Way sets receiving TD record as New Hartford season ends on field goal
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VESTAL — Another New Hartford football season reached a dramatic conclusion Saturday following a second half rally that included two touchdowns scored by record-breaking senior receiver Peyton Way.
Section IV Owego Free Academy kicked a field goal with three seconds remaining on the game clock and pulled out a 36-34 win over Section III New Hartford in a Class B regional playoff game at vestal High School’s Dick Hoover Stadium.
Owego’s River Hawks (9-3) had squandered a 20-point, second-half lead and fallen behind 34-33 on the John Vitullo’s third touchdown pass to Way and Sam Rockford’s kick for New Hartford (11-1) with 2:28 left to play.
Owego used its remaining time and drove for the 20-yard Dylan Brace field goal that gave the first time sectional champion its regional victory.
“It feels like the only way we lose is in these tight ones,” said Way, a senior who unofficially caught 15 passes for 386 yards (both career highs) and three touchdowns, tying and breaking the 21-year-old state record previously held by Bruce Williams who is now an assistant coach at his alma mater, Christian Brothers Academy of Syracuse. “… We just played our hearts out and did what we could.”
Way, a Colgate University recruit, finishes the season with 26 touchdown catches and 52 in his varsity career. Williams, who caught 24 touchdown passes in 2004, congratulated Way on the sideline after the game while his current team was warming up for Saturday’s Class AA regional playoff.
The New Hartford seniors, including Way and Vitullo, finish a three-year varsity run with a 31-3 record that includes one loss in overtime and another on a last-minute touchdown in sectional finals prior to Saturday’s heart-breaker.
“This senior class did a tremendous job,” New Hartford coach Jim Kramer said. “Three years, three losses. All postseason losses. A 31-3 record. I’m very proud for them.”
The Spartans rallied with Vitullo passing for 440 yards, another career-high. They trailed 26-7 after turning the ball over three times in the first half, and 33-13 following a six-minute Owego touchdown drive to start the second half.
New Hartford answered with a 19-yard touchdown run by Niko Martinez and got the ball back with a fourth down stop near midfield late in the third quarter. Vitullo threw to Way for the receiver’s record-breaking touchdown on the opening play of the fourth, a pass covering 34 yards that pulled the Spartans within one touchdown of the lead.
The New Hartford defense forced an Owego punt but the Spartans punted the ball back at their own 19-yard line for a likely last chance with six minutes to go. A screen pass to Way got the drive started, and New Hartford offense crossed midfield with a 25-yard pass from Vitullo to Luke LaFountain.
A holding penalty between two passes that fell incomplete in the end zone left the Spartans facing fourth-and-17 when Kramer called the team’s final timeout at 2:33. Running a play Kramer said he drew up in the huddle, Vitullo connected with Way on a crossing pattern near then sideline at the first down marker, and the receiver turned and bulled his way past a defender to the goal line for a 35-yard touchdown to tie the game. Rockford, who had a kick blocked earlier, split the uprights on the conversion to give New Hartford its first lead.
Way’s touchdown put Owego in position for its own rally and the River Hawks came through. Quarterback Garrett Phelps, who ran for 106 yards, completed his first two passes of the game on the winning drive, and added a 26-yard run on a draw play after the River Hawks used their last timeout at 1:18. Two short runs after Phelps ran for a first down at the New Hartford 5, Owego scrambled to set up Brace’s kick from the left hashmark and the junior delivered his game-winning field goal.
Brace also ran for almost 200 yards and scored two touchdowns, one to open the game’s scoring and the second at the start of the second half. John Farrell added two touchdown runs, and Nolan Card, who had already intercepted a pass on defense, returned a fumble recovery 79 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Owego travels to Cicero-North Syracuse High School to play a November 29 state semifinal against Section V Monroe, a 40-14 winner Saturday over Section VI Lackawanna in its regional playoff. The Class B game will be the second of three played at the Michael J. Bragman Athletic Complex that day, following Section IV Chenango Forks and Section VI Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton in Class C, and followed by Section III Syracuse-Christian Brothers Academy and Section VI Lewis J. Bennett/Olmsted/Middle Early College/Buffalo East in Class AA.
Christian Brothers Academy defeated Elmira Southside 42-7 in Saturday’s nightcap to prevent a sweep after Section IV had won the first four regional games played in Vestal over two days. Chenango Forks beat General Brown 47-24 in Saturday’s Class C opener, and Tioga and Union-Endicott had beaten Lowville Academy and Whitesboro Friday.
Morrisville-Eaton advances to eight-player final
The Morrisville-Eaton Mavericks extended their win streak to 10 games Saturday with a 56-21 victory over Taconic Hills in New York’s eight-player football semifinals.
Section III Morrisville-Eaton (10-2) topped 50 points for the sixth time in nine games and defeated Section II Taconic Hills (7-4) at SUNY-Morrisville and earned a spot in the November 28 state regional championship, the final game of the state’s eight-player season.
The Mavericks play at noon the day after Thanksgiving at Cicero-North Syracuse High School against Section IX Eldred, a 56-22 winner over Section IV Unatego/Franklin/Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton in Saturday’s other semifinal.
Senior quarterback Landen Highers passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns for Morrisville-Eaton which had beaten defending sectional and state regional champion Frankfort-Schuyler one week earlier for the second Section III title in the history of its program.
Mason Marland ran for one touchdown and caught one of Highers’ touchdown passes. Taiden Eaton ran for a touchdown, and Gavin Baker caught the other scoring pass and had two defensive touchdowns, one on an interception and the other on a fumble recovery.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter and Taconic Hills led 7-6 before being outscored 34-0 in the second and third quarters.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: November 22, 2025, state high school football playoffs roundup
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