CLINTONVILLE — It took the Peru Indians the entire first half to finally get going on Saturday.

By then, it was too late.

Schalmont knocked Peru out of the NYSPHSAA Class B state playoffs with a 25-20 victory at AuSable Valley High School.

The Sabres held off a valiant Indian comeback attempt to hold on for the victory.

"For some reason this is the way we tend to play football," Schalmont coach Joe Whipple said. "We've had this happen three or four times during the season. I don't know if the kids just get complacent with a lead or what.

"We tip our hats off to Peru. They could have easily rolled over, but they came out and fought back. That's a testament to how foo their program is."

The Indians struggled during the opening half and allowed the Sabres to take a commanding lead early on.

Peru's Taylor Rock tossed three interceptions on the Indians' first three possessions, which set Schalmont up with great field position.

Sabres quarterback Niko Nicoletti did most of the damage during the first half.

The senior rushed for two touchdowns in the first quarter, and tossed another to Alex Hildebrand in the second to give Schalmont a 19-0 lead at the half.

"When we started out we knew we had to stop (Devon Willis, Hildebrand and Nicolleti) if we were going to win the game," Peru coach Nick Damiani said. "(Nicoletti) was the only one who really hurt us today."

The second half looked like it might be the same as the first as the Sabres capped an 11-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by Kyle Strube.

The score put the Indians in a 25-0 hole.

"I think after the first quarter we really started to doubt ourselves," Damiani said. "Once we realized that we could play with them it was a different story."

After Rock's early troubles, the senior quarterback settled down and finished with a pretty terrific game.

Rock got Peru on the board at 8:10 of the third quarter when Mike Holdridge hauled in a pass, broke to his right and carried down the sideline for a 42-yard score.

On the Sabres subsequent possession, Nicoletti fumbled and Hunter Bruno scooped the football up at the 50 and returned it 35 yards to the Schalmont 15.

Four plays later, Rock took it in for a 1-yard score to pull the Indians to within 13.

Holdridge then intercepted Nicoletti on the Sabres next possession, and the momentum had definitely shifted toward Peru.

The Indians then embarked on a 20-play drive — including extending the drive with two fourth-down conversions — capped by Jeff Kurz's 2-yard touchdown run with 2:24 remaining in the game.

Peru tried an onside-kick, but the ball bounced out of bounds.

The game appeared to be over, but the Indians held Schalmont to a three-and-out and forced a punt.

Starting at its own 8-yard line, Peru needed to march 92 yards to claim the victory with under a minute remaining.

The Indians made it to the 33-yard line before a hard hit by Nick Gallo caused a fumble and the Sabres recovered to end the game.

"Take away the first quarter where we had a bunch of nerves and this is a different ball game," Damiani said. "We have battled all year and the kids always seem to step up and answer the call.

"There just wasn't enough time for us."

Rock finished with a season-high 232 yards through the air on 22 completions.

Holdridge also captured a season-high in receiving yards with 126 on 11 catches and a touchdown.

Hildebrand rushed for 72 yards to lead the way for the Sabres. Nicoletti added another 68 on the ground and tossed for 49 through the air.

"We hit well today; we hit well all game," Damiani said. "We finally got our offense going a bit with some consistency. We battled and I think we started thinking we could do it.

"Our seniors didn't want to give in and they really got the belief back in our program. (Schalmont) is a good team and you can't give a good team those kind of advantages."

—

Schalmont 25, Peru 20

Schalmont          13 6 6 0 — 25

Peru           0 0 12 8 — 20

First quarter

S- Nicoletti 9 run (Nicoletti kick), 1:09.

S- Nicoletti 44 run (kick failed), 11:36.

Second quarter

S- Hildebrand 23 pass from Nicoletti (pass failed), 11:01.

Third quarter

S- Strube 4 run (pass failed), 5:56.

P- Holdridge 42 pass from Rock (kick failed), 8:10.

P- Rock 1 run (pass failed), 11:33.

Fourth quarter

P- Kurz 2 run (Murphy from Rock), 9:36.

Individual statistics

Rushing

S- Hildebrand, 9-72; Nicoletti, 15-68, 2 TD; Willis, 12-44; Strube, 2-9, TD; Gallo, 2-5; Floccuzio, 2-2; Gomez, 2-(-10). Totals: 44-190, 3 TD.

P- Cederstrom, 10-24; Kurz, 4-13, TD; Remillard, 1-4; Hendrix, 2-2; Rock, 10-(-1), TD. Totals: 27-42, 2 TD.

Passing

S- Nicoletti, 4-7-1-49, TD.

P- Rock, 22-33-3-232, TD. Holdridge, 0-1-1-0. Totals: 22-33-4-232, TD.

Receiving

S- Hildebrand, 2-31, TD; Higgins, 2-18.

P- Holdridge, 11-126, TD; Remillard, 6-44; Bazzano, 3-24; Murphy, 2-23; Cederstrom, 0-15.

Interceptions

S- Willis, Hildebrand, Gallo, Nicoletti.

P- Holdridge.