Sports

I messed up the settings of last week's contest and nobody was able to complete their picks, so no winner last week. Sorry. This week, same question, but of course the possible answers are different.

To enter, click here. (Hey, if you find a problem with a contest, let me know ASAP so we can get it corrected.)

#6 Bath Rams (5-3) vs. #2 Le Roy Oatkan Knights (7-1)

Le Roy survived a tough first round test from Holley last week to advance to the Class C Semifinals, where they will face sixth-seeded Bath.

The Knights ran for 314 yards last week, despite playing without leading rusher, Peter Privitera. Tom Kelso and Marcus Mistersaro continued to be workhorses, while Le Roy got a huge and perhaps unexpected spark from senior Kylan Carter, who ran for 110 yards on nine carries. 

They could get another boost Saturday. Privitera was cleared to begin practicing this week, but how much and if he plays is still in question.

There is no doubt that coach Brian Moran will attempt to control the clock again this week, after holding the ball for nearly 21 minutes in the second half against Holley, and limiting them to 11 offensive plays.

On the other end of the spectrum, Bath upset the third seed, Elba/Byron-Bergen in first round play, 6 to 0.

The Rams held the Genesee Region League’s leading rusher, Zack DuBois, to only 60 yards after he averaged over 220 per game for the entire season.

It was the first time that any defense had held DuBois to under 100 yards rushing all season.

Bath also held the Lancers to only 78 total yards of offense and three first downs for the entire game. While being a low seed, the Rams also have an impressive win over Class B’s Livonia earlier in the season. If they can duplicate last week’s defensive performance, and sustain drives offensively, they could pull another upset.

Kickoff is set for Saturday 1:30 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium, Rochester.

#2 Clyde-Savannah Golden Eagles (7-1) vs. #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1)

Notre Dame advanced to the Class D Finals after vanquishing Dundee, 28 to 6.

Dundee had won five consecutive games against the Fighting Irish dating back to 1996, including three in a row from 2007 to 2009.

This week, they will face a much stiffer test in the second-seeded Clyde-Savannah Golden Eagles.

They will undoubtedly rely on quarterback Tim McCulley, who went 7 for 15 for 125 yards and a touchdown last week. The Notre Dame offense has revolved around the junior all season, and he has responded by throwing a school-record 17 touchdown passes.

If Head Coach Rick Mancuso and the Irish can get their passing game going, it will open up running lanes for Nick Taylor and Andrew Mullen, who combined for 219 yards and two touchdowns against Dundee.

Clyde-Savannah ousted third-seeded York in their semi-final matchup, 40 to 22.

The Eagles come in to this game averaging 46.5 points per game, and have not been scored less than 34 points in any game this season.

They are also winning by an average margin of 30.4 points per contest. Like Notre Dame, Clyde will rely on their quarterback Tom Molisani, who is coming off of a 19 for 22, 282-yard, 4-touchdown performance against York.

They did surrender over 200 yards of passing offense to York, although most of it was after the game had been put out of reach.

Expect to see a high-scoring affair on Saturday night at Sahlen’s Stadium, with both offenses looking to air it out. Both McCulley and Molisani have put up impressive statistics this season and have carried their teams to this point in the season. If McCulley gets off to a quick start, look for Mancuso to control the time of possession with the running game. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Notre Dame's girls soccer team beat Fillmore today for their first-ever sectional win, 1-0.

Pete Welker supplied us with three photos from the game. Above, Burgandy Bartlett kicks the only goal of the game.

Bailee Welker

Tess Diskin with the ball.

Submitted by Mike Henry:

The Batavia Bulldawgs varsity squad beat Akron 36-12 to earn a spot in the NOFA League Championship game. They will play Bar-Lyn next Saturday at 5 p.m. in Medina.

Photo and info submitted by Justine Bonarigo:

Batavia High School's varsity cheerleading squad placed first in the Co-Ed Division at Webster Schroeder Competition held Sunday. They will take on the sectional competition this Saturday at R.I.T. for the Class B division title.

The team includes: Samantha Saraceni (captain), Codie Grazioplene (captain), Macey McCulley, Whitney Athoe, James Murphy, Megan Wilcox, Miranda Reed, Heather Lewis, Makaela Kitcho, Katie Garlock, Danielle DellaPenna, Kayla Corp, Alexandria Ernst, Allison Smith, Teiona Kemp and Alex Rebman. Coached by Marianne Sallome and Justine Bonarigo.

Notre Dame has faced Dundee in four of the past five seasons of sectional play, losing in overtime on a questionable no-call penalty, falling in a blow-out where some thought Dundee ran up the score, and then failing to hold a late fourth-quarter lead.

The tables were turned on Dundee today as the Fighting Irish notched a first-round victory 28-6.

ND went after Dundee with a well-distributed offense. Touchdowns were scored by Nick Taylor, Tim Culley and Anthony Paladino. McCulley also connected with Taylor on a TD pass.

McCulley was 7-15 on the day for 128 yards, the TD, plus two interceptions.

Taylor gained 128 yards on 17 carries. He also had four receptions for 65 yards. Andrew Mullen rushed 13 times for 91 yards.

Charlie Bebert caught the ball three times for 63 yards.

Defensively, Taylor had six tackles, Brian VonKramer, five, Herbert, 5.5 and Mullen 4.5. Mullen added an interception, as did Josh Johnson. Joe Ryan notched a sack.

For Dundee, Aksel Jensen scored their lone TD and rushed five times for 27 yards.

Photos by Bare Antolos.

More photos by Bare after the jump (click on the headline):

Bath put together two long drives in the first and second quarter, grinding out yards down after down, three and four yards at a time with runs up the gut, chewing up the clock.

On the first drive, a fumble on the two-yard line put the ball into the hands of the Elba/Byron-Bergen offense, but the Lancers were forced to punt four downs later.

On the second drive, the Rams punched through the right side of the Lancers line, and those six points stood the test of the remaining time.

In the second quarter, the Lancers' defense turned back Bath possession after possession, forcing multiple three-and-outs and claiming a couple of turn overs.

But tit-for-tat, the Rams' defense remained just as stout, bottling up the Lancers' big back, Zack DuBois, whose only long run from scrimmage was canceled by a penalty.

"They did a nice job of taking away cutback lanes and that’s where Zack has his success, cut back or get to the outside," said Lancers Head Coach Michael Cintorino.

This was a game fought in the trenches.

"We knew we had to come out and play physical football and I think they did," Cintorino said. "It was a little bit of an awakening in the first half. In the second half, I think we came out and did exactly what we needed to do."

As the clock wore down in the fourth quarter, QB Zac Gillard was forced to look for open receivers down field and with less than three minutes to go he thought he found Kyle Dougherty. But Dougherty lost his footing when he tried to cut on the soggy turf. That left Bath's Matt Nevius alone to play centerfield and haul in Gillard's pass with a basket catch.

Another interception on the Lancers' next possession pretty much sealed Elba/BB's fate and sent the Rams to the next round of sectional play. Next Saturday, they play Le Roy.

"This is a team that can definitely make a run, but at the same time I’m proud of our boys, who came out and had an opportunity to win the football game on multiple occasions," Cintorino said.

Bath had lost this year to Batavia and Le Roy, but coming into sectionals, the Rams have two starters returning from injuries, including one, Cintorino said, who otherwise missed the entire season.

"We knew coming in they were a good team," Cintorino said. "We’re the third-seeded team and we’re playing a team that probably should have been somewhere in the top four. If you could squeeze five teams into the top four, Bath definitely belongs there."

Most of this year's Lancers have been playing together since eighth grade and they've come a long way as a team, as players and as men, Cintorino said.

"I am extremely proud of them," Cintorino said. "I wish we could have gotten a couple of more weeks of play together, but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the time we’ve had."

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

It was the running game that once again carried Le Roy to victory.

The Oatkan Knights rushed for 1,975 yards this season. Peter Privitera ran for nearly half of those yards, but with the junior out due to injury, the Knights leaned on a stable of backs to run past Holley in their Class C first round matchup, 26 to 18.

After averaging 282 yards per game on the ground during the regular season, Le Roy pounded the Holley defense for 314 yards on 58 attempts.

In the absence of Privitera, Coach Brian Moran used Tom Kelso, Marcus Mistersaro, Dylan Johnson and Kylan Carter to fill the void. While Mistersaro and Kelso have played an integral part of the offense all season long, it was Carter who stepped up with several big runs.

Coming into the game, Carter had only carried the ball two times all season.

On the last home game of his career, he exploded for 110 yards on nine carries, including a 52-yard dash that helped set up the second touchdown of the game.

“This was our last home game and I held nothing back,” Carter said. “I played like a senior tonight.”

Another senior stepped up to the plate for the Knights, and that was fullback Dylan Johnson, who accounted for all 26 Le Roy points. Johnson scored four touchdowns and added two extra points, including the game-winning 18-yard run and PAT with 2:16 remaining in the ball game.

Le Roy got a break early, as Holley marched into Knights’ territory on the first drive of the game, but Mistersaro recovered a Nick Conklin fumble on a short yardage play.

After a few Kelso runs, Mistersaro burst free for a 35-yard scamper to set up a Johnson scoring plunge. Johnson would score again to put the Knights up 13-0 at the end of the first quarter

It appeared as if Le Roy might run away with the game, but the Hawks responded quickly.

Holley senior running back Cadizsh Norford took control of the second frame, cutting the lead to 13-6 as he darted up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown run.

After forcing Le Roy to punt on their next possession, the Hawks got the ball on their own 38 with just before halftime. On the first play of the drive, Norford took a direct snap, faked a pass and sprinted 62 yards for another touchdown to make the score 13 to 12 at the half.

“I’ve been here 24 years and [Norford] is as good as I’ve ever seen,” Moran said.

In desperate need of keeping the ball out of Norford’s hands after running for 124 yards on nine carries in the first half, the Knights proceeded to march 60 yards on 18 plays, consuming 10:45 of the third quarter. The long drive was capped by Johnson’s third touchdown of the game.

Even after a chop block penalty pushed them back 15 yards, the Le Roy offense continued to pound at the Hawks' defense until reaching the end zone.

“That’s old-school Le Roy football,” Moran said. “It shows that our kids are physically fit and it shows their mental preparation.”

Norford fired right back, receiving a pass from Kyle Bell for a 43-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 19-18.

After trading punts, the Knights embarked on an 80-yard scoring drive that took up 5:31 on the clock, and was finished off by Johnson’s final touchdown with 2:16 remaining to seal the game.

Moran made a point to control the clock in the second half, particularly with the explosive Norford on the opposite side. Le Roy dominated the time of possession down the stretch, ticking off 20:49.

When Holley took possession down 26-18, they had run only six offensive plays in the entire half.

“It does two things,” he said. “It puts pressure on them to score touchdowns and it puts us in a good situation to win because we have used up so much time.”

Holley (4-4) played a hard-fought game, with Norford finishing with 10 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns, while catching four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Kelso finished the game with 80 yards on 26 carries, while Mistersaro racked up 90 yards for the second consecutive week.

Le Roy (7-1) advances to the Class C Semi-Finals next Saturday at Sahlen’s Stadium in Rochester for a 1:30 p.m. start.

They will play the winner of today's Elba/Byron-Bergen and Bath game.

In other Friday night sectional play: Batavia fell to East Rochester in a Section V playoff match, 35-20. Justin Washington scored on a 14-yard pass from Brett Scheuerlein in the second quarter. In the fourth, James Soggs scored on a six-yard run and Cody Swimline caught a five-yard pass from Scheuerlein for another TD.

In Connors and Ferris Bowl games, Cal-Mum beat Alexander, 36-6, Oakfield-Alabama beat Bolivar-Richburg 42-0 and Pembroke topped Geneseo 26-0.

In other Section V playoff action today, Notre Dame hosts longtime post-season nemesis Dundee.

In other games of note on Friday, Attica stomped Mynderse 61-8, and Hornell, which dropped down a class this season, continued its 40+ game winning streak, beating Wayland-Cohocton 41-13. Elba, Le Roy, Attica and Hornell are all Class C teams. Hornell and Attica face off in a semi-final game next week in Rochester.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Alexander High School has never had a hockey team, but starting this season, players there will get to play varsity level hockey for the first time.

Batavia HS is facing a shortage of varsity level players this year, so Alexander and Batavia will come together to form the Batavia/Alexander Ice Devils.

Batavia Athletic Director Mike Bromley said when school officials realized there would be a shortage of players this year, the school held a meeting with the parents of hockey players and the parents took the initiative to get the puck rolling on a possible merger with Alexander.

Once the idea was raised, things came together pretty quickly, Bromley said.

"Several students (in Alexander) expressed an interest," Bromley said. "We expect that anywhere from five to 10 students may try out."

The problem the Ice Devils faced, Bromley said, is that several seniors graduated after last season and then three varsity players elected to play in another, more advanced, hockey league.

That left Batavia not only with fewer players but also with a team of mostly ninth- and 10th-graders.

"There's a lot of hitting in hockey," Bromley said. "Hockey can be just as tough physically as football, but where you play only one game a week in football, with hockey sometimes you play two or three games a week, and trying to play ninth- and 10th-graders out there could be tough."

For Alexander, the opportunity is welcome by administrators, parents and players alike, said Athletic Director Ben Whitmore.

"All of these kids play together in youth leagues and they always dreamed of playing high school hockey, so to be able to give them that chance is very exciting," Whitmore said.

#7 Batavia Blue Devils (3-4) vs. #2 East Rochester/Gananda Bombers (6-1)
7 p.m., Friday

Batavia enters their Class B first round matchup against East Rochester/Gananda riding a three-game losing streak, and has lost three out of the last four.

Despite the recent lack of success and a few injuries this week, first year Head Coach Brennan Briggs is still optimistic about his team’s chances of pulling off the upset.

“We are due to play 48 minutes of football because we haven’t in the last three weeks,” Briggs said. “If we execute and know our assignments, we can win this football game.”

To key to the Blue Devils’ success will be the playmaking ability of wide receiver Justin Washington. The senior is capable of making big plans in the return game, running and catching the ball.

“We have been working on a few different ways to get him the ball, whether it’s running or passing,” Briggs said. “We think [Washington] is the best athlete on the field on any given night.”

If Washington can break loose, and the Blue Devils overcome their injuries, they have a chance to beat the Bombers on Friday night.

#7 Holley Hawks (4-3) vs. #2 Le Roy Oatkan Knights (6-1)
7 p.m., Friday

Second-seeded Le Roy will host the seventh seed Holley in the first round of the Section V Class C Football Playoffs on Friday night in a matchup of Livingston County and Genesee Region League teams.

Le Roy is coming off an emotional come-from-behind win against rival Cal-Mum last week, as they scored 10 points in the final four minutes of the game to squeak out a victory.

The Knights’ only loss on the season came against Perry in Week 6, but leading rusher Peter Privitera did not play in the game, nor did he last week due to injury. Privitera has rushed for 834 yards and 10 touchdowns in five games this season, while Marcus Mistersaro has 362 yards, 3 touchdowns and 9.8 yards per carry.

Mistersaro stepped in for the injured Privitera last week and ran for 90 yards, including 63 on the game-winning drive against Cal-Mum.

Le Roy averages 282 rushing yards per game, so Holley will have to slow down the running attack in order to have an opportunity to win.

While the Hawks enter the game with more wins than losses, they have a 1-3 record against teams with a winning record for the season.

#6 Bath Rams (4-3) vs. #2 Elba/Byron-Bergen Lancers (6-1)
1:30 p.m., Saturday

Elba/Byron-Bergen will host Bath in a Class C first round matchup on Saturday afternoon and the player to watch is undoubtedly Lancers running back Zack DuBois.

The senior led the Genesee Region League in rushing with 1,572 yards and 16 touchdowns. DuBois also ran for 200 yards in 5 of 7 games he played this year, and never rushed for less than 113. His average of 224.6 yards per game and 10.3 yards per carry were also tops in the league.

If Elba can get DuBois rolling early, it will open up the passing game for quarterback Zac Gillard, who has 881 yards, 12 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions on the season.

Defensively, they are led by four-time Section V Class C Defensive Player of the Week Andy Underhill.

The junior linebacker led the Lancers with 132 tackles, averaging almost 19 per game. While Bath comes in with a 1-3 record against teams with winning records, they did defeat a strong Livonia squad, so the Rams will be a tough first round matchup for Elba/Byron-Bergen.

#4 Dundee Scotsmen (3-4) vs. #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1)
1:30 p.m., Saturday

While Notre Dame is coming off an emotional high last week after defeating Attica to force a three-way tie for the Genesee Region League Championship, the 76 to 14 drubbing that Dundee gave the Irish in the 2009 Class D Championship game is still fresh in the mind of Head Coach Rick Mancuso.

Notre Dame will look to avenge that loss and the attack will begin with do-it-all quarterback Tim McCulley. The junior led the G-R League in passing yards and his 16 touchdown passes were also tops in the league.

McCulley is also extremely effective running the ball if the pocket breaks down, as he did last week 11 times for 79 yards. The McCulley-to-Jared Thornton connection has been hot as of late, with the two hooking up 10 times for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns in the victory against Attica.

If Dundee wants to upset the number-one seed in Class D, they will have to do so by shutting down Irish passing attack.

Notre Dame fell in the Class D Finals a year ago, and has not won a championship since 2006.

Article submitted by Andrew Crofts, GCC sports information director. Photos by Howard Owens.

It was the most anticipated regular season matchup in Genesee Community College men's soccer history. The #2 Cougars welcomed the #1 Herkimer County Community College Generals to town in a rematch of last year's NJCAA Division III National Championship game. The game lived up to the hype.

Both teams entered Tuesday night's showdown with identical 14-1 records. The Cougars won the Western New York Athletic Conference title this season and the Generals took care of the Mountain Valley Conference. Tuesday night's winner likely will determine next week's number one team in the National Poll.

Not wanting to give up the top spot, Herkimer jumped out in front just under three minutes into the first half. The Generals capitalized on a penalty kick that came as a result of a GCC handball in the box. Jordan Stoddart converted on the kick.

Genesee's best chance to tie in the first half came late when Dom Francis sent a lefty bid from just outside the box that hit the crossbar, keeping the score 1-0 in favor of the visitors. The Cougars trailed by the same score at the break.

GCC notched the equalizer about 10 minutes into the second half when Theo Stamotopolous chipped in a goal off of a corner kick to tie the score at one. It was his third goal in two games.

Both teams played scoreless soccer for nearly 30 minutes after that until GCC broke through. Set up with another corner kick, Sam Cassidy sent the cross in front of the Generals net that was headed in by Cody Niccloy to give Genesee a 2-1 lead with about five minutes remaining.

The Cougars were able to hold off Herkimer for the final five minutes and knocked off the country's number one team, 2-1.

Niccloy's game-winning goal is his second of the season. He also tallied the winner against Mercyhurst North East in double-overtime in September.

Jake O'Learly played all 90 minutes in net for GCC and made six saves.

The win is the second regular season victory for Genesee over Herkimer in the last two years. The Cougars defeated the Generals 1-0 during the regular season last year, before falling 4-1 in the National Championship game.

Genesee improves to 15-1 overall and will conclude their regular season on Thursday night when they travel to Bryant and Stratton College for a 4 p.m. start.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

Press release:

Tuesday, October 16th has been a date circled on the Genesee Community College men's soccer calendar since their 2012 schedule was announced over the summer. Genesee Community College vs. Herkimer County Community College.

Tuesday night will bring the most anticipated matchup in the history of the GCC Soccer program. The Cougars, currently ranked number two in the NJCAA Division III National Poll, will sport their 14-1 overall record against the Generals, the number-one ranked team in the National Poll, who also hold a 14-1 record.

The last time these two teams met was last November when both squads played for the Junior College National Championship. Herkimer defeated Genesee 4-1, en route to their eighth National Championship in school history. Genesee had defeated Herkimer 1-0 in their regular season matchup last fall.

The only blemish on GCC's season so far came against Division I Monroe Community College in early September. The Tribunes defeated Genesee 4-1. After the loss, Genesee put together 13 straight victories and claimed their second straight Western New York Athletic Conference title, finishing a perfect 5-0 in conference play. Herkimer's only defeat came against Division I Mercer County Community College (PA). The Generals fell to Mercer CCC 2-0 earlier this month.

All-American sophomore Dominic Francis will pace the Cougars offense against the number-one squad in the country. The forward currently leads all of NJCAA Division III in scoring and surpassed the GCC single-season scoring record, tallying 27 goals this fall (the previous mark was 23). The Genesee defense and goalkeepers have combined for seven shutouts against opponents this year and have held teams to just 0.9 goals per game.

The showdown will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night and admission is free. It will be the final regular season home game for the Cougars this season and likely determine the number one team in next weeks National Poll.

Genesee Community College athletics program endeavors to provide a quality and competitive intercollegiate athletics program consistent with the National Junior Collegiate Athletics Association (NJCAA) philosophy and the overall educational mission of Genesee Community College. Participation in collegiate athletics should be an extension of the total educational experience for the student athlete. The inherent philosophy emphasizes the athletic setting as a classroom used to teach character, commitment, work ethic, respect for differences, and the importance of sacrifice, teamwork and cooperation.

For further information and pictures go to Genesee's Athletic Web page, which is updated regularly with game results, team rosters, photographs and information about Genesee's overall athletic program. http://www.genesee.edu/athletics

Dr. Micheal Merrill shared these pictures of the Batavia HS girls cross-country team from their meet Saturday in Alden. There are no results available from the meet.

Tim McCulley and Jared Thornton made quite a duo on Saturday, helping to lead the way for a Notre Dame victory over Attica in an overtime game, 32-26.

The quarterback and receiver connected 10 times for 240 yards and four touchdowns.

The two biggest plays came in the fourth quarter and OT.

Down 26-18 with less than three minutes on the clock, Thornton jumped off sides to turn a fourth-and-five into a fourth-and-10.

"I just wanted to make it up to my teammates," Thornton said. "I just tried to make it up best I could."

When the ball was snapped on that fourth-down play, McCulley dropped back and looked for Thornton cutting across the field. He put the ball up and Thornton snagged it.

I just wanted to make the first down," Thornton said. "I caught the ball and somebody hit me, but I just bounced right off him so I just kept going."

The score followed by a two-point conversion knotted the game at 26 apiece.

On its next possession, Attica stalled and with less than 30 seconds on the clock, just let time expire, deciding to roll the dice on OT.

The Blue Devils won first possession of OT and on the first play from scrimmage, QB Austin Skawienski ran a sweep to the far sideline. Attica dodged a bullet when he fumbled the ball was ruled down before the ball sprung loose.

Two plays later, Skawienski tried for a corner end zone pass but Notre Dame's Josh Johnson stepped in front of the ball and pulled it down.

The Irish took possession on the 20-yard line, but before the first snap, a player jumped off sides.

From the 25, McCulley dropped back to pass, Thornton streaked toward the back corner of the end zone, McCulley tossed it high, Thornton jumped, but so did Zach Kozma. Kozma actually got his hands on the ball first, but Thornton pulled it away.

As the players tumbled to the ground, Thornton's helmet popped off, but he held firm to the ball.

TD and a ND win, 32-26.

"He’s really good at jump balls, kind of like Calvin Johnson, I guess," McCulley said of Thorton. "I just throw it up there and he goes up to get it."

With the win, Notre Dame secured a first-round home game in sectional play.

"It was a fantastic game," said Head Coach Rick Mancuso. "I thought both teams played their hearts out. It’s a shame that anybody had to lose that game. I give all the credit in the world to Attica. They lose the quarterback in the first quarter and they gutted it out and they gave it everything they possible had. We just managed to pull it out in the end. I’m really proud of our guys."

The Irish defense had their hands full with junior running back Matt Perry who carried the ball 27 times for 181 yards and one TD.

"Perry is a workhorse," Mancuso said. "He can take the ball 50 times and be as tough on the last carry as the first carry. He’s a heck of running back and they have a great line."

QB Skawienski was 3-6 for 58 yards and one interception for Attica. He replaced Corey Ruddock in the first quarter after Ruddock was transported by Mercy EMS to an area hospital with possible back and leg injuries.

While Attica dominated on the ground -- 287 total yards to Notre Dame's 139, the Irish looked at times like Air Coryell. McCulley was as likely to drop back and look for an open man as he was to hand it off. On the day, the junior QB was 14-22 for 270 yards and the four TD tosses to Thornton.

On the ground, McCulley carried the ball 11 times for 79 yards. Nick Taylor had six carries for 35 yards and Andrew Mullen had six carries for 25 yards.

In those final minutes of the fourth quarter, the situation did look pretty bleak for the Fighting Irish.

After the Blue Devils marched the ball 70 yards down field, and knocking at the door of another TD, Perry coughed the ball up on the one-yard line.

That could have been a turning point for Notre Dame, a chance, down 19-18, to move the ball into scoring position.

After a second-down penalty negated the positive gain of a first-yard play, McCulley ran a bootleg. He never made it out of the end zone. While it appeared that he was trying to pass the ball while being dragged by Jake Dollard, the play was ruled a fumble. Attica recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

For a lot of teams, that would have been the game right there.

"I just told my guys, a win starts with belief," said senior lineman John Lapple. "If you believe you can win, great things can happen, never go down on yourself. You’re always positive and you know what’s going on."

On defense, Aaron McDonald and Josh Johnson had nine tackles apiece. Johnson also had the interception. Thornton and Taylor each had 6.5 tackles. Jason Hart and Charlie Hebert had five apiece.

In other football action Saturday:

• Elba/Byron Bergen (6-1) crushed University Prep 55-18. Zack DuBois had 271 yards and three TDs on 24 carries. It was his fifth game this year of at least 200 yards on the ground. He finishes the regular season with 1,572 rushing yards and 17 TD. Zac Gillard was 7 for 9 for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He added  26 rushing yards and one TD. Andy Underhill recorded 18 tackles and an interception. Nate Jonathan had 10 tackles.
• St. Mary's beat Batavia, 37-14.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. To purchase prints of these pictures, click here.