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November 28, 2009

Vikings run aground

Randolph defeats Moriah 41-0 in state Class D football

By RYAN HAYNER

DID YOU KNOW?


You can look back over the last 70 years at some of the area athletes and personalities who made headlines in area sports. Flashback will revive memories of great local athletes and outstanding team successes.

SYRACUSE — With a minute remaining in the first half Saturday, Moriah was prepared to go into halftime trailing just 14-0.

That minute turned into an eternity for the Vikings.

Randolph scored twice in the final 60 seconds of the second quarter and entered the second half with a commanding 27-0 lead that it never relinquished in a 41-0 win in the NYSPHSAA Class D football championship game in the Carrier Dome.

Mike Maycock scored a rushing touchdown and threw for another to win Most Valuable Player honors. Matt Hettenbaugh rushed for a team-high 111 yards and a score as Randolph (12-1) piled up 327 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

It was the second year in a row that Moriah (9-3) reached the title game and second year the Vikings put themselves into a deep hole after the first two quarters. Although it wasn't quite the 42-0 halftime lead Maple Grove had in 2008, the end result was the same for Moriah, which was without leading rusher and starting free safety Ron Schofield in the first half because he violated a team rule.

"Getting here two years is very tough; we played a lot of good football teams," Moriah coach Don Tesar said. "These guys worked really hard in the off-season and their goal was to get back here after last year and they accomplished that goal.

"The outcome is disappointing, but they still played hard."

It might have been a different outcome if not for the last minute of the second quarter. After building up a 14-0 lead behind strong rushing, the Cardinals tried something they haven't in three games — a pass. Maycock connected with a wide open Ryan Beach for a 39-yard gain to the Vikings 4-yard line. Maycock scored on the next play with 44 seconds left.

Randolph successfully pulled off an onside kick but fumbled on the first play. That didn't matter, since the Vikings coughed the ball up right after. Moriah handed the Cardinals an extra 15 yards on a roughing the passer penalty before Maycock connected with Erik Bruder to get down to the 10-yard line.

Maycock found Bruder again, hitting him across the middle of the end zone with three seconds left on the clock.

"That was tough," Tesar said. "We could have gone into halftime down 14-0."

If the Vikings needed any more reason to be deflated, the Cardinals came out in the second half and put together an 11-play, 63-yard drive that put them ahead 34-0.

When Schofield finally got in the game, he rushed eight times for 19 yards and attempted two passes. He provided one of Moriah's few bright spots in the game when he drilled Matt Hettenbaugh in the third quarter, drawing huge cheers from the Moriah crowd as the hit was replayed several times on the big screens.

Moriah's offense struggled from the start and reached Cardinals territory just three times all game, twice in the first half. All three drives ended when the Vikings couldn't convert fourth downs, with just one of them needing more than two yards.

Moriah gained just 81 rushing yards, falling short of the century mark for the first time since Sept. 26, 2008, a span of 19 games. Quarterback Nate Gilbo was the team's leading rusher Saturday, picking up 25 yards on five carries.

The Vikings didn't have much success in the passing game, either. Gilbo misfired on a few passes, but the Cardinals secondary provided few open opportunities. The Vikings were just 2-for-10 on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth-down tries.

Alan Lockwood got Randolph on the board in the first half on a 54-yard run and Lundsten made it 14-0 on a 2-yard burst midway through the second quarter.

The Cardinals added their final touchdown on an 8-yard option run by Travis Terry in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings walked off the field at the Carrier Dome having completed another sterling season despite the loss, but in the immediate aftermath that provided little solace.

"We were happy that we made it this far, back-to-back, which was great, but we would have really liked to have come home with the state championship," said senior Hayden Whalen, a 3½-year starter at offensive tackle.

—

Randolph 41, Moriah 0

Moriah0000—0

Randolph72077—0

First quarter

R- Lockwood 54 run (Milliman kick), 10:32.

Second quarter

R- Lundsten 2 run (Milliman kick), 5:17.

R- Maycock 4 run (kick missed), 11:16.

R- Bruder 15 pass from Maycock (Milliman kick), 11:57.

Third quarter

R- Hettenbaugh 2 run (Milliman kick), 6:09.

Fourth quarter

R- Terry 8 run (Milliman kick), 2:55.

Individual statistics

Rushing

R- Hettenbaugh 17-111, TD. Lockwood 12-92, TD. Terry 8-71, TD. Maycock 3-20. Robbins 4-33. Totals: 44-327, 3 TD.

M- Na. Gilbo 5-25. Ni. Gilbo 11-22. Ro. Schofield 8-19. Speshock 6-15. Totals: 30-81.

Passing

R- Maycock 3-30-76, TD.

M- Na. Gilbo 2-4-0-37. Ro. Schofield 0-2-0-0. Totals: 2-6-0-37.

Receiving

R- Bruder 2-37, TD. Beach 1-39. Totals: 2-76, TD.

M- Mascarenas 2-37.

E-mail Ryan Hayner at: rhayner@ressrepublican.com

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