Then the offense came in the final period, amassing 22 points with 16 directly benefitting from turnovers as the Herd picked up their first victory of the season, a 35-0 Class C South win at Bill Race Field.

“We went back to old-school football,” Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove head coach Curt Fischer said. “We really worked out linemen this week; I thought they came out and played a great game tonight. Things went our way, it was a nice feeling for sure.”

Fredonia had a great opportunity to score at the end of the first quarter when Lavonce Donaldson returned a short kick all the way to the 12-yard line, but the Herd stood tall.

“That was a big gut check tonight for our defense,” Fischer said. “Last week, I thought we started the first half in the wrong defense and made an adjustment at halftime. Now we’re finding our groove in this defense that we’re in. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, obviously, but tonight was obviously a step in the right direction.”

Fredonia’s Ayden Wronski attempts to bring down Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s Grant Zahm during Friday night’s Class C South game at Bill Race Field in Falconer. P-J photo by Ashleigh Brown

The Hillbillies had an opportunity to put pressure on the Herd at the start of the third quarter, driving as far as the Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove 32-yard line.

Facing a fourth-and-long, the Hillbillies converted as Donovan Dowdy hooked up with Joey Lancaster for a big catch and run. However, at the end of the play an unsportsmanlike conduct brought Fredonia back to where it started on a fresh set of downs.

“I thought we came out in the second half, made a lot of adjustments, moved the ball,” Fredonia head coach Greg Sherlock said. “You have a penalty that is a selfish penalty. When you lose momentum like that, kids worked so hard to come out and do something successful and when you don’t put it in the end zone there is a lot of letdown.”

The Herd didn’t falter this set of downs, forcing another fourth which Taylor Jones strip-sacked Dowdy with Jaxon Kraft scooping up the loose ball near midfield.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove cashed in for its defense, figuring out the Fredonia defense for the first time in two quarters. Max Parmentier finished off the short drive with an 11-yard pass to Grant Zahm on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Then, the next Fredonia drive did not last long as Kraft perfectly read a screen pass for an interception that he surely would have scored on had Dowdy not hustled to haul him down at the 10-yard line.

Jones followed with his second rushing touchdown of the game, adding to an impressive performance that ended with 118 yards and two scores on the ground.

In just a few minutes, Fredonia (1-2, 1-2) went from clawing back into the game to a downward spiral for another big loss.

“It’s trying to build confidence that these kids are better than what they think they are,” Sherlock said. “One mistake here, one mistake there, it’s what happens to a young team.”

The Herd had no problem moving the ball most of the game, but it was in the fourth quarter that it started to materialize on the scoreboard.

Jones and Kraft led the rushing game with 118 and 59 yards on the ground with three touchdowns between them and Zahm was Parmentier’s top target with 58 receiving yards and a score.

“He has a great center of gravity when he runs,” Fischer said about Jones. “He’s a kid that paid the price in the offseason, he worked his butt off to be where he is. He is fun to give the ball to, he makes a lot of big plays for us. I thought Kraft played outstanding tonight, he’s a real power runner and Max had some great throws.”

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove (1-2, 1-1) added in another big rush from Brody Hawkins for 22 yards into the end zone, boosting confidence for the rest of the season.

Fredonia 0 0 0 0 — 0

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove 13 0 0 22 — 35

F/CV/MG–Jones 5 run (run failed)

F/CV/MG–Kraft 1 run (Carlson kick)

F/CV/MG–Zahm 11 pass from Parmentier (pass failed)

F/CV/MG–Jones 10 run (Jones run)

F/CV/MG–Hawkins 22 run (McCarthy run)