Hawks roar past Lions with big second half
What a difference a half makes!
Shutout in the first half, Holley erupted for four touchdowns in the second half to defeat visiting Wellsville 30-14 this afternoon in the 8 Man Division regular season finale.
Holley drove into Wellsville territory four times in the first half but could not capitalize turning the ball over three times on downs and losing a fumble at the visiting Lions 12 yard line.
However, the second half was a different story beginning with the recovery of a Wellsville fumble at midfield on the opening kickoff by Tony Fallato and Tony Geska.
The Hawks capitalized on the turnover by putting together an 11 play, 48 yard scoring drive capped off by an 8 yard touchdown run and two-point conversion carry by Hunter Smith to take the lead for good at 8-0 six minutes into the quarter.
Wellsville answered right back with a touchdown just 16 seconds later on a 49 yard run by Matt Ritter but Holley maintained a now slender 8-6 lead as a tackle by Tony Fallato stopped the Lions two-point conversion attempt.
The Hawks opened up a little breathing room on their next possession as Smith ran 3 yards for a touchdown and quarterback Destin Kuyal passed to Zach Milner for the two-point conversion and a 16-6 lead. A big 30 yard pass completion from Kuyal to Vinny Golisano highlighted the drive.
Keeping the momentum, the Hawks built their advantage to 24-6 on their next possession as Dakota Mastowski scored on a 1 yard TD run and Kuyal passed to Michael Fallato for the two-point conversion. A 23 yard run by Kuyal ignited the drive.
Holley got the ball right back as Michael Fallato recovered a botched Wellsville kickoff return attempt at the Lions 1 yard line.
The Hawks were quick to capitalize as Frank Golisano scored on the first snap upping the lead to 30-6.
Wellsville scored in the final minute and a half on a 3 yard TD run and a two-point conversion carry by Ritter.
Holley, which opened the season with an identical 30-14 victory at Wellsville, finishes the regular season at 3-5 while the Lions wind up at 1-7. Both teams will be competing in the sectionals starting next weekend.
Note – More photos from the game are on the Hub’s sports Facebook page.