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by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter
Sweet Home to make third straight Class A final appearance

Sweet Home's Ryan Gutt hauls in a first quarter reception from Casey Kacz as Iroquois' Brandon Murie hauls him down. Sweet Home won last year's Section VI Class A final rematch with Iroquois, 25-20 last Saturday. Sweet Home plays Cheektowaga at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday for the Class A title. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Defense usually wins championships and Sweet Home's was the big reason why the Panthers' football team is headed to Ralph Wilson Stadium for another shot at the Section VI Class A title.

The Panthers stopped Iroquois three times on fourth down plays inside the Sweet Home 30-yard line, twice in the third quarter and once on the first play of the fourth quarter, in Sweet Home's 25-20 Class A semifinal home win last Saturday.

The game was a rematch of last year's Class A final won by Iroquois, 53-20.

"The defense won the game for us," said Sweet Home coach John Faller.

The Panthers' defense stood tall in the third quarter. The only points it allowed in the second half was a 70-yard touchdown run on the second play of the third quarter by Iroquois' Brandon Murie. Murie eluded a few Sweet Home tacklers and kept his balance to give the Chiefs a 20-19 lead.

Sweet Home needed its defense to play well in the third quarter because its offense and special teams spiraled. After Murie's TD run, Joel Tillman fumbled a short kickoff that Billy Desiderio recovered at the Sweet Home 42. Johnson answered for the Panthers with an interception on a fourth-and-2 from the 25.

On the Panthers' next offensive series, Desiderio fell on junior quarterback Casey Kacz (4 of 7, 36 yards) after he attempted a pass. Kacz left the game with an apparent lower right leg injury and did not return.

On the next play, Kacz's back up, junior Mike Wolcott, did not pitch it well to Marcus Johnson and Desiderio forced him to fumble, and Joshua Walczyk recovered just inside Sweet Home territory. Iroquois would turn the ball over on downs after Sweet Home's Deshanaro Morris tackled Iroquois' Tommy Lewis for a loss on a fourth-and-5 pass at the Panther 25.

Sweet Home got the ball back again in the third but Wolcott had trouble getting the snap to Morris and Josh Jeseonowski recovered a fumble at the Sweet Home 25. Murie was stopped on a fourth-and-2 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Sweet Home offense finally got it together in the second half with an 81-yard drive, including a 50-yard run by Johnson that set up a 3-yard TD by Morris with 5:08 remaining. Johnson converted a fourth-and-3 play at the Sweet Home 31 to keep the drive alive.

Both offenses turned the ball over on downs to give Iroquois the ball back with 18 seconds remaining.

After an 8-yard pass from quarterback Wyatt Mariacher to receiver Paul Evans, Murie ran a draw for 70 yards on the last play of the game, only to be pushed out of bounds by John Elliott at the Sweet Home 25.

Sweet Home opened a 13-0 first half lead with a 1-yard TD run in the first quarter by Mikal Coleman and a 49-yard TD by Johnson in the second quarter. The extra point on Johnson's TD didn't even go over the crossbar because a nasty 40-mile per hour wind pushed it wide.

Iroquois answered with a 22-yard run by Matt Corigliano (Lewis caught a two-point conversion) only for Sweet Home to respond with a 9-yard TD by Morris. The two-point conversion failed. Mariacher found Evans on a 10-yard slant late with 10 seconds left in the first half.

Sweet Home outgained Iroquois 325-293 in total offense. Johnson finished with 26 carries for 245 yards; Murie had 239 yards rushing for Iroquois.

Sweet Home's Hanif Russell laid out for an interception in the first half. Faller also lauded the defensive work of Coleman, who was moved from tackle to end but used an outside linebacker for his pass rush and Nick Christman on the line.

"It was a team effort," said Faller. "Marcus gets all of the headlines for his rushes but everyone did their part. It helped us build confidence."

Sweet Home (9-0) plays Cheektowaga at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the Class A title. The winner plays a Section V representative in the Far West Regional at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9 at Paetec Field in Rochester.

Sweet Home is 1-7 in eight appearances at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The only time they won was in 2002, also the last time Sweet Home was undefeated going into the title game.

"Cheektowaga has never gotten this far so they'll be jacked up," said Faller. "It will come down to whoever doesn't turn the ball over."

"We control our own destiny," said continued Faller. "It's a matter of us going out there and playing good football."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com