CICERO, NY – It was a frigid Sunday afternoon in Syracuse for the 8-Man State Championship title game between the Eldred Yellowjackets and the Morrisville Mavericks. It was cold out for sure but with a slight snowfall it was a perfect day for end season football. Both teams came out hard but unfortunately for Eldred they went home with a 48-12 loss. It was a sad end to a phenomenal season, but one Eldred can still be proud of. 

The first quarter opened with Morrisville coming out hot and scoring an early TD putting Eldred on the defensive. It wasn’t long before Morrisville scored another early touchdown with both touchdowns being followed by successful two-point conversions. Eventually Eldred was able to respond with a touchdown of their own but failed to earn the extra point making the score 16-6 going into the second quarter. 

The second quarter showed more of a defensive focus with a big interception from Morrisville to stop Eldred’s growing momentum. The penalties also started to stack up for both teams leading to difficulties to get a drive going on either side of the field. To end the quarter, Eldred got a big stop on defense but when they needed to step up on offense QB, McGill threw a second interception. The second quarter went scoreless for both teams, but the intensity was certainly ramping up. 

The third quarter showed a slow determined drive by Morrisville’s offense ending in a third touchdown to make the score 24-6. However, Eldred wasn’t giving up by any means and answered with their own extended march down the field. With two deep passes Eldred’s Koen McGill was redeeming his first half performance. With 20 yards left to go McGill ran a QB keep up the middle shrugging off multiple defenders to get within one yard of the end zone. Eldred was able to convert on the drive to make the score 24-12. With one minute left on the clock Eldred’s Mason Tice leaped for a massive interception. They weren’t able to convert it into points but with 12 minutes left in the game there was still a lot of football left to play. 

In an attempt to seal Eldred’s fate, Morrisville got the ball on the 30 after a failed punt and immediately scored. With Eldred down by 20 points it didn’t look good for the Yellowjackets. It seemed like the Mavericks’ blitz defense was too much for Eldred to overcome and Eldred turned the ball over on downs at a crucial moment. Morrisville was able to follow that up with another rushing touchdown on the outside to seal the deal. With only 5 minutes left and being down by 36 points it seemed like Eldred’s season was all but over. Unfortunately for Eldred they couldn’t close the distance, and their season ended on a loss in the State Championship. The Yellowjackets’ completed an impressive Section IX run this season despite the loss. 

Coach Sean McAveney had this to say after the game, “We had an excellent group of players with kids that really bought in. I’m proud of this group we’ve gone places Eldred hasn’t been before. In 2009 we went to semi-finals, but they lost so this is definitely historic for us. These kids are phenomenal players and people and I’m really proud of them.”