Huge rally earns Rivals win over host Flyers

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Elijah Doxey scores on a 85 yard pass play for Albion/Medina which rallied past host Maryvale 46-34 this evening.

Trailing by 14 (34-20) late in the third quarter, Albion/Medina came rallying back with a huge four touchdown scoring surge to defeat host Maryvale 46-34 this evening to remain undefeated at 4-0 in the B1 Division and 5-0 overall.

The Albion/Medina comeback began with a 3 yard touchdown run by quarterback Preston Woodworth in the final seconds of the third period cutting the deficit to 34-26. Pass completions by Woodworth of 33 and 19 yards to Noah Harrison set up the scoring opportunity.

Keeping the momentum, the Mustangs then claimed the comeback victory with three unanswered touchdowns in the final period.

First, Rocco Sidari returned a pass interception 60 yards for touchdown with 10:04 remaining to pull the Rivals within two at 34-32.

The Rivals then regained the lead for good at 38-34 on an 85 yard touchdown pass play from Woodworth to Elijah Doxey with 7:42 remaining.

Albion/Medina then put a lock on the wild comeback win when Doxey returned a pass interception 60 yards for a touchdown and a 46-34 lead with only 26 seconds remaining.

The Rivals also scored first in the high scoring contest on a 1 yard touchdown run by Woodworth with 1:20 remaining in the opening period for a 6-0 lead.

However, Maryvale answered right back with a 53 yard TD pass from quarterback Tyler Kuerzdoerfer just 15 seconds later and the extra point kick put the Flyers up 7-6.

Maryvale went up 14-6 at the outset of the second quarter but Albion/Medina rallied into a 14-14 tie three minutes later on a 3 yard touchdown run by Jayzon Wills and a two-point conversion pass from Doxey to Harrison.

The drive was highlighted by a pair of 26 yard pass completions to Harrison, the first by Boe Preston on a fake punt play and the second by Woodworth.

The Flyers though regained a 21-14 lead at the half on a late touchdown pass by Kuerzdoerfer.

The Rivals did pull back to within one at 21-20 early in the third period on a 2 yard touchdown pass from Woodworth to Jack Conn.

Maryvale though answered with a pair of long touchdown runs covering 95 yards by Cordoro Stanley and 90 yards by Kevahni Moore to open up a 34-20 lead.

That set the stage for the Rivals huge four touchdown rally as Woodworth ran for one TD and passed to Doxey for another and Sidari and Doxey both had long interception returns for scores.

The Rivals defensive efforts also included sacks by Matthew Jacobs and Jaxon Lynch.

The loss drops Maryvale to 2-2 in the division and 3-2 overall.

Albion/Medina, which has played three straight road games, will now have its first home game at Albion as the Rivals will host West Seneca East at 7 p.m. next Friday.

Jack Conn hauls in a touchdown pass for the Rivals.