Little Falls' win over Herkimer highlights Section III football's regular season finale

The Little Falls Mounties wasted little time taking a lead on the road Friday and closed out a six-win regular season with a 41-8 win over the Herkimer Magicians.

The win clinches the No. 2 spot in Class D East and home game in the Section III quarterfinals next week.

Junior Braden McCumber ran for a touchdown on the third play of the game and scored three more times for the Mounties (6-2, 4-1 D East) and senior Chase Regan added two touchdowns in the team's sixth win in seven games.The Mounties received the opening kickoff and moved down the field quickly on passes from Braydon Langdon to Regan and McCumber. McCumber ran five yards for a touchdown 47 seconds into the game and Xavier kicked the extra point.

The stingy Little Falls defense that held a fourth opponent under 10 points forced a quick punt by Herkimer (1-7, 1-4 D East) and McCumber scored again just over three minutes later, crossing the goal line from two yards out on the play after a 17-yard run.

The Mounties fumbled the ball away at Herkimer's 8-yard line on their next possession but Regan intercepted a pass after the teams switched ends and ran it back 85 yards for a touchdown on the first pay of the second quarter.

Regan (five yards) and McCumber (45) ran for touchdowns less than two minutes apart and the Little Falls lead was 35-0 at halftime. Regan scored two plays after Little Falls stopped Herkimer on a fourth down and one play after Dunn made a juggling catch on a 65-yard pass from Langdon. McCumber's touchdown came on the play after an interception.

McCumber ran seven yards for his fourth touchdown in the third quarter and finished with 110 yards on 10 carries.Langdon completed six of the nine passes he threw for 135 yards. Chase Regan had four receptions for 50 yards, ran the ball four times and scored twice.

Matt Verri intercepted two Herkimer passes and the Mounties were credited with two blocked punts on special teams.

Herkimer put its six points on the board late in the game. Nick Petucci fumbled as he neared the goal line and Magicians lineman Matthew Audycki pounced on the ball in the end zone with 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Petucci, who ran for 40 yards on four carries on the Herkimer scoring drive, ran in the conversion.

The six victories are the most in one season for Little Falls since the 2014 team won six consecutive games and finished 6-3 in NFF competition. The Mounties were 8-1 in 2005 when they won Class D East with a perfect 5-0 record in league play.

More:Section 3 football scores for the 2022 season

Section 3 football, Week 7: Top players, performers from final weekend of regular season

James Dapson, Morrisville-Eaton: Dapson ran for 91 yards and scored three times Saturday, giving him 22 touchdowns on the season. Carther Highers and Evan Stewart added four tuchdowns as the Warriors recorded 369 rushing yards.

Brady Hascup, Cooperstown: Senior linebacker registered four tackles and his team's only interception. He also carried the ball six times as the Hawkeyes ended the regular season with a 44-0 loss at New York Mills Saturday.

Ray Hennessey, Adirondack: Senior ran for 107 yards on 19 carries Saturday, caught a last-minute touchdown pass, and led the Wildcats with 12 tackles against Holland Patent.

Magic Johnson, Utica-Proctor: Senior running back rushed for nearly 100 yards against Cicero-North Syracuse. He ended up with 93 on 22 carries and a touchdown in Saturday's 42-14 loss to the Northstars.

Dom Jones, Mt. Markham: Junior ran for 119 yard and two touchdowns on four carries against Sherburne-Earlville Friday. He also ran a blocked punt back for one touchdown and returned a fumble for another.

Brayton Langdon, Little Falls: Senior quarterback completed passes on the first two plays of Friday's game to set up the Mounties' first touchdown and went six-for-nine for 135 yards overall.

Camerohn Ludwig and Iain Farber, West Canada Valley: Junior receivers had four long touchdowns Friday at Saquoit Valley. Ludwig scored on 68- and 63-yard passes from Braden Shepardson and finished with five receptions for 152 yards. Farber's two receptions were 61- and 32-yard touchdowns; he also had a nine-yard rushing touchdown and led the Indians with 12 tackles, five for losses.

Braden McCumber, Little Falls: Junior running back had 110 yards and four touchdowns on 10 carries against Herkimer Friday.

Dominick Moore, New York Mills: Moore ran for 125 yards and three tuchdowns Saturday and also caught a 17-yard touchdown pass in the Marauders' 44-0 win.

Noah Morse, Camden: Senior ran for two second-half touchdowns to ice Friday's 21-0 victory over Central Valley Academy. Running back finished with 137 yards on the ground and 15 yards receiving. He also logged 6.5 tackles.

Luke Paparella, New York Mills: Senior ran for 65 yards and two touchdowns Saturday. On defense, he logged four tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.

Cole Raux, New Hartford: Filling in for injured running back Alex Collver Friday, junior ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns in 25-20 win over Auburn.

Martino Rocco, Frankfort-Schuyler: Junior quarterback ran for five touchdowns and threw for two, including a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter of Friday's 56-54 loss to Thousand Islands. he ran for 164 yards on 21 carries and passed for 222 yards while completing 14 of the 22 throws he attempted.

Matthew Rossi, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill: Rossi rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns, and caught two passes for 31 yards and another score Friday as the Red Devils clinched a Class C playoff spot by beating Southern Hills.

Brett Sanford, Adirondack: Senior quarterback completed eight passes for 61 yards and one touchdown at Holland Patent Saturday, raising his career total to 158 completions to break a 46-year-old school record that had been held by Steve Porter. Sanford also ran for 81 yards and another touchdown.

Braden Shepardson, West Canada Valley: Senior quarterback threw for 324 yards and four touchdowns at Sauquoit Valley Friday with three of the touchdowns covering more than 60 yards. He also led the Indians with 114 rushing yards and ran 51 yards for a touchdown.

James Wheeler IV, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill: Red Devils senior rushed for 142 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown, his fifth game in a row with 140 plus yards, in Friday's 42-13 win over Southern Hills.

Colin White, Adirondack: Senior ran for 150 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, and contributed a sack and two batted passes on defense as the Wildcats shut out the Holland Patent Golden Knights.

Jack Williams, Westmoreland/Oriskany: Junior receiver accounted for more than half of the Bulldogs passing yards Saturday. He caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown as Westmoreland/Oriskany lost its final game of the season against Solvay.

Tyler Wittmann, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill: Senior led the Red Devils with 144 ruching yards on 11 carries and scored two touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 20 yards and recorded seven tackles.

Austin Zaleski, Morrisville-Eaton: Junior had more than 120 rushing yards for the fifth straight game Saturday, ending with 127 on just six attempts as the Warriors topped 70 points for the second week in a row in a 74-14 win over Weedsport.

Section 3 football, Week 7: Top Friday games

West Canada Valley 50, Sauquoit Valley 20

Brayden Shepardson threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score Friday as the West Canada Valley Indians closed out the regular season with a 50-20 win at Sayquoit Valley.

Shepardson completed 11 of 18 passes for 324 yards with two touchdowns each for Iain Farber and Camerohn Ludwig.

Ludwig had five receptions for 152 yards and scored on plays that covered 63 and 68 yards. Farber had 61- and 32-yard touchdowns on his two catches and also scored on a nine-yard run. Josh Grabowski caught four passes for 79 yards and added a four-yard touchdown run.

On the ground, Shepardson led West Canada Valley's Indians (6-1, 3-1 Eight Player East) with 114 yards on 14 carries. He ran 51 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

West Canada Valley led 22-0 before Sauquoit Valley (0-7, 0-4 Eight Player East) scored late in the first half. Two more touchdowns made it 36-6 before Sauquoit Valley scored again.

Thousand Islands 56, Frankfort-Schuyler 54

The final two-point conversion put Thousand Islands over the top Friday when the Vikings defeated the Frankfort-Schuyler Maroon Knights 56-54 in a see-saw eight-player battle at Lt. Ferraro Field.

The Vikings (3-5) led 26-22 at halftime and were up 42-30 in the third quarter of the Week 7 crossover. Martino Rocco ran 13 and 14 yards for two touchdowns before the quarter was over and two successful conversions had Frankfort-Schuyler (5-2) leading 46-42.

Thousand Islands took the lead back on Jack Ludlow's fourth touchdown run to open the fourth-quarter scoring. Frankfort-Schuyler countered with a 31-yard Martin Rocco touchdown pass to Lionell Coulthurst, and Rocco's conversion pass to Dennis Waugh put the Maroon Knights up 54-48.

The Vikings tied the score when Ludlow threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Jack Lamon. The Ludlow-Lamon combination connected again to give Thousand Islands the 56-54 lead that would be the final score.

Lamon had touchdown runs of 51 and 55 yards for the Vikings, and Ludlow threw two touchdown passes - the first to Devin Davis - in addition to running for four scores.

Rocco was 14-for-22 passing for 200 yards with touchdowns to Coulthurst and Jerome Bowen. Rocco also ran for 164 yards and five touchdowns in 21 carries.

Coulthurst had six receptions for 100 yards and Bowen caught five passes for 80 yards.

Camden 21, Central Valley Academy 0

Camden faced adversity for the first time this season before its game with Central Valley Academy.

The Blue Devils went undefeated before a 48-28 loss at Indian River last Friday.

Returning home, Camden needed a win over Central Valley Academy to get a home playoff game.

It did just that Friday evening behind its strong run game and defense. The Blue Devils shut out the Thunder 21-0 to clinch the second spot in the Northeast division and potentially the third spot in Class B.

With Central Valley Academy down late, Camden forced the Thunder to throw more. Central Valley Academy quarterback Braden Moreau finished one-for-nine for minus-3 yards and two interceptions.

Samuel Jacquays ran for 127 on 11 carries for Central Valley Academy.

Noah Morse ran for 137 yards and scored two touchdowns for Camden. His third quarter sprint of 19 yrds helped give the Blue Devils some breathing room, and his fourth-quarter 33-yard run put the contest out of Central Valley Aademy's reach.

The Blue Devils' six wins are their most since 2012, when they won seven and their most recent playoff game.

Section 3 football, Week 7: Top Saturday games

Dolgeville 42, Waterville/Hamilton 8

Dolgeville junior Cade Mosher threw a career-high five touchdown passes Saturday - all before halftime - and the Blue Devils completed a perfect regular season with a 42-8 win over Waterville/Hamilton.

The Blue Devils (7-0, 5-0 D East) led 22-0 after one quarter and 42-0 at halftime at Bynon Field.

Mosher threw touchdown passes to Michael Blaskey and Kamryn Comstock in the first quarter and two to TJ Rankins and second to Comstock in the second quarter. The five touchdowns were among six total completions as he threw for 157 yards. Seventy-seven of the yards came on Rankins' second touchdown.

Jared Bilinski ran for 101 yards on nine carries and had a 23-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

The Dolgeville defense held Waterville/Hamilton (1-6, 0-5 D East) to 74 total yards and one fourth quarter touchdown. Kolbi Hadden (seven) Isaiah Rathbun (six) and Bilinski (six) combined for 19 tackles with Rathbun making three for losses and Bilinski two. Five Blue Devils intercepted passes.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Section 3 football roundup: Results, stats from Week 7