It was a combination of the quick turnaround and the freezing cold weather that haunted Fayetteville-Manlius as they dropped the last game of the year 35-21 to Utica Proctor, ending the season with a 4-5 record.
The weather really wasn’t behaving and had a huge impact on the game. A cold and damp first half evolved into a snowy second half, causing both sides to struggle to stick to their usual game plan.
Players for Fayetteville-Manlius, who had just a few days of rest since they were knocked out of the chase for the Section III Title by Baldwinsville, were eager to get back out there with green on for one last time.
Throughout the game, head coach Paul Muench of F-M did a great job of treating this like a typical game while finding a way to incorporate everybody into the game. Although getting the victory was the number one thing on his mind, he just wanted to get as many players in the game as he could.
You could see that early in the game, when he handed backup quarterback Mikey Porter the keys for a drive. From there, starting quarterback Henry Josephson put the team on his shoulders, but, not in the way that you would expect.
Josephson spent that drive seeking advice from anyone on the sideline and then walking back-and-forth from one end to the other, trying to pump up his teammates. Like any other time he was out of the game throughout the season, he was yelling, “we’ve got 11 guys out there” and that the sideline has to cheer them on like they would do if it was the other way around.
Every time that the Hornets would hear that, they would suddenly become even more united than they already were and the sideline exploded in excitement. Each of the players then encouraged their teammates until the final buzzer sounded.
Nice write up !!