SECTION 4 FOOTBALL: HORSEHEADS OVERCOMES ELEMENTS TO WIN AT ELMIRA (24 PHOTOS) (October 16, 2026)
BY BRIAN FEESSouthern Tier Sports ReportELMIRA — It was crunch time on Friday night and Mother Nature tried to make things as difficult as possible.
Monsoon like rains, with strong winds came in during the second half, but for Horseheads that just meant it was closing time.
Closing time meant the combination of star running back Bryce Thomas and receiver Jahvee Meisner as the Horseheads Blue Raiders topped Elmira 36-22 on Friday night.
“The second half comes around I already know what time it is,” Thomas said. “Not a lot of teams can play with us like that. We can’t rely on being a second-half team. But, when the second half comes we just kick it into another gear.”
The Blue Raiders faced challenges from the start on Friday as coach Kevin Hillman was dealing with some family matters and missed the game.
“Of course we miss coach Hillman,” said John Malnoske, who filled in as coach for the game. “He had some things to take care of with his family. The kids rallied around him, we rallied around him. We are happy to get this win for him.
“We have all become a family. We are all real close. Our families are close. It made tonight kind of a seamless transition. He’ll (Hillman) be happy. We’ll give him a call as a team when we get to the locker room. We’ll enjoy this and get back to work on Monday.”
For the players being without their coach just fired them up even more.
“There s nothing like it, beating our cross town rivals at their house is exhilarating,” Thomas said. “We are missing coach Hillman, that’s a lot of leadership missing, but it just gave us a chip on the shoulder. We came and played for him.”
Elmira struck first in the game. After a 69-yard run by Baby Harris, the Express got a one-yard scoring rum from Frankie D’Angelo at 9:14 of the opening quarter and Ben Guyette hit the extra point to make it 7-0.
Horseheads answered right back as Meisner hauled in a seven-yard touchdown catch from Lyncoln Bennett and Jaxson Burchard hit Elijah Miller on the two-point try to make it 8-7 at 6:31.
Meisner got his second score of the game at 6:38 of the second quarter on a 47-yard catch from Bennett,
Mesiner found mismatches on the day with his size and took advantage with a three-touchdown game.
“My mindset was just come out here and go to work,” Meisner said. “I knew what I could do and I knew what we could do as a team.”
The first score really got the momentum going for Meisner.
“That got us going, momentum,” he said. “It was special (to get the win). It feels good. Come here and get a win on their home turf.”
Meisner was looking to capitalize on the mismatches.
“I knew if there was a kid smaller than me, I know what I can do and he (Bennett) knows it to,” Mesiner said.
The chemistry with Meisner and Bennett has just grown over the year.
“I feel like it’s aa little rough to start,” Meisner said. “WE have our guy Jack (Patchett) and there (Bennett and Patchett) bond. Jack’s a good receiver. I came out here and we just knew.”
Malnoske was happy to see Meisner have a breakout game.
“He made plays,” Malnoske said. “He’s been really waiting to kind of burst out and have a game. He had some matchup things defensively. He stepped up big time tonight. He had a great night, we are really proud of him.”
Thomas knows how much talent the Blue Raiders have on offense.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “We have so much talent. Guys like Jahvee, not everyone sees it, but every day in practice he’s out there putting in the work. Him, Jack, Jaxson, days like this, maybe I don’t shine as much, or Jack didn’t shine as much, but we’ve got young guys like this going out and showing the work they put in.”
The fast start by the passing game just made things easier for Thomas in the second half.
“When he (Mesiner) gets two touchdowns in the first half they (the defense) sees that and it fuels me even ore in the second half knowing they have to watch for that. They can’t stop all of us.”
Elmira tied the game 11 seconds after the Meisner scored as Zeri’Miah Wilson had a 78-yard kick return for a score on the ensuing kickoff and Guyette hit the extra point.
Horseheads got a big drive to end the half with Thomas running in from 10-yards out with just 25 seconds left in the half and Thomas had the two-point run to make it 22-14.
As the rain got harder and harder, Dom Goetz had a one-yard scoring run for Elmira with 6:42 left in the game. That came after Baby Harris took a handoff and threw a 24-yard strike to Liam Ogden to the one-yard line.
With the game tied at 22, the Horseheads defense came up big. They got a fourth-and-one stop and then Thomas had a 28-yard scoring run two plays later with 9:01 left and they got another fourth-and-one stop and then Bennett hit Meisner on a 20-yard touchdown with 5:46 left.
Malnoske just trusted the defense to make stops late and they came up big.
“Just trusted the kids,” Malnoske said. “They will excuse what we wanted. Keep it simple and the kids stepped up.”
The Blue Raiders handled the elements in the second half, avoiding any turnovers in the bad weather of the second half.
“The kids really responded well,” Malnoske said. “We always say how are you going to act when things don’t go your way and they just responded well, and they didn’t let it bother them at all.”
The players we ready for the challenge of the elements.
“We have a lot of grit on our team and that’s what we live for,” Thomas said.
Bennett was 8-for-16 passing for 183 yards for Horseheads. Willie Walker threw for 23 yards and Harris threw for 24 for Elmira.
“We saw some things in preparation we could be successful with,” Malnoske said of the passing game. “Lyncoln, he’s just a competitor. He’s out there, he wants to make plays.”
Thomas had 18 carries for 95 yards and Burchard ran for 36 yards, while Bennett ran for 33 yards. Harris had 10 carries for 93 yards for Elmira and Walker ran for 24 yards. Jonathan Reader and Brock Carr ran for 19 yards and Goetz ran for 13 yards.
Meisnder had five catches for 139 yards and Patchett had a 23-yard catch, Burchard had a 14-yard catch and Elijah Miller had a seven-yard catch. Ogden had two grabs for 46 yards for Elmira and D’Angelo had a catch.
The win was special for Horseheads.
“It’s a big statement game, we have a lot of rivalry games coming up and we just want to show people we are ready to play,” Thomas said.
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:
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