NEW HARTFORD – The New Hartford Spartans took the lead at the end of the first half and the top seed pulled away for a 37-14 victory over Westhill on Friday in the quarterfinals of Section III’s Class B football playoffs.
The unbeaten Spartans (9-0) did reach the end zone first after the teams went scoreless in the first quarter, but they trailed 7-6 with time running down in the second quarter. Johnny Vitullo had a fourth down pass intercepted in the first quarter after the Spartans had driven deep into Westhill territory and a third down pass into the end zone had fallen incomplete.
Westhill (3-5) punted early in the second quarter, and a 63-yard pass from Vitullo moved New Hartford back into the Warriors’ end of the field. Officials initially signaled a touchdown with Cole Raux stretching for the goal line on a run from the 9-yard line but ruled him down on the play after conferring. Raux ran the ball in from one yard out on the next snap and gave his team a 6-0 lead.
The Warriors responded with a scoring drive of their own. Taden Chester ran four yards for the tying touchdown and a successful kick netted a 7-6 lead.
Vitullo hit another long pass – 31 yards to Rowan Gall – to move the ball back across midfield. He was almost intercepted on a pass into the end zone on the play after a timeout, but the next play was a short throw to Way on the left side and sophomore scurried through the defense for a 33-yard go-ahead touchdown. Raux ran in the conversion off a direct snap for a 14-7 lead with 1:27 remaining before halftime.
The lead grew when teams returned for the second half. Raux ran for his second touchdown and Vitullo passed to Sal Weller in the third quarter, and Jake Rockford’s 20-yard field goal made the score 30-7 early in the fourth. Raux tacked on a 53-yard touchdown run after Elijah Welch threw a scoring pass for Westhill.
Raux topped 200 yards for the sixth time this season; he ran for 215 on 28 carries Friday and now has 1,797 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns as a senior.
Vitullo was 6-for-12 passing for 189 yards, and caught three of his passes for 101 of those yards.
On defense for the Spartans, Logan Clarey intercepted two passes, Ethan Daley sacked Welch twice, and Logan Banek had a team-high 12 tackles.
New Hartford’s semifinal opponent will be No. 5 Carthage, a 51-46 winner on the road Friday at No. 4 Chittenango. New Hartford beat Carthage 34-6 at home Oct. 13. Like New Hartford, Carthage competed in Class A last fall when the Comets were beaten 20-7 at home by the Spartans.
2023-10-28 06:51:08
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