After a combined 70 points and nearly 800 yards of offense, the Warriors left northern Chautauqua County with a 40-30 victory and a spot atop the Class C South standings.

“That game had a feel of four quarters. Fredonia is a great team over there,” Salamanca head coach Chad Bartoszek said. “It wasn’t going to be won on our first touchdown or their first touchdown. It’s hard not to get emotionally high, and it’s even harder not to let the lows get to you.”

Salamanca running back Jesse Stahlman ran for 145 yards and three tocuhdowns, quarterback Maddox Isaac ran for 78 yards and two more scores, and Carmine Hoag caught a 23-yard touchdown from Stahlman on a halfback pass as the Warriors rallied from a 17-14 halftime deficit to hand the Hillbillies their first loss of the season.

“Our key word this week was discipline and staying home,” Fredonia head coach Greg Sherlock said. “They caught us being so undisciplined. … They were getting outside on us. … Letting up a trick play is a discipline play, too.”

Salamanca quarterback Maddox Isaac completes a pass during Friday’s Class C South game against Fredonia at the Orange Bowl in Fredonia. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

Fredonia led by three and marched down the field on its final drive of the first half, but the Salamanca defense stood tall, stopping the Hillbillies on a fourth-and-inches at the 6-yard line with under a minute to go in the second quarter.

“I think the difference between where we are now and Week 1 is that I don’t think they realized how significant those plays were,” Bartoszek said. “We finished things. Those points creep up on you. … These guys are developing. They are learning.”

After the break, the Warriors outscored Fredonia 26-13, including 20-7 in the decisive third quarter.

The Hillbillies attempted a short kickoff to open the second half, giving Salamanca a drive start at midfield. On second-and-14 from the 32-yard line, Stahlman took a pitch to the left and made a left-handed throw to a wide-open Hoag, who finished the play for a 32-yard touchdown and a 21-17 lead after Jorden Ambuske’s third of four successful point-after kicks.

“We hit Southwestern with it last year to take the lead,” Bartoszek said. “Now we can’t run it again.”

Just three plays later, Fredonia regained the lead as Ethan Fry connected with Keegan Whitfield for a 74-yard touchdown. The pass slipped through a Salamanca defender’s hands before Whitfield was able to corral it and race for the end zone. Sal Tabone’s second of three successful PATs made it 24-21 in favor of the hosts.

But the Warriors answered again, this time taking the lead for good. In nine plays, Salamanca marched 66 yards, capped by Isaac’s 11-yard touchdown run that made it 28-24 after another Ambuske PAT. After a Fredonia three-and-out Stahlman used a Zaron Tucker block to run 59 yards for a score on second-and-13.

“It’s very difficult to run straight at a good team,” Bartoszek said. “We had to run a lot of counters, we tried some options, we ran some sweeps. We had to get outside.”

The Hillbillies went three-and-out again on their next drive and it took the Warriors just four plays to capitalize. Stahlman ran for 23 yards, Tayoni Galante took his lone carry of the game 27 yards and Stahlman ran another 14 yards to set up a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Stahlman punched it in from there to make it 40-24 with 10:29 left in the game.

Fredonia quickly went down the field again with Fry throwing to Brandon Wronski for 38 yards before Tim Field caught a 23-yard touchdown from Fry on third-and-10 with 9:22 remaining to make it 40-30.

“I liked the character in the fourth quarter and how we came back,” Sherlock said. “We expect a lot of (Ethan) and he studies a lot. … Ethan is learning on the fly. He does a good job at times and sometimes he’s bailing out. He’s got to trust his line because we block well up front.”

The Hillbillies had two more opportunities to close the gap down the stretch, but an incompletion on fourth-and-1 from the 46-yard line and an interception by Galante on third-and-10 from the 11-yard line ended any ideas of a comeback.

“Coach (Aaron) Hill and Coach (Paul) Furlong just do so much with our defense. It’s amazing how they are trying to scheme up,” Bartoszek said. “It’s difficult to play a spread team that can throw the ball well and then run the ball well left, right, up the middle. A couple of those plays were just great plays by a great athlete.”

Micah Davis led Fredonia with 62 yards rushing, including a 3-yard score in the first quarter. Fry completed 15 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns. Whitfield caught eight passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Salamanca’s first score came on an Isaac run for 75 yards on first-and-20. Trailing 17-7 in the middle of the second quarter, Jaxson Ross extended a drive with a 23-yard run on a fourth-and-12 fake punt. Three plays later, a middle screen to Galante gave the Warriors 21 yards and four plays after that, Stahlman scored on a 5-yard run.

“Jaxson is one of our really good athletes. He made a play,” Bartoszek said. “He saw it. It was fourth-and-forever, and we ended up scoring.”

Salamanca (3-1, 2-0), now tied with Southwestern for first place in the league, will take on the Trojans next Friday at Charles A. Lawson Field in West Ellicott.

“Next week is Southwestern and another big league game,” Bartoszek said. “That’s probably going to have a similar feel.”

Fredonia (3-1, 1-1) will host Silver Creek/Forestville for homecoming at the Orange Bowl that same night.

“We’ve got a tough league. I don’t know how it’s going to pan out,” Sherlock said. “Two of the (Class C) leagues are going to have two teams in the playoffs. … You have to keep the scores close when you can and then get your 20-points plus against teams you should beat by that.”

Salamanca 7 7 20 6 — 40

Fredonia 14 3 7 6 — 30

Fre–Davis 3 run (Tabone kick)

Sal–Isaac 75 run (Ambuske kick)

Fre–Whitfield 28 pass from Fry (Tabone kick)

Fre–Tabone 29 FG

Sal–Stahlman 5 run (Ambuske kick)

Sal–Hoag 31 pass from Stahlman (Ambuske kick)

Fre–Whitfield 74 pass from Fry (Tabone kick)

Sal–Isaac 14 run (Ambuske kick)

Sal–Stahlman 59 run (kick failed)

Sal–Stahlman 4 run (kick failed)

Fre–Field 23 pass from Fry (pass failed)