Friday Football: B-R fends off late push by No. 6 Holley, move into 8-Man Semis with 26-22 win at home; No. 2 Pembroke rolls past Lions after big 1st half, will meet Wolverines

BOLIVAR — To start their first postseason trek through the 8-Man field, the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg had to work their way through a defensive battle with No. 6 Holley in the first half. Just a score on each side was accounted for, with the Hawks taking the two-point lead after a successful two-point conversion was the difference maker.

But then, a spark. In the second half, a complete flip.

Both offenses came alive, with the Wolverines firing on all cylinders with 20 unanswered points to take a massive lead going into the back half of the fourth quarter. One final push was created by Holley to put the pressure on down the stretch, getting as close as four points, but the Wolverines would keep holding strong, as they collected their first 8-Man Sectional victory on Friday with a 26-22 decision at Dunsmore-Latimer Field.

After what was a battle through the opening eight minutes, the action began to open up slightly as the page turned to the second quarter when Holley was the first to strike on the ground. The quarter would see two goal-line scores, with Antonyo Geska being the first to score from six yards out for the Hawks to take the 8-0 lead after a successful two-point try.

Bolivar-Richburg (6-3) responded right before the end of the half with one of their own, trailing by two after the first of two Caden Allen scores from one yard away.

After a quiet first half reached its end, the decibel level for the offensive attack increased significantly. Beginning with the Wolverines, who went on to score 20 unanswered points from both angles, starting the quarter by taking the lead off a 50-yard connection from Allen to Maddox Davison down the field. Bolivar-Richburg would go back to their run game for the next two scores, finding the end zone from seven and one yard out from both Trent Sibble, and Allen for the second time to finish off the scoring.

Sibble would finish as the team’s leading rusher, carrying the ball 29 times for 184 yards and his score.

With a 26-8 lead of the Hawks in hand, it was now on the defense to hold the fort down until the final horn.

For Holley, a chance to make up lost ground, which they nearly did with 14 unanswered themselves to cut their deficit down from 18 to four behind a pair of Vincent Golisano scores — a 72-yard kickoff return, and later a 31-yard touchdown from Destin Kuyal under center. But the third quarter spark was enough for the Wolverines to hang on and clinch a spot in next week’s Semifinal round.

The Wolverines collected 316 total yards of offense, while the defense forced three Holley turnovers along the way. On defense, Allen was all over the place making every play he could, recording a team-high 10 tackles. Maddox Day and Zach Mitchell both followed with 5.5 tackles, while Sibble finished with four.

Up next: The 8-Man Semifinal round, which will begin next Friday evening for Bolivar-Richburg, as they now get set to take on No. 2 Pembroke at a site and time to be determined.

Holley 0 8 0 14 – 22

Bolivar-Richburg 0 6 14 6 – 26

Scoring Summary

1st

None

2nd

HOL – Antonyo Geska 6-yard run, 2-pts good (8-0 HOL)

B-R – Caden Allen 1-yard run, 2-pts failed (8-6 HOL)

3rd

B-R – Maddox Davison 50-yard pass from Caden Allen, 2-pts good (12-8 B-R)

B-R – Trent Sibble 7-yard run, 2-pts good (20-8 B-R)

4th

B-R – Caden Allen 1-yard run, 2-pts failed (26-8 B-R)

HOL – Vincent Golisano 72-yard kickoff return, 2-pts good (26-16 B-R)

HOL – Vincent Golisano 31-yard pass from Destin Kuyal, 2-pts failed (26-22 B-R)

Total Yards: HOL 160, B-R 316.
First Downs: HOL 9, B-R 18.
Turnovers: HOL 3, B-R 1.
Penalties: HOL 3-44, B-R 5-41.
Punts: HOL 2-35, B-R 1-17.
T.O.P: HOL 21:34, B-R 24:59.

No. 2 Pembroke 49, No. 7 Wellsville 22

PEMBROKE — All the Pembroke Dragons needed to work up some offensive magic, was the first half.

On Friday in what would be their final home game of the season, the No. 2 seeds lit up the field in every way they could. From the ground, the air and even on defense, as they scored a pair of 21-point quarters to gain a 42-8 halftime lead of No. 7 Wellsville, never looking back along the way to score a Semifinals berth behind their 49-22 victory.

The first six scores of the game belonged to the Dragons straight off the hop, beginning with one of three Tyson Totten scores from the backfield from four yards out. Then on Wellsville’s (1-8) first drive, the Dragons would capitalize on their next drive themselves off an interception from the defense, as Cayden Pfalzer navigated his way through the air from 20 yards out to deliver a strike to Chase Guzdek to extend the lead.

Pembroke continued to add on further from the ground, as Totten, Caleb Felski and Avery Ferreira all scored in between a Jacob Dulski 40-yard pick-6 straight to the house to build up a 42-0 lead. But in the waning seconds of the first half, the Lions would find their way onto the board for the first time to eliminate the shutout, as Brennen Geffers hooked up with a wide-open Derek Coleman down the field a 27-yard score.

In the second half, Wellsville would go on to score 14 of the next 21 points — both of which stemmed off Matt Ritter-to-Shane Davidson connections, as the two Lions intertwined on pass plays in the Pembroke red zone from 14 and nine yards out to help finish off the scoring in between Totten’s third touchdown of the game — a long 85-yard score in the beginning stages of the third quarter.

Further statistics were not made available to report upon publication.

The season is over for the Lions, as they wrap up with a record of 1-8 overall. The team will graduate eight seniors at the end of the year in Davidson, Jayden Acker, Grady Ball, Aidan Riley, Evin Rought, Gavin Murphy, Austin Stirk and Nathan Blake.

Wellsville 0 8 8 6 – 22

Pembroke 21 21 7 0 – 49

Scoring Summary

1st

PEM – Tyson Totten 4-yard run, PAT good (7-0 PEM)

PEM – Chase Guzdek 20-yard pass from Cayden Pfalzer, PAT good (14-0 PEM)

PEM – Caleb Felski 43-yard run, PAT good (21-0 PEM)

2nd

PEM – Tyson Totten 9-yard run, PAT good (28-0 PEM)

PEM – Jacob Dulski 40-yard interception return, PAT good (35-0 PEM)

PEM – Avery Ferreira 30-yard run, PAT good (42-0 PEM)

WLSV – Derek Coleman 27-yard pass from Brennen Geffers, 2-pts good (42-8 PEM)

3rd

PEM – Tyson Totten 85-yard run, PAT good (49-8 PEM)

WLSV – Shane Davidson 14-yard pass from Matt Ritter, 2-pts good (49-16 PEM)

4th

WLSV – Shane Davidson 9-yard pass from Matt Ritter, 2-pts failed (49-22 PEM)