by TYLER HATHAWAY
PITTSFORD, N.Y– They’ve been at the top of the Class AA standings all year.
The two highest scoring offenses in Class AA, both looking to end title droughts. When they played in the regular season, it was a one-score game that went down to the final moments. Something had to give when Rush-Henrietta and Pittsford clashed in the Section V Class AA championship.
The night belonged to the Royal Comets.
Rush-Henrietta scored on its first drive, built a 26-14 halftime lead, and only trailed for 90 seconds all night as the top-seeded Royal Comets (9-1) took down No. 2 seed Pittsford 39-21 at St. John Fisher University on Saturday night.
“It’s awesome,” senior quarterback Brendan Mangone said of being a sectional champ. “After four years of grinding, we had some pretty rough years. Years ago we got to the chip, didn’t win, last year we fell (in the semifinals). It kind of felt like a revenge season this year. Being with the guys, there’s really just no better feeling.”
“It feels great,” said head coach Bruce Johnson about the win. “This is something that we set out to do. Last year we fell short. But we knew we were getting our guy (Brendan Mangone) back. He got hurt last year but when we were getting him back, we had a great shot at it. We came out here tonight and we did what we had to do to pull it out.”
Mangone suffered a season-ending injury halfway through the regular season in a game against Pittsford. He returned at the start of this season, pacing the Royal Comet offense with both his arm and his legs. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns to earn the championship game’s Most Valuable Player award.
“This is his second year under me as his offensive coordinator,” Johnson said of his quarterback. “I tell him all the time that I’m going to call the play, but if you see something different, I don’t care what you do. He has the keys to the offense. A lot of his runs aren’t designed runs, most of the rushing yards he has this year wasn’t me calling those plays, it’s him making a good decision.”
In addition to his two touchdowns, Mangone sealed the game with a 60-yard run with a few minutes left that set up a Rush-Henrietta touchdown on the next play.
Rush-Henrietta led 33-21 late in the fourth quarter with Pittsford sitting goal-to-go. But the Royal Comets defense made a stand, one of four fourth down stops on the night. Entering the season, one of Coach Johnson’s biggest keys was he wanted his team to be able to finish games.
“That’s what it’s all about,” said Johnson. “We came out here at halftime and broke it down on “finish”. We led at halftime but at the end of the day (Pittsford) is a very high powered offense as well. They had some great players but we knew as long as we finished, at the end of the day we were good to go.”
Rush-Henrietta had two fourth down stops in the first quarter and scored on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead. Each team scored twice in a four minute span early in the second quarter to make it 20-14 before Mangone ripped a 24-yard touchdown to bring the game to its halftime score of 26-14.
Jesse Jablonsky scored a touchdown halfway through the third quarter for Pittsford to make it 26-21 before the Royal Comets closed the third and fourth quarters with touchdowns to bring the game to its final score.
It was the first sectional championship for Rush-Henrietta since 2011.
Denzel Sanchez and Roman Chandler each had receiving touchdowns. Imani Wagstaff Jr ran for a touchdown and Tristian Jeffries returned a kick for a score. Jahmier Stanley-James was named the lineman of the game, and Travis Washington earned defensive player of the game honors.
For Pittsford, Jablonsky caught two touchdown passes from Brady Pusateri and was the offensive player of the game. Adam Gerby ran for a touchdown.
The Royal Comets will take on Bennett (VI) in the Far West Regional next weekend.
“It means everything,” Johnson explained. “For these kids, it’s been a rough four years for them. They went to a championship and lost, had a rough year last year. It’s like nostalgia out here tonight. The team that took Brendan (Mangone) out last year was the team he won a sectional championship against as a senior. It’s a great feeling.”
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