossover game at Skaneateles Friday; Skaneateles has outscored its first two opponents 104-0.

CANASTOTA 36, MT. MARKHAM 6

Mt. Markham  0  0  0  6 – 6

Canastota  8  6  8  14 – 36

First Quarter

CAN – Devon Youker 50 run (Andrew Trujillo pass from Youker)

Second Quarter

CAN – Youker 6 run (pass failed)

Third Quarter

CAN – Youker 3 run (Dustin Nourse pass from Austin Ames)

Fourth Quarter

CAN – Youker recovered fumble in end zone (Nourse pass from Ames)

MtM – n/a 60 kickoff return (kick failed)

CAN – Logan Mead 1 run (run failed)

Records – Mt. Markham 0-2, 0-2 C-2; Canastota 1-1, 1-1 C-2.

Central Valley Academy 30, Syracuse Institute of Technology 14

SYRACUSE – After winning their opening game without scoring an offensive touchdown, the Central Valley Academy Thunder again got its first points on defense in Thursday’s 30-14 win over the Syracuse Institute of Technology.

Cole Brewer ran an interception back for a touchdown and kicked a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter to give the Thunder a 10-0 lead. Central Valley Academy (2-0) would eventually lead 30-0 before allowing two second half touchdowns.

Aaxavier Howard, who scored touchdowns on interception and kickoff returns in the Thunder’s 14-13 win over Marcellus to start the season Sept. 10, scored the team’s first offensive touchdown of the season on a 49-yard pass from Chase Brewer in the second quarter. Chase Brewer later ran for a short touchdown that gave the visitors a 24-0 halftime lead; he ran for another touchdown in the third quarter.

Prince Perry’s touchdown run and pass in the third quarter were the first points scored this season by the Syracuse Institute of Technology (0-2) which had forfeited its first game to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.

Central Valley Academy begins league play at home Friday with a game against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (1-1) which was beaten 30-21 by Homer Friday in its first game following the Week 1 forfeit.

CENTRAL VALLEY ACADEMY 30, SYRACUSE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 14

Central Valley Academy  10  14  6  0 – 30

Syracuse Institute of Technology  0  0  14  0 – 14

First Quarter

CVA – Cole Brewer 30 interception return (Co.Brewer kick)

CVA – Co.Brewer 40 field goal

Second Quarter

CVA – Aaxavier Howard 49 pass from Chase Brewer (Co.Brewer kick)

CVA – Ch.Brewer 1 run (Co.Brewer kick)

Third Quarter

CVA – Ch.Brewer 5 run (kick failed)

SIT – Prince Perry 1 run (n/a run)

SIT – Tre’Juer Sledge 15 pass from Perry (run failed)

Records – Central Valley Academy 2-0; Syracuse Institute of Technology 0-2.

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.