Congratulations to the Sherburne-Earlville Marauders football team on advancing to the Section III, Class C, Division II Championship. S-E defeated Jordan-Elbridge 40-12 in the semi-finals. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

SHERBURNE – It was an emotional night for the Sherburne-Earlville Marauders football team as they hosted Jordan-Elbridge for the C2/D2 semi-finals. S-E won 40-12 to advance to the Class C, Division II championship, their first since joining the new league.

It was also the final home game at Marauders stadium and for the 2023 senior class. The grass field will be replaced to turf by the next football season.

“Playoff jitters really got to them, so they were really amped up.They were emotional to start and then got a little jacked up. But, once they settled in, they’ve did what they’ve done all season and we were pretty successful,” coach Steve Franklin said.

Since joining this new division, which was made for the smaller schools to get a chance to compete and it’s surely helped Franklin’s team turn things around in the first year of its foundation. Unfortunately, this league does not have a states path, so S-E is grateful to be playing for the league championship.

“ The kids from March (camps and weight room) to now have been put in tremendous work and were tired of losing. Hopefully we have one more to finish,” Franklin said.

After giving up the early 6-0 score in the first quarter off “jitters”, S-E powered through with 34 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. Darren Miles found Aaron Key for a 36 yard pass to tie the game at six and the Marauders didn’t stop there. The defense and special teams pushed through to give the offense good field position, where the run game took control.

Ethan Shaw and Nick Hull were the big contributors as Shaw had two rushing touchdowns and one caught touchdown pass from Miles. Hull powered through with one score, but finished with 10 carries for 74 yards. Shaw finished with 11 carries for 72 yards, one game after rushing for over 300 yards. Both leaders also had four receptions in the wide receiver role.

For the defense, Noah Ackermann recovered a fumble late in the third quarter, when the Eagles were deep in the red zone. Ackermann took it all the way for the 88 yard score.

S-E finished up with one final score as Darren Miles threw a short two-yard pass to Shaw in the fourth quarter. This play was another milestone for Miles as he passed former S-E quarterback, Cody Marango, for S-E’s all-time career touchdown passes.

As S-E prepares for one final game for its 2023 team and big senior class, they know what to expect with facing a familiar opponent. Third seed Southern Hills pulled off an upset over second seed Phoenix. Both teams that S-E have faced and have been successful against in the regular season.

“We have to go back in game plan because we spent a lot of time preparing for Phoenix,” Franklin added.

S-E defeated Southern Hills 36-24 in the third game of the season and will look to do it again in the Championship. Franklin said the game will be at the neutral site of Jordan-Elbridge High School in Jordan, NY. The game is scheduled for Saturday, November 4 at 3 p.m.

Good luck, S-E.

Score by Quarter:

J-E 6 0 0 6–12

S-E 0 20 14 6—40

S-E Scoring Plays:

2nd Qtr: Darren Miles to Aaron Key-36 yard gain-Touchdown. 2-pt conversion run failed.

2nd Qtr: Ethan Shaw two-yard run-Touchdown. 2-pt conversion run by Justin Race is good.

2nd Qtr: Nick Hull two-yard run- Touchdown. 2-pt conversion pass failed.

3rd Qtr: Ethan Shaw three-yard run-Touchdown. 2-pt conversion run by Landon Andrade is good.

3rd Qtr: Noah Ackermann 88 yard fumble return-Touchdown. 2-pt conversion pass failed.

4th Qtr: Darren Miles to Ethan Shaw-two yard gain-Touchdown. 2-pt conversion pass failed.

S-E Statistics:

Darren Miles- 11-for-15, 143 yards, 2 TDS, 1 INT

Rushing:

Hadden Price- 2-9, Justin Race 5-59, Nick Hull 10-74, TD, Darren Miles 2-4, Ethan Shaw 11-72, 2 TD, Dilen Maceda 1-6, Landon Andrade 1-3.

Receiving:

Nick Hull 4-40, Aaron Key 2-69, TD, Ethan Shaw 4-34, TD.