Maine-Endwell takes it to Union-Endicott early on, grabs 41-21 football win
Maine-Endwell manhandled Union-Endicott until matters were well in hand Saturday and emerged with a 41-21 win to dampen the Tigers’ Homecoming festivities.
In a matchup of programs coming off appearances in state football finals 10 months ago, one appeared more than capable of returning come December’s opening weekend.
The Spartans produced touchdowns on their third and fourth offensive plays and another on their third possession to go ahead by 21-0 with 6:58 elapsed at Ty Cobb Stadium. Come quarterback Austyn Nyschot’s sneak across the goal line from a yard out 26.2 seconds before halftime, it was 34-7.
Maine-Endwell, ranked atop Class B teams by the New York State Sports Writers Association, improved to a 4-0 season record with the program’s 26th consecutive win. Union-Endicott is 1-3.
Up next
Maine-Endwell will visit unbeaten Windsor on Oct. 6, and the following weekend will host Chenango Forks.
Union-Endicott heads to Corning for an Oct. 6 contest.
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All-business early for M-E
Maine-Endwell’s aim was to leave nothing to chance or excitement or anything other than superiority between the boundaries on what had potential to be an emotionally charged atmosphere with the neighboring rivals engaging once again.
“Us coming off that nail-biter last week (one-point squeak past Corning) and them coming off a big win against Vestal and carrying the momentum into Homecoming … We threw the ball, ran the ball, played great defense,” said Spartans coach Matt Gallagher.
Particularly early on, they did.
Ninety-five seconds had expired, and it was 7-0 courtesy of Jaden Branch’s 68-yard burst through the middle and Jack Hennessey’s first of five PAT conversions. Three minutes and 15 seconds into action, on first down from M-E’s 40-yard line, Nyschot passed beautifully deep right to Hennessey, dashing up the right side. Hennessey may or may not have offered a craftily subtle ward-off to a defender, ran under the football and it was a two-TD difference.
Hennessey followed with his first of several kickoffs across the goal line.
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Branch and his path-pavers were largely responsible for the third touchdown. The fullback gained 16 yards on fourth and 2 from M-E’s 48, and a jiffy later carried in from 51 yards with aid of could-have-been tackles that were not executed.
The lead was expanded to 28-0 approaching the midway point of the second quarter when, a play after Sal Caforio intercepted a deflected pass, Nyschot passed 36 yards to Liam Hadfield just across the goal line.
Union-Endicott’s TDs came of passes of by Logan Barnes of 29, 18 and 28 yards. The second of those went to Cooper Hughes, who led Tigers receivers with nine catches and 85 yards.
M-E’s diverse offense key
A thorough outing is what it was for Maine-Endwell, with Nyschot and Branch especially conspicuous.
“Everyone was looking to Austyn to run the ball, and he can do that very well, but he’s throwing the ball very, very well. That’s all year, not just today,” Gallagher said. “He’s hitting people in stride; we have some amazing athletes on the edge.
“Once again what we’re proud of is that it was different people today. It wasn’t Vinny (Mancini), it wasn’t Landon (Rollo), it was Jaden, it was Austyn, it was our receivers. It’s tough to stop a team that on any given day it could be someone else.”
Nyschot passed for 121 yards and two TDs, and rushed for 58 yards and two more scores.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Spartans of Maine-Endwell 4-0 after defeating Union-Endicott
