SECTION 4 FOOTBALL: HORSEHEADS EDGED BY VESTAL ON HOMECOMING, 14-12 (24 PHOTOS) (2025-10-17)
By Brian FeesSouthern Tier Sports ReportHORSEHEADS — Down 8-0, the Horseheads Blue Raiders fought back to lead in the second half, before falling to Vestal 14-12 on homecoming.
“We just had a really bad first half,” Horseheads coach Kevin Hillman said. “We weren’t doing a great job up front picking up what they were doing. We made those adjustments at halftime. But, we have to do a better job of, we shouldn’t have to make those adjustments at halftime, we should do a better job on the fly.
“We’ve got to be better. Bottom line. The second half I thought the kids came out with better emotion, played much better. That second half I think is a better indication of what this tea can be. We just haven’t had a full game doing it yet. We have got to put it all together.”
Vestal led 8-0 at the half.
However, Horseheads got a pair of third-quarter scores as Aiden Culshaw and Patrick Laney both scored on to put Horseheads up 12-8. Culshaw ran in from 31 yards out for his score and Laney scored from 18 yards out.
Vestal scored early in the fourth quarter to go up 14-12. Horseheads pinned Vestal to the one-yard line on a booming punt by Lyncoln Bennett. A sack by Connor Warrick forced the Golden Bears to punt.
Horseheads got a good return by Laney, and it looked like they were going to be in good field position. But, offsetting penalties had Vestal re-kick and Horseheads took over deeper in their own territory.
“All year, that’s been our achilles heal,” Hillman said of the miscues. “Every time we get something going we have a holding call, or something like that. Even on that kick, the punt there, which could have given us the ball in really good field position and then we even have the horse collar which would give us plus field position, but we have a dumb holding call. We have got to do a better job. That’s what is holding this team back right now is not playing smart, assignment style football.”
Dmitri Charlanow hit Culshaw with a pass to get near midfield, but Vestal blitzed from the blind side, hit Charlanow and forced a fumble allowing them to run out the clock.
The Vestal defense held the dominant run attack of Bryce Thomas and Laney to a combined 113 yards on the day.
“We have got to adjust some things,” Hillman said. “We have got to do a better job of seeing things. We all have got to do a better job, it comes down to us as coaches. We have got to do a better job of getting these guys in position to make adjustments. The bottom line is it comes down to us coaches, we’ve got to do a better job.”
Charlanow had 80 yards on the ground on seven carries, including a 33-yard run on the day. Thomas ran for 57 yards and Laney 56 yards. Culshaw ran for 46 yards on just four carries.
Charlanow threw for 65 yards. Keagan Zeller had four grabs for 31 yards and Culshaw had a 19-yard catch, while Laney had a 15-yard catch.
Warrick and Keegan Harkness had sacks for Horseheads. Liam Morrissey had 12 tackles and Laney intercepted a pass on the day. Boe Briggs had seven tackles and Tanner Kennedy. Had seven tackles.
With the loss the Blue Raiders will have to go on the road in sectionals, but Hillman still believes they can compete with anyone.
“100%, both games we scored the same amount of touchdowns, we didn’t convert on some two point conversions,” Hillman said. “We lost two games, we scored the same amount (of touchdowns) and we lost by two. We can play with these guys, we made it harder for ourselves and now we have to go on the road. But I believe in these guys.
“These guys still have the ability to accomplish everything they want to accomplish. We just have to buckled down, lock in and we can’t get distracted and we can’t take plays off.”
————
PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:
Print Friendly Version
