CLASS A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Sweet day for Panthers, Section VI
Kacz the MVP as Sweet Home drives to title
SYRACUSE — It was way back as a sixth-grader, when he was playing little league football for the Town of Tonawanda Sharks, when Casey Kacz first started talking about working toward the dream that ended up coming true on Saturday night.
“We went undefeated one year and we talked about when we got to high school we were going to go undefeated again, that by our senior year we were going to a state championship,” said Kacz. “Ever since then we’ve talked about getting one, and we finally did our last year.”
As Kacz spoke in the corner of the Carrier Dome, he held the plaque commemorating his Most Valuable Player award after helping lead Sweet Home to a 13-0 season and its first state football title.
Kacz completed 11 of 15 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a score, and most importantly had crucial passes late in the game to enable the Panthers to kill the clock in a 35-28 Class A championship victory over Section II (Albany area) champion Burnt Hills before an estimated 4,000 fans.
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior bounced back from two interceptions to lead crucial drives late in the game. He completed passes on third-and-4 at the Sweet Home 23 (to Will Reese) and fourth-and-5 at the Burnt Hills 30 (to Noah Nwachukwu) with about 90 seconds left as the Panthers kept the ball for the final 6:26.
“Casey threw two picks — he’s only thrown four all year — but he came back to make a clutch throw when we needed it at the end of the game,” said Sweet Home coach John Faller. “That’s the kind of quarterback he is, the kind of leader he is. The kids stayed fired up. They weren’t going to get beat today, no matter what.”
Senior lineman Ryan Wilson, along with Taylor Heald and some others, have been teammates with Kacz’s since they were Sharks.
“When you need him the most, that’s when he really comes through,” said Wilson. “You can always count on him to make the play.”
Sweet Home jumped to a 28-7 lead with 5:31 left in the first half and at first it appeared that the Panthers (13-0) were off to the kind of big win it had last week against Corning West (42-6) in the state semifinals.
“They fought, fought, fought. They never quit and gave us the game of our lives,” said junior Deshanaro Morris, who ran for 98 yards on 24 carries, had 10 tackles and an interception. “Casey Kacz is awesome. I’ll take him over any quarterback in the state. I love that kid.”
A Sweet Home team that came into the game ranked first in the state had two of its many weapons provide big plays. Will Reese, a senior, caught five passes for 149 yards — including a 76- yard touchdown that put Sweet Home up, 21-7, to end the first quarter — and ran six times for 31 yards. D. J. Nettles, a junior, ran three times but for 106 yards thanks to a 91-yard touchdown run earlier in a first quarter; he also had three catches for 63 yards.
Burnt Hills pulled within seven points twice in the second half on touchdown runs by scooting senior back Erik Vuillaume (seven carries, 87 yards). His 42-yard run early in the the third quarter pulled the Spartans within 28-21.
Burnt Hills then had a great chance to tie the game after Zachary Morton blocked a punt, giving the Spartans a drive start at the Sweet Home 19. But the Panthers’ defense pressured senior do-it-all quarterback Paul Layton (9 of 19, 96 yards passing, touchdown; 14 carries, 75 yards; two booming punts) into an incompletion on fourth-and-goal from the 3.
The Panthers responded with a state championship-caliber drive: 12 plays, 97 yards, and five-plus minutes, finished off with a Morris 2-yard touchdown to make it 35-21 to finish the third quarter.
Sweet Home then stopped Burnt Hills on downs at the Sweet Home 10, but a Kacz interception enabled the Spartans to make it 35-28 with 6:26 left on a 16-yard run by Vuillaume.
Sweet Home’s win was the last of a Section VI tripleheader sweep on Saturday, marking the first time in the 16- year history of the state tournament that one section had won more than a pair of titles. Section VI can add another championship today when Orchard Park takes on Monroe-Woodbury for the Class AA title (1 p. m., Time Warner SportsNet).
“I’m so happy for Buffalo and Section VI,” said Faller. “If Orchard Park comes in here and makes it four for four, that would complete my weekend.”
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