GALLERY: Hornell traveled to Alexander-Pembroke and spoiled A/Ps undefeated season 19-13
From the Drew Golden, The Golden Lens
The Hornell Red Raiders traveled to undefeated Alexander/Pembroke on Friday night and walked away with a 19-13 victory under the Friday night lights, handing the defending Section V Class C champions their first loss of the season. Both teams now sit at 6-1.
Pierce Dinkins started the scoring early in the first quarter, accounting for the only offensive points Alexander/Pembroke would put on the board.
Hornell answered with a touchdown on an amazing catch by Patrick Wing, who took the ball away from a defender while falling back into the end zone for the Raiders’ first score. Matt Karr led the offense, carrying 12 times for 147 yards and a touchdown.
“All week we’ve been preaching win by one,” Coach Izzy Mehr said. “As a staff we’ve been very honest with these kids, letting them know they’re a very good team, but good is just good. We need to get to greatness. We had moments of greatness tonight. We’re still not there fully, but we’re very pleased that those steps forward towards being a great team have been taken.
“Hats off to Alexander/Pembroke. That’s a very, very, very good team that has experienced greatness and hadn’t lost a game in two years. We’re just very, very happy that we were able to be in a position to execute and be resilient. We were bending at times, but we never broke, and we continued to do what we had talked about as our game plan. We never came off our script. We believed in each other as coaches and as a staff and were able to get the W.”
Defensively, Keegan Matt had a tremendous night. John Flaitz and Mason McMichael made big plays at linebacker when needed. The Raiders stayed disciplined and resilient against a potent Alexander/Pembroke offense.
“We talked about six seconds all week and then pregame,” Mehr said. “I reminded them an average football play takes six seconds. Are you able to sell out for six seconds, to dig down deep inside for six seconds, to be able to believe in your brother next to you for six seconds, to be able to not quit for six seconds? Every six seconds, win that play. We were privileged enough to win the majority of them tonight.”
Mehr framed the win as more than one night’s result.
“1-0 each week is our goal. As a coach and a staff, that’s all alumni. This was special, special for our kids, but special for all the alumni before us, special for the kids the last few years who have graduated and moved on, went through the struggles, took the lumps at times, took the beatings, but they persevered and believed in the process. We had many of our alumni present tonight—guys that were with us during those days when we were trying to bring back the spirit of Hornell football, the tradition and the standards. They bought in and they persevered. They took on the challenges. More times than none they didn’t come out on top, but they believed in the process. As I told this year’s kids after the game and brought those guys to join us, the reason we are where we are is because of believing in the process.
Coach Mehr continued,
“As an alumni myself, and I speak on behalf of the amazing alumni staff that we have, this was something special. Each one of us on staff has been part of big games as players and as coaches. It’s been a long time since we were part of a big game with significant implications. We can go back to 1987 when we beat Cal-Mum my freshman year—that team went on to win the first sectional title. Then 1991 after my graduation from high school—that team went out and beat Canandaigua, a huge milestone. Then we had the team that went on to beat Lackawanna in the early 2000s, and then most recently 2012 when we got over the hump of finally beating Chenango Forks. Statement wins are important for a program. Teams come and go, but to be able to build a program you need to win those big games. Tonight was big.”
“We’ll take on the celebrations and enjoy the moment tonight, but I know tomorrow as a staff we’ll be online working to get ready for next week with Bath coming to H-town. In closing, I want to recognize the coaching staff for the endless hours of preparation we put in for this game. We were a well-prepared team. As alumni coaches we’re just very happy for the program. Onward to the goals—to be 1-0 next Friday.”
Hornell closes regular-season play Friday, October 23, at home against Bath-Haverling (2-5).
Drew Golden is the photographer and sports guy behind the Golden Lens. You can follow him on Facebook for more photos.
