NYSPHSAA FOOTBALL: HORSEHEADS OPENS SEASON WITH VICTORY AT AQUINAS (September 5, 2026)

Southern Tier Sports Report
ROCHESTER — The Horseheads football team went on the road and came away with a 31-12 season-opening win over perennial state power Aquinas. 

Bryce Thomas ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns for the Blue Raiders. Thomas had four carries over 20 yards and had the big day on just 12 carries. 

Lyncoln Bennett threw for 185 yards for the Blue Raiders and Chris Thomas had six catches for 76 yards, while Jack Patchett had five grabs for 73 yards. Bradyn Hourihan had two catches for 10 yards. 

Aiden Culshaw ran for 82 yards on just four carries, with a 54-yard touchdown in the game. 

Elijah Miller had 13 tackles on defense, with an interception. 

Brayden Walton had six tackles and a sack and Brody O’Rourke had a sack and four tackles. Connor Warrick had five tackles, with a sack. Thomas had five tackles on the day. 

“Just in general I thought the kids played hard and really pleased with our effort,” Horseheads coach Kevin Hillman said. “We had some mistakes and some bad decisions at times. But, we expected to see some of that in the first game of the season. Important thing is we need to learn from them.

“I’ve got to get a shout out to the offensive line. We got a lot of new guys, young guys. They stepped up.”

For the Blue Raiders it was a good way to start the year.

“Just overall a great team win,” Hillman said. “If you just look at the state sheet on both sides of the ball, we had so many guys contribute. That’s what’s going to have to happen for us to be successful. Hopefully we can continue to build on this.”

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