By HUNTER O. LYLE
CUBA, NY – Just inside the final three minutes, the Panthers had hope. Down by eight and with 76 yards separating them from the endzone, their unblemished record rested on the impending drive. It was a long-shot, but not impossible.
Chipping out 13 yards over their next five plays, including on a fourth-and-four, the Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg football team was incrementally fighting their way up stream. But with no timeouts, the flash in the pan had to come from the air.
Snapping the ball, Peyton Carter rolled to his right. Scanning the field, he tossed a short screen pass towards the sidelines, but in the final culmination of a night where mental errors and mistakes continued to show up, the ball was ripped from the air by a defender. Watching the Golden Falcons take it back to the endzone, the deflated Panthers accepted the first blemish on their record in the form of a 26-12 loss to Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove.
“The muffed punt, the jumping offsides, the special teams errors, the interceptions. It just adds up. It’s hard to win football games when you make that many mistakes,” said Portville head coach Josh Brooks. “We’re a varsity football team, but we’re pretty young besides a few of our select seniors, so they’re going to make mistakes. The mistakes cost us but we have to learn from them. It’s the only thing you can do.”
Coming off their third flawless week of the season, one that saw the Panthers plant their flag in Bradner Stadium for the first time ever, Portville took to their pseudo-homefield looking like the undefeated team their record reflected. Taking the ball first, their three-headed attack of Carter, Liam Taylor and Hayden Schappacher marched down the field, using eight snaps to clear 62-yards for the initial score – Carter eventually crossed the goal line on an eight-yard scramble.
Then, their defense followed in suit, forcing the Golden Falcons to punt in three, a sequence that saw Liam Gadley break through the trenches for a massive eight-yard sack. But then the first tremor came.
On the ensuing Falconer punt, Portville’s returner whiffed on the reception. In a scramble for the ball, the Golden Falcons earned possession on the Panthers’ 22-yard line. Five plays later, they returned the favor, scoring to bring the game back to even at 6-6.
Almost immediately, the Panthers fell into a funk. Over their next few drives, they saw breakdowns on multiple fronts. A bad snap cost them 20 yards, followed immediately by a delay of game. A stalled drive and three-and-out, before an interception on their fourth possession. Portville was rattled.
“Every time we gained momentum, it seemed like the very next play we made a huge mistake and gave all the momentum right back to (Falconer,)” said Brooks. “With the younger guys, especially up front, they have to learn that killer instinct, where once we’re up, we look to put (the game) away.”
However, while the offense was in shock, the defense picked up the slack. Despite giving Falconer quality and comfortable starting points, the Panthers denied everything, including a deflected pass in the endzone and a pair of three-and-outs that maintained the stalemate heading into halftime.
“We kept giving (Falconer) a short field so we really put our defense’s back against a wall and we held them a few times,” said Brooks. “(Falconer) wore us down a little bit because of how they play and how physical they are, but our kids never quit. I’m very impressed, very happy with that. You can’t teach that. It’s just desire.”
Screaming back out onto the field, looking emblazoned by the message during the break, Portville wasted no time finding their spark.
On the Golden Falcons’ second snap of the third, the Panthers ripped possession away as Stanley Gilchrist jumped into the dog pile and came away with a recovered fumble. Taking cues from their first drive of the game, Portville then methodically crept downfield, creating their second score of the night off an eleven-play possession that was capped off with Taylor cruising into the endzone on a five-yard carry.
But once again, then came the rug pull. Following a 65-yard kickoff return that landed them on Portville’s 28-yard line, Falconer countered once again and in a fraction of the time. Two snaps into the drive, they punched in a response. Converting the 2-point maneuver with a quarterback keeper, they then put the pressure fully on the Panthers as they took a 14-12 lead.
Feeling yet another gut punch, Portville spiraled. A holding penalty and false start on back-to-back snaps gave way to a first-and-25, and although they were able to move the chains thanks to 27 quick yards from Taylor, another interception followed. In turn, the Golden Falcons added to the deficit, scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it an eight-point gap on the scoreboard.
Fighting both the Golden Falcon’s ground-pound offense as well as the clock, Portville managed to pull back the reins and earn one last chance at a comeback. First-and-ten from their own 24.
A five-yard gain from Taylor. A three-yard gain from Schappacher. A loss of two but a gain of five. First-and-ten from their 36 with a minute and a half left.
Snap. Interception. Pick-six.
Taylor ended with 143 rushing yards and one touchdown on the night, while Schappacher had 77 rushing yards and Carter had 37. Through the air, Carter finished 2-for-7 with three interceptions and nine passing yards.
With the loss, the Panthers fell to 1-1 in the heavily-contested Class C South standings, tied with Salamanca. But having only just marked the first loss halfway through the season, Brooks and Co. are in no way panicking just yet.
“I don’t think we need to change anything major. We’re going to take every positive out of the game. Obviously it stinks to lose but not everyone goes undefeated either. Sometimes losing can be a blessing in disguise,” said Brooks. “Hopefully that’s it for us.”
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