Tyler Mautner was already having a stellar football season, but what he did Saturday was so amazing that in comparison Don Larsen’s performance in the 1956 World Series has now been downgraded from a perfect game to just a pretty good one.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior completed all 14 of his pass attempts for 232 yards and six touchdowns as Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (Verona, N.Y.) beat Phoenix 70-21 in Section III football action.
Mautner's fifth TD of the day early in the second quarter was Matt Silker's second scoring grab of the game, and the two then collaborated on their second two-point conversion pass for a 35-0 lead.
Mautner sat out the entire second half, which began with Eli Cleveland returning the open kickoff 80 yards for a 56-0 lead. Red Devils teammate Nash Robb also brought back a kickoff 89 yards for a score after Phoenix's second TD.
Mautner opened his season two weekends earlier by throwing for 286 yards and four touchdowns in a
45-29 victory over Skaneateles. In Week 2, he piled up 330 yards with just 13 completions and generated another four TDs.
Unfortunately, the news wasn’t all good for Section III signal callers this weekend.
Dan Smith's three first-half touchdown passes led Westmoreland to a 26-12 victory over Clinton, but the quarterback broke two bones in his left forearm in the third quarter and will miss the rest of the season.
Smith was a second-team all-state quarterback in Class D last fall as a junior and led the way as Westmoreland opened this season ranked 16th in the state in Class C according to the New York State Sportswriters Association.
He was 9-for-17 for 139 yards before breaking his non-throwing arm while running with the football in the third quarter. He finishes the season 32-for-60 for 484 yards and six TDs.
Sophomore Zack Green replaced Smith at quarterback.
From the department of nearly perfect performances, Dom Scavo was 11-for-12 for 153 yards and two TDs as defending New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B champ Hornell breezed past Livonia 41-7 in Section V.
ST. ANTHONY’S WINS EARLY SHOWDOWN
Quarterback Charlie Raffa's 60-yard run to the Holy Cross 5-yard line set up the go-ahead touchdown with 14 seconds left in the first half and keyed St. Anthony's (Melville) 28-14 victory.
Halfback Mike Schillizzi scored from the 1 three players later, and Jim Doktor's kick made the score 14-7.
The Friars are second and Holy Cross 10th in the New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA rankings.
After Holy Cross punted to open the third quarter, Raffa scored on a 15-yard run to cap a four-play, 41-yard drive for St. Anthony's, which rolled up 293 rushing yards.
STREAKS AND MILESTONES
* Cazenovia's 44-16 win over Holland Patent was the 150th for coach Tom Neidl. He's 150-40-1 in 21 seasons.
* Clarkstown North (New City) held tough down the stretch to earn a 14-6 football victory against North Rockland, beating the Red Raiders for the first time since 1979.
* Troy held Schenectady to minus-20 yards of offense en route to a 40-0 victory. The Flying Horses have outscored their opponents by a 135-0 margin through three games.
* The Chenango Forks (Binghamton, N.Y.) 20-0 victory vs. Chenango Valley was the Blue Devils' 17th consecutive triumph against their cross-river rival. Forks has not lost on an opponent's home field since September 2000 at Oneonta, a streak covering 38 games, and has beaten 37 straight opponents from Broome County.
* Southwestern (Jamestown) extended its state-leading winning streak to 32 games with a 42-14 triumph against East Aurora.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
* Xavier (New York) standout Chris Mattina fractured a foot in a season-opening loss to Buffalo Cardinal O’Hara last week and had season-ending surgery on Tuesday. “He was a 1,100-yard rusher last year, he’s a cover corner, he kicks off, he punts, he kick returns, he punt returns,” Knights coach Chris Stevens told The New York Post. “We lost a lot more than one guy.”
ELITE EIGHT
* Playing its first home game since 2007, Liverpool raced to a two-TD lead over Baldwinsville before the Bees pulled away to a 47-20 win thanks to sophomore tailback Tyler Rouse's 29 carries for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
* Dundee needed Nick Raplee's 24-yard throw to Joe Tortolon to beat Red Jacket 40-34. Trevor Sanders put up 387 passing yards and four TDs in a losing effort on 25-for-41 accuracy.
* Corning overpowered Ithaca 47-24 as Jordan Frysinger scored six TDs on just 11 touches. With Corning clinging to a 20-18 lead, Frysinger (198 rushing yards) went on a 13-minute spree during which he ran for touchdowns of 36, 70 and 17 yards and intercepted a pass for a 36-yard pick six and a 47-18 lead.
* Brian Fischer rushed seven times for 110 yards and a touchdown and returned an interception 73 yards for a TD for Garden City in a 42-7 win vs. Calhoun.
* Wayland-Cohocton beat Bath 28-20 as D.J. Harris ran 14 times for 287 yards and scored three TDs.
* Senior Dylan Brown ran 29 times for 271 yards and three touchdowns to lead Brockport to a 34-14 triumph over Hilton. The Blue Devils rushed for 379 yards.
* Chautauqua Lake beat Panama 34-12 as Steven Kenny rushed 26 times for 354 yards. Kenny put up 227 yards in the first half and scored five touchdowns.
* Lake Shore edged West Seneca East 28-21 as Patrick Gilman ran 31 times for 270 yards and scored on runs of 3, 75, and 56 yards.
FURIOUS FINISHES
* Senior linebacker Brian Nickel made the stop on QB Xaviah Mattocks at the 1-yard line as time expired to complete St. Peter's 13-6 victory over Bishop Ford in CHSFL action. With 12 seconds left, Mattocks rolled right and came back across the field, but was met by Nickel short of the goal line.
Demetrius Owens rushed for 154 yards and scored two first-quarter touchdowns in his St. Peter's debut at running back.
* Ellenville topped Spackenkill 18-13 when Robert Borriello threw a 16-yard TD pass to Jose Aldarondo as time expired in Poughkeepsie. Spackenkill had rallied from a 12-0 halftime deficit to lead with 1:15 left.
* New Hartford's Vinny Servadio threw three touchdown passes, including a 12-yarder to Derek German with time running out, during a 40-34 win vs. Watertown to cap a rally from a 28-12 deficit.
* Jack Fletcher (152 rushing yards, two TDs) scored on a 10-yard run and then Delhi converted a two-point conversion pass to edge Oxford 22-21 in overtime. John Wonka (194 yards passing, two TDs) hit Andrew Golden for a 20-yard score to give Oxford a 21-14 lead before Delhi's winning possession.
* Brandon Diorio's 20-yard field goal with :06 to play carried Union-Endicott past host Newburgh Free Academy 24-21.
* Rondout Valley edged Pine Plains 18-12 as John Seils scored on a 5-yard-run in the fourth overtime Seils also had a 23-yard scoring run in the second OT for Rondout Valley, which lacked enough players to field a varsity team last fall.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
