By Patrick Newell
Sun Sports Editor
pnewell@evesun.com
SHERBURNE – For a quarter and a half, Sherburne-Earlville looked a lot like the team that streamrolled its way to five straight wins to end the 2010 season. Then the wheels fell off one at a time.
The Marauders were bogged down by penalties and then more infractions throughout the second half, and although Frankfort-Schuyler was just a tad less sloppy, it was able to rally for a 28-21 victory.
The Maroon Knights turned the ball over in the fourth quarter twice – one leading to go-ahead S-E touchdown. Yet, big plays atoned for those miscues. Gerald Post returned a touchdown 79 yards for a touchdown to close the gap to 21-20. Following an S-E punt, the Knights drove 70 yards for the decisive score in just over a minute’s time. Quarterback John Gatto hit receiver Vinny Fumarola over the middle. Fumarola shucked off an S-E tackle attempt around the 15, and raced into the endzone with just 47 seconds remaining the game.
The Marauders and head coach Mike Jasper were left to lament how close it came to clinching the victory on the previous drive. S-E committed four penalties on its final possession and had 11 of its 15 penalties in the second half alone. “You can’t win ballgames with that many penalties,” Jasper said. “On our last drive of the game, if we get one more first down, we can take a knee and run the clock out. Those penalties put us in first-and-long and second-and-long situations where we couldn’t dig ourselves out.”
Early on, the Marauders dominated play with a strong running game and a stingy defense. Early in the second quarter, S-E capped an 11-play drive on a nifty 12-yard TD pass from Randy Briggs to Austin Jasper. Briggs looked left on the pass play, and when the play broke down, he scrambled to his right finding a wide-open Jasper.
A 16-yard run by Devven Ferris was followed by Cory Musican’s 40-yard run to the nine led to the second score. Three plays after Musician’s long run, Jasper’s six-yard TD sojourn made it 14-0 with just 3:38 left in the opening half.
To that point, Frankfort-Schuyler had yet to gain a first down in two second-quarter possessions. Switching to the passing game, Gatto and his receivers were aided by a crushing S-E pass interference penalty that extended the drive. Gatto’s 30-yard pass to Post to the S-E 12 led to Fumarola’s 12-yard TD reception. Despite the Marauders’ solid first-half play, it only led 14-8 at halftime.
“We were sharp on defense, but had a couple of breakdowns,” Jasper said. “We did some good things against a team that is more experienced that us, and Frankfort-Schuyler held it together in a crunch situation. We just killed ourselves in this game, but a positive is that we physically hung tough. We just need to clean up the mistakes and get ready for our next game.”
Little was going right for the Marauders in the third quarter, and Post, who wound up with 141 yards rushing, tied the game on a 40-yard scamper.
Early in the fourth, an S-E punt by Garrett DuVall rolled to the Knights’ seven. On the next play, Post fumbled the ball leading to a Musician recovery at the seven. Three plays later, Jasper scored from the one, his third touchdown of the game. Musician led S-E’s runners with 96 yards, and Ferris finished with 68. “We have a lot of sophomores and underclassmen who are a little emotional, and this hurts,” Jasper said. “We’ll find out Monday who is coming ready to play for our league game this weekend.”
Score by quarters
F-S 0 8 6 14–28
S-E 0 14 0 7–21
Scoring Summary
SE: Randy Briggs 12 pass to Austin Jasper (Garrett DuVall kick)
