Sherburne-Earlville entered uncharted territory last season when it qualified for the Section III playoffs for the first time. Perhaps the Marauders were just happy to be there a season ago, and were dismissed from postseason contention in their opening game. A year later, S-E is certainly pleased by the return to the playoffs, but nothing less than a victory will be acceptable.
“The team realizes what is out there, and we won’t face anything but good teams from here on out,” said Marauders head coach Mike Jasper.
Visiting S-E country tonight at 7 p.m. is the Thousand Islands Vikings, who reside near the northern tip of the section’s boundaries. The Vikings lost three of four to start the season including defeats to Section III Class C playoff teams Watertown IHC and General Brown. But, they have won three straight, and clinched a postseason berth last week defeating Lowville, 32-18. Tavis Anderson ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns in Thousand Islands’ victory. Vikings running back Collin Bourcy also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark and added a touchdown run.
“They are a decent team and they were put in a situation where they had to win against Lowville, who is also a quality team,” Jasper said. “They showed they can perform, and did what they needed to do to win that game pretty solidly.”
Anderson is just a sophomore and has over 800 yards rushing this season to lead the Vikings, while also posting three straight 100-yard rushing performances. Bourcy is a nice complement with over 600 yards rushing and over eight yards per tote.
Running the Vikings offense is quarterback Tyler Gilfus, who has completed 62 percent of his passes. He throws for better than 100 yards per game and has five TD passes. “They like to use their passing game in play-action and running the boot passes,” Jasper said. “We’ll have to be disciplined up front and not just go hell-bent.”
Defensively, Jasper expects Thousand Islands to stack the line of scrimmage to stuff an S-E ground game that averages 280 yards a game. That ploy may be foolhardy with the emergence of S-E junior quarterback Cody Marango. Marango already has 15 touchdown passes – seven to Austin Jasper, five to Ben Khoury, and three to Gavin Giroux – and is on pace to record the highest TD pass total among Chenango County quarterbacks in 16 years.
“We’re adding things and tweaking things each week based on what we see, but I don’t think we will move too far from our identity,” Jasper said. “It all starts up front, and we have to be physical.”
The winner of tonight’s game will play either Watertown IHC or Skaneateles at a neutral site next weekend.
