The final score last Friday seemed about as typical as any high school football game: Bainbridge-Guilford 32, Hancock 16. Between the lines, the Bobcats had one heck of a fight from a team that has lost every game this season.
Armed with a strong passing game and the ability to put points on the board, lightning struck for the Wildcats. Dylan Oralls threw a TD pass on the final play of the first half, and the two-point conversion tied the game at 16-16.
On its second possession of the third quarter – and with momentum on its side – Hancock marched toward a seemingly imminent go-ahead touchdown sidling up to a first-and-goal at the five-yard line. Giving up yardage in small increments, the Bobcats’ defense stuffed a fourth-and-a-foot to survive the threat.
Getting the ball back, B-G drove 99 1/2 yards to take the lead for good. Quarterback Justin Pepper took a bootleg down the sidelines, and added the two-point run moving the visitors in front, 24-16. “That defensive stand, we were a foot away from our season imploding,” said third-year B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “I’m not sure how we would have responded if they had scored.”
Mattingly gave due credit to a hard-luck Wildcats team that has lost its first two games by one point, and has contended in all but one contest. “When we faced them in the scrimmage at Greene in August, we thought they were one of the best teams there,” Mattingly said. “We didn’t bring our ‘A game,’ and maybe took them a little lightly. To their credit, they battled us hard.”
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Delhi (1-0, 3-2) at B-G (2-0, 4-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
The Bobcats, who have already clinched a Class D playoff spot, can wrap up their first division title in the D ranks at home against a versatile Delhi attack. The Bulldogs have beaten B-G in each of Mattingly’s first two seasons at the helm, and quarterback Luke Burns is back running the offense. “We just want to take care of business, and we think this will be a heck of a matchup,” Mattingly said. “They’re pretty big and physical up front. We expect them to come right at us.”
B-G running back Dustin Ross is on pace for a second straight 1,000-yard season with over 800 yards through five games, and quarterback Justin Pepper has four TD passes and five rushing touchdowns.
Unatego (3-2) at Greene (5-0), Saturday, 7 p.m.
Coming off back-to-back losses to Oneonta and Walton in weeks one and two, the Spartans are on a three-game winning streak entering Saturday’s game at Greene. Quarterback Lance Renwick runs the offense, and he is complemented by several good backs including Tyler Newman, and fullback Kyle Ray, who returns from an early-season injury.
For Greene’s part, it would like to avenge two losses to the Spartans last season, one of which was a Class C playoff game, while also capturing the school’s fifth division title. Defensively, the Trojans have allowed under 100 yards rushing in four of five games, adn the last two just 84 total yards on the ground. “We changed our defense four years old. The kids like it and believe in it.”
The Trojans lead Chenango County in scoring offense at just under 40 points a game. Four different players have at least four touchdowns, and quarterbacks Nate Whittaker (4) and Scott Gorton (6) have combined for 10 touchdown passes and nearly 600 yards passing.
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