Spartans Withstand Owego Comeback To Advance to Section 4 Title Game

The Maine-Endwell Spartans withstood a spirited Owego Free Academy comeback to advance to Forks-M-E Two.  In a heavy rain that continued throughout the game on Saturday at Spartan Stadium in Endwell M-E held off the Indians to record a 40-26 victory in a Section 4 Class B semifinal contest.  In the other semifinal Chenango Forks rolled to a 32-6 win over Norwich at Blue Devils Stadium.

That sets the stage for another Forks vs Spartans battle for the Section 4 Class B Championship coming up this Saturday at Ty Cobb Stadium at 3:00 P.M.  Just two weeks ago the Blue Devils topped the Spartans 24-14 at Chenango Forks.

In M-E's win on Saturday the Spartans took a 22-6 lead into halftime.  They upped the edge to 28-6 when Tyler Leniek carried in for a touchdown with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Then the teams traded touchdowns so quickly that it was almost impossible to jot down who did what.  In a span of two minutes and four seconds each team scored a pair of touchdowns.  Rylie Van Fleet scored on two 52-yard runs while the OFA Indians countered with a 52-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Phelps to Christian Sage and a 55-yard TD strike to Jason Kithcart.

Then, a 27-yard pass to Sage from Phelps with 5:56 remaining made it 40-26 after Kobe Bogart snared the two-point conversion from Phelps.  The Spartans defense stiffened in the closing minutes of the game and M-E was able to kill the clock to clinch the win.