Dylan Casey played much bigger than the 5′ 8″, 175 pounds he is listed at on Saturday, scoring all four of Maryvale’s touchdowns in their come-from-behind 28-26 victory over Burgard in a Class B West matchup with big playoff implications.
Dylan Casey had only 40 rushing yards on the ground and made only three catches in the game, but he made the most of the few times he had the ball. Maryvale Head Coach Jeff Buccieri knows he can count on him saying, “He’s a playmaker. He’s a skilled offensive player. He steped up for us here.”
Trading interceptions, the Bulldogs got on the board first as Dominic Prince took a long 72-yard run to the house for the first score. At the end of the quarter, Dejean McCullough had a great run where he reversed his direction in the backfield, then ran over a defender on the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown.
After a bad punt by Maryvale, the Bulldogs took over at the Flyers’ 31 and on the next play QB Anthony Maple found Myron Prichett to give the Bulldogs a 20-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.
Later in the quarter, Maryvale QB Connor Desiderio found Dylan Casey for 64 yards to put the Flyers on the board.
After going 0 for 6 in the first half, Desiderio ended up throwing for 279 yards. Buccieri saw his young QB grow up a little today. “We’re a young team. (Desiderio) is a freshman, our youth showed” Buccieri said.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs could not handle the squib kick and Maryvale got the ball back. The Flyers took advantage as Casey took it in from 21 yards out to bring Maryvale within five at the half.
The Flyers got right to work in the 2nd half as Desidero found Casey again, this time for 70 yards to give the Flyers the lead. The Bulldogs answered right back however as Dominic Prince took it 54 yards to put Burgard back on top. The Flyers responded at the end of the 3rd, as Desidero once again found Casey for the final score of the game.
The Bulldogs had numerous opportunities in the 4th to come back. The defense came up with two turnovers when it looked like Maryvale was going to drive down the field and score. However, the Bulldogs were unable to convert. A lot of Burgard offensive penalties killed any momentum they had.
The play of the game was 4th and Goal for Burgard at the 24-yard line with five minutes to go but the Maryvale defense came up with the stop.
Head Coach Jason Kolb thought his team let up after getting up 20-0, saying “We took a nap and allowed some big plays for their offense.”
Buccieri was proud of the resolve his team showed coming back the way they did saying, “this a great Burgard team. They took it to us, but our guys rallied and kept fighting”.
Saturday’s game has a considerable impact on the standings in Class B. With the win, Maryvale stays at second place in Class B West. It also puts the Flyers in a strong position to host at least a first round playoff game. A win next week, along with a Cheektowaga win next week, will set up for a Week 7 Class B West title game matchup. Burgard stays in 3rd in Class B West and is now fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds in the Class B playoffs.
Next week, Maryvale (4-0, 5-0) will host Newfane (0-4, 0-5) at 7pm on Friday night and Burgard (1-2, 2-3) will host Tonawanda (2-2, 2-3) at Riverside Field at 7pm on Friday Night.
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