“Never give up.” It’s a phrase the West Seneca East Trojans have made their motto. Their latest victory embodied that resilient attitude perfectly.
The Trojans overcame a 15-point second half deficit to defeat Sweet Home, 31-30, in a battle between Class A2 foes on Friday night at West Seneca East High School.
After trailing 16-15 entering the third quarter, the Trojans (2-0) came out flat after the break giving up two Panther touchdowns in just over four minutes into the half. But, they didn’t give up there.
“The last thing we said walking out of that locker room to the guys was in the next twenty-four minutes, we’re going to find out what kind of team we have,” said West Seneca East coach Jim Maurino. “I think they really showed up later in the second half.”
The Trojans’ key to success on offense was apparent after the first drive: give Devare Mathis the football.
Mathis, having tallied two rushing touchdowns in the first half, capped off a strong, balanced drive with a four-yard score to cut the deficit to 30-23. From there, the momentum began to swing back in East’s favor.
Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Mathis took the handoff and scampered 51 yards down the sideline to score his fourth touchdown of the night. A two-point conversion gave the Trojans the final lead of the night, completing the comeback.
“We have a sign in [the locker room] that says ‘never give up’, and I always look at it. It’s what I have in my heart,” said Mathis, who finished with over 200 total yards to go along with his four touchdowns. “The O-line came through tonight. I did my part, they did their part.”
Despite the Trojan defense not being perfect throughout the contest, they stepped up when they were needed to most.
After a botched snap on a punt gave Sweet Home (1-1) the ball on the West Seneca East 20 yard line with only one minute remaining, East’s defense locked in and stonewalled the Panther attack to preserve the win.
The Sweet Home offense looked strong in spite of the loss, as Panthers quarterback Jamel Lucas followed up his stellar Week One performance by going 13 for 22 with just over 200 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Isaiah Killian hauled in three of Lucas’s touchdown passes and finished with over 100 yards receiving.
“We played very well offensively but we made too many mistakes to beat a quality team like that,” said Panthers coach Jeremy Zimmer. “We’re on defense a majority of the game because we have playmakers who can score, but we just gave up too much.”
Sweet Home looks to rebound at home next Friday, September 20th against Grand Island while he Trojans head north to battle with Starpoint that same evening.
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