A pair of sacks inside the two-minute mark secured the 35-26 victory over West Genesee for Fayetteville-Manlius football.
Brody Phelan sacked West Genesee’s quarterback with 1:40 left and then his teammate did the same a little while later. Ben Delmarsh also had a sack in the game. The only difference was that Phelan’s sack came with time left and Delmarsh ended the game with his.
But, with under five minutes left, the night was looking like it was going to be a sour one for F-M.
The clock was beginning to run out when F-M punted the ball away to West Genesee and the Wildcats called a fair catch before muffling the kick on F-M’s 42-yard line, treating it as if it was a fumble, and carrying the ball to the 20.
F-M’s sideline was awoken by the play and became as mad and as frustrated as they have gotten this season. The players and coaches were in disbelief and argued the call even more when West Genesee converted it to a touchdown.
Even though some may have thought West Genesee had F-M trapped when they cut the deficit to two, the Hornet players didn’t. Running back Mitchell Seabury took matters into his own hands when his number was called with 1:55 left, rushing for a 62-yard touchdown.
Seabury spoke about the touchdown after the game and used it as a way to talk about his entire four-touchdown, 204-yard night. “I vividly remember before the play, saying to the offensive lineman, ‘men, this is it, all or nothing.’ And even though they were tired they finished out and got me into that open field. Those lineman and other blockers fight like hounds the entire game,” said Seabury, “and all my yards and credit goes to them. They make it happen.”
F-M’s other running back, Zack Page, added 117 yards and a touchdown.
Nevertheless, as Hornet head coach Paul Muench pointed out, it was his starting quarterback’s toughness that guided F-M to the victory. Quarterback Mikey Porter suffered a hand injury in the second quarter, but only missed a few plays after getting taped up.
Muench said that this game saw his team grow in a variety of ways, but reminded the troops that they still have a long way to go.
Juniors Trevor Fallon and Tim Shaw played very well and helped the Hornets defensively. Fallon had an intercep
tion and Shaw had two tackles that you could hear from the sideline that defined the type of game F-M had.
