By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
BOLIVAR — It was a wild back-and-forth affair to close out the regular season at Dunsmore-Latimer Field in Bolivar under the Friday Night Lights. Although it was highlighted by an electric first quarter start, both teams would wheel and deal scores in a high-octane second quarter.
But in the end, it was the start that visiting Red Jacket would hold in the end, despite host Bolivar-Richburg chipping away at their lead to as little as eight at one point in the second half, as the Indians secured the victory while handing the Wolverines their third straight defeat by a 44-30 count.
Red Jacket raced onto the scene first in the opening 12 minute quarter, paving their way towards a 16-0 lead with scores from both James Sibeto through the air on his 6-yard catch from Matt Allen, and later, a 10-yard run from Micah Harshfield in the backfield. With the lead in hand, the Indians were able to keep the Wolverines (5-3) held at bay, despite 44 of the game’s 74 total points coming in the quarter before halftime.
Bolivar-Richburg would strike first and get onto the board with one of three Trent Sibble touchdowns from the backfield, easing his way into the end zone from the goal line. Red Jacket would extend their lead to its biggest it would be all night — 24 points, after scores of four and 47 yard from the backfield once more from both Allen and Harshfield, respectively, branched their lead out towards a 30-6 advantage.
But a strong note was reached towards the tail end of the first half, as the Wolverines accounted for the next three scores, including a safety for the defense, as Tavyn MacDonell cut down the team’s deficit first with a long run from 50 yards out. Two drives later, Sibble would score his second of the game from 13 yards out to bring the game towards an eight-point deficit for the hosts in black and red.
The first half would end with the pendulum shifting back into Red Jacket’s favor after Harshfield found the back of the end zone for a third and final time from the goal line to give the Indians a 38-22 halftime lead.
Just one more score for each team was garnered in the second half. Sibble was the first to strike in the next session with another goal-line run from a yard out to bring the deficit back down to eight. It would remain up until the final 12 minutes of play, when Matt Allen weaved his way through the Wolverines defense in the waning minutes to extend the team’s lead permanently, to 14, on his 6-yard run in the red zone.
The Wolverines finished with 227 total yards of offense, with Sibble being one of the team’s leading rushers by carrying the ball 16 times for 67 yards and his three scores. On defense, he would also become the team’s leading tackler with 7.5. Zach Mitchell had seven tackles. Caden Allen recorded six tackles, while Tavyn MacDonell had 5.5.
The regular season is now in the books for the Wolverines, as they now wait patiently for Sectional seeding to take place over the weekend after finishing up with a record of 5-3 overall.
Red Jacket 16 22 0 6 – 44
Bolivar-Richburg 0 22 8 0 – 30
Scoring Summary
1st
RJ – James Sibeto 6-yard pass from Matt Allen, 2-pts good (8-0 RJ)
RJ – Micah Harshfield 10-yard run, 2-pts good (16-0 RJ)
2nd
B-R – Trent Sibble 2-yard run, 2-pts failed (16-6 RJ)
RJ – Matt Allen 4-yard run, 2-pts failed (22-6 RJ)
RJ – Micah Harshfield 47-yard run, 2-pts good (30-6 RJ)
B-R – Tavyn MacDonell 50-yard run, 2-pts good (30-14 RJ)
B-R – Safety in the end zone (30-16 RJ)
B-R – Trent Sibble 13-yard run, 2-pts failed (30-22 RJ)
RJ – Micah Harshfield 1-yard run, 2-pts good (38-22 RJ)
3rd
B-R – Trent Sibble 1-yard run, 2-pts good (38-30 RJ)
4th
RJ – Matt Allen 6-yard run, 2-pts failed (44-30 RJ)
Total Yards: RJ 324, B-R 227.
First Downs: RJ 19, B-R 16.
Turnovers: RJ 0, B-R 2.
Penalties: RJ 6-73, B-R 2-8.
Punts: RJ 3-28, B-R 0-0.
T.O.P: RJ 29:17, B-R 19:58.
FOOTBALL
Holley 30, Wellsville 14
HOLLEY — All 44 points combined between Wellsville and Holley were scored after their arrivals back out onto the field from the halftime break. But it was the host Hawks that saw their offense create a spark, as they went on to record what was a 30-14 regular season-ending victory over the Lions to earn the season sweep, Saturday afternoon.
Scoring summary and a complete box score were not made available to report upon publication.
#7 Wellsville’s regular season has now come to a close at 1-7 and they will travel to #2 Pembroke in 8-man sectionals.
Cuba-Rushford 0, Penn Yan/Dundee 48
PENN YAN — The Penn Yan/Dundee offense soared above and beyond big heights on Friday to close out their regular season. After taking their first loss of the season to the hands of East Rochester/Gananda last week, they rebounded in the biggest way possible with a 48-8 rolling of visiting Cuba-Rushford, Friday evening.
A complete box score and scoring summary were not made available to report upon publication.
The regular season is now over for the Rebels, as they conclude and now await their fate for the second season with a record of 1-6 overall.
