HAMBURG - Points were being scored fast and furious in the second half of Friday's Class AA football game at Frontier. And it was the host Falcons that did the bulk of it with 14 points in each the third and fourth quarters to pull out a 35-28 upset win over the Jamestown Red Raiders.
''It was a like a ping pong match,'' Frontier coach Tim Myslinski said after his team knocked off the team that was ranked 10th in the state and fifth in Western New York.
''It was a just a good game,'' Jamestown coach Tom Langworthy said after his team's undefeated season came to an end. ''It wasn't sloppy, both teams played well. It was back and forth. Credit to Frontier.''
Article Photos
Da'Quan Hollingsworth breaks around the left side for a 69-yard touchdown run during Friday night's Class AA South game at Frontier. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.
P-J photo by Jim Riggs
He added, ''We didn't play a great game. We played an average game and sometimes you get by with average, even though it's dangerous, and sometimes you don't and tonight we didn't''
Jamestown is now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in Class AA South while Frontier moves to 3-2 and and 2-2.
''It's a learning experience for our guys,'' Langworthy said. ''We're disappointed and we should be because it matters to us. But we'll bounce back.''
Things started off slow in the first quarter as there was an exchange of turnovers. Frontier's Paul Brinkel intercepted a Jake Sisson pass, but the Falcons' possession ended when quarterback Ben Koch fumbled after a hit by Justin Capuano, who also recovered the ball at the Red Raiders' 29-yard line.
After an exchange of punts, Jamestown started a drive at its own 25 and faced a third-and-four play. The Red Raiders got the first down and more as Da'Quan Hollingsworth ran to the middle and then broke down the left sideline for a 69-yard touchdown run. Zach Panebianco kicked the extra point and Jamestown had a 7-0 lead with 3:12 left in the first quarter.
Frontier tied the game midway through the second quarter with the help of three straight completions by Koch for 7, 15 and 8 yards. That put the Falcons at the Red Raiders' 11. After Koch ran for 7 and 3 yards, he hit Alex Licata with a 1-yard touchdown pass and Adrian Cannon kicked the extra point to tie the game with 6:44 left in the first half.
The tie didn't last too long as after the ensuring kickoff, Jamestown drove 72 yards in 12 plays to regain the lead thanks to a phenomenal run by Hollingsworth.
On a third-and-seven play at the Falcons' 25 with 55 seconds left, Hollingsworth ran up the middle and into a pile of defenders. He bounced off and tried to go right, but then reversed and ran all the way around the left end and into the end zone. It was a 25-yard touchdown run, but it covered about 45yards.
Panebianco's kick gave Jamestown a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Then came the fireworks in the second half.
Frontier took the kickoff and had something going with a couple of pass completions to Cameron Coon for 18 and 14 yards. But a 6-yard loss after a sack by John Czech stalled the drive and the Falcons eventually had to punt.
Jamestown went three-and-out and Frontier began driving again from its own 48. A 14-yard pass completion got things going, then the Falcons converted a third-and-seven with an 8-yard run by Kevin Hamilton, filling in for Kenny Kahler who was sidelined with a knee injury. Later they faced a third-and-five and Koch was scrambling when he hit Cannon with a pass for an 18-yard touchdown play. Then Cannon kicked the extra point to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:26 left in the third quarter.
But the lead lasted only 21 seconds.
On the Red Raiders first play after the kickoff, Hollingsworth burst through the middle and outran the defense for a 71-yard touchdown run and Panebianco's kick put Jamestown in front, 21-14, with 3:05 left in the third quarter.
''Our defense is predicated on attacking,'' Myslinski said. ''When you attack, you expose yourself.''
Then Frontier answered the Jamestown score in even less time.
Elijah Ricks returned the kickoff 54 yards to the Red Raiders' 17 and on the first play, Koch passed to a sliding Ricky Fitzgerald inside the goal line and Cannon kicked the extra point.
It had taken the Falcons' 19 seconds to tie the game at 21-21.
And the hosts continued to roll.
Jamestown's next possession ended when Ryan Harvey intercepted a Sisson pass on third down and with a 15-yard Red Raiders' penalty added on, the Falcons began a drive at their own 43. On a third-and-five play, Frontier moved to the Jamestown 29 with a 26-yard pass play. From there, Hamilton broke tackles and raced into the end zone and Cannon's kick gave the hosts a 28-21 led with 11:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Then the Red Raiders got their passing attack in gear to tie the game.
''We did mix the run and pass and that was one of our goals tonight,'' Langworthy said.
After picking up a first down with a Frontier penalty, Sisson hit Mike Watson with a 33-yard completion to the Falcons' 31. Then Sisson hit Panebianco with a pass from there for a touchdown and Panebianco's kick tied the game at 28-28 with 9:04 left in the fourth quarter.
Then the teams exchanged punts before Frontier drove 65 yards for the eventual winning touchdown.
Koch gained 6 and 5 yards on quarterback keepers to get things going and two plays later he completed a 28-yard pass to Ricky Fitzgerald to put the Falcons at the Red Raiders' 31. Koch had back-to-back 7-yard runs before Hamilton ran for 4 yards to the 11 and then burst through the left side of the line from there to score with 53 seconds left to play.
Cannon's kick gave Frontier a 35-28 lead.
The way things were going, 53 seconds was plenty of time for Jamestown to come back and score.
The Frontier fans were holding their breath when Hollingsworth took the kickoff and returned it 39 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Frontier 49.
Sisson managed to hit Watson with an 8-yard pass, but then threw two incompletions. On a fourth-and-four play with 18 seconds left, Sisson ran a keeper and gained only 3 yards and the celebration began for Frontier.
''At 28-28 I told the coaches the next touchdown wins and it was true,'' Langworthy said. ''We were hoping we'd score it.''
He added, ''At times we moved the ball well and made some great plays,'' Langworthy said. ''But at times we sputtered offensively and defensively we had a tough time getting stops in the second half.''
John Czech led the Jamestown defense with 16 tackles while Cortland Haines had 13.
Hollingsworth finished with 140 yards on 32 carries while Sisson completed 11 of 22 passes for 129 yards.
Next for the Red Raiders is a game with defending state champion Orchard Park on Friday at Strider Field at 7 p.m. The undefeated Quakers, who are No. 1 in WNY and No. 1 in the state, play Lancaster today.
Jamestown7 7 7 7 - 28
Frontier0 7 14 14 - 35
Jam-Hollingsworth 69 run (Panebianco kick)
Fro-Licata 1 pass from Koch (Cannon kick)
Jam-Hollingsworth 25 run (Panebianco kick)
Fro-Cannon 18 pass from Koch (Cannon kick)
Jam-Hollingsworth 71 run (Panebianco kick)
Fro-Fitzgerald 17 pass from Koch (Cannon kick)
Fro-Hamilton 26 run (Cannon kick)
Jam-Panebianco 31 pass from Sisson (Panebianco kick)
Fro-Hamilton 11 run (Cannon kick)