HAMBURG, NY - Pioneer Football traveled to face Hilbert on Saturday afternoon in the penultimate matchup of the season. Utica, looking to right the ship in a major way, did just that to start the matchup, taking their opening-drive straight down the field for six in a display of what would be to come for the Central New York squad against their western counterparts. The Pioneers came out firing, scoring on their first six drives to establish an almost-insurmountable lead by halftime. Utica held strong in the second half, giving up zero points in the last 30 minutes to come away with a 36-6 victory.
 
Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) got everything he wanted and more on Saturday, achieving a hat trick of rushing touchdowns through the first half. The Pioneers' workhorse back had 146 yards rushing and the three touchdown scurries by the halftime buzzer, finishing the matchup with 150 yards and the trio of scores after his day ended early in the second half due to the large lead.
 
Also scoring for the Pioneers during the blowout were Antonio Cianfarani (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) and Logan Kraft (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) who each caught a receiving touchdown during the action.
 
Brett Fuller (Port Jervis, NY/Port Jervis) spent the day targeting lots of high-percentage looks, finishing 12 of 15 for 122 yards and a single passing score.
 
Jimmy Polito (Hull, MA/Hull) captured the other passing touchdown, completing a pass of a trick play early in Saturday's game on the touchdown pass to Kraft.
 
On defense Dameon Charles and Liam Horodnik (River Edge, NJ/River Dell) ended with a team-high six tackles each.
 
Utica scored on their first six drives of the game, mounting five touchdown drives before the halftime break and notching a field goal on their first possession of the second half. The Pioneers first punt came with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter.
 
The visitors held strong in the second half despite only earning three points, shutting the Hawks out over the final half of play.
 
The Pioneers outgained Hilbert by a 391-130 margin on Saturday, racking up 199 rushing yards in the contest while only being forced to punt twice. They accomplished this feat despite holding the ball for only 26:51 due to Hilbert's triple-option offense.
 
Game Summary:
 
It didn't take long for the Pioneers to break the ice on Saturday, with Scotty Thompson (Fairport, NY/Fairport) returning the opening kickoff into Hilbert territory to kick-off a 5-play 45-yard drive that ended with Brantley giving the visitors a 6-0 lead from 4-yards out. The first possession was highlighted by a Gabe Zawolo 16-yard bubble screen sandwiched between two long Brantley runs before the final touchdown run to give Utica an early lead.
 
For the second game in a row, Utica found themselves suddenly ahead mere moments into the matchup, after a Brantley rushing score gave them an extremely early lead last week against Brockport.
 
Contrary to last week's contest, the Pioneers looked to push the label and extend their early advantage. They had a prime chance to do just that, after forcing a punt on the Hawks' opening possession.
 
Getting the ball back right near the 50-yard line, the Pioneers utilized two chunk plays from familiar faces in Brantley and Zawolo to speed down into the Hilbert redzone. Once more within striking distance, Utica used some trickery to extend their lead, with Sam Florio (Port Jefferson, NY/Port Jefferson) handing off the rock to Jimmy Polito (Hull, MA/Hull), who executed a perfectly placed jump pass and found Kraft in the corner of the endzone to push the lead to double-digits.
 
The Pioneer Defensive Line stood tall on the ensuing Hawks possession, with Mason Nolan (Hilton, NY/Hilton Central) and Dameon Charles each notching a tackle for loss along with Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley) getting a key pass breakup to force yet another Hilbert punt.
 
The Pioneers then made it three-for-three on offense, launching a vast array of offensive sets that gradually brought them down into the Hawk redzone once again at the onset of the second quarter. To lead off the second period, Fuller found Cianfarani as he slipped behind the defense on a crossing route, securing a 19-yard score to balloon the Pioneer lead even more at 20-0.
 
Hilbert began to hum on the next possession, finding a 15-yard rush followed by a 40-yard completion down the seam to set themselves up in Pioneer territory for the first time in the afternoon. The Hawks used their triple-option tactics to inch their way down to the goalline, eventually pushing one across after a nearly successful goalline stand from the Pioneers to cut into the Utica lead, the score now sitting at 20-6.
 
Brantley continued to gash the Hawk defense on the Pioneers next possession, embarking on a string of surreal rushes and using three-straight runs of 15, 11, and 23 yards to punch right back against blue-clad hosts. The veteran back favored the right side on all three of his powerful runs to re-establish the Pioneers three-score lead at 27-6 with about five minutes left in the first half.
 
The Rochester native's offensive onslaught didn't stop there though, as he scored again on the very next Utica drive to award himself with a hat trick of touchdowns through 30 minutes of play. Fuller and Taylor connected for their second big gain of the game to get that drive going, which was then followed up by an equally long pass to Peyton Ausfeld (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) which set the visitors up on the goalline. Brantley proceeded to hammer home the score from a few yards out, adding to the Pioneers massive advantage with under a minute remaining in the first half. That lead would hold, with the score remaining 33-6 at the midway point of the match.
 
The pedal remained down as the second half got underway, with Mason Mascari (Rochester, NY/Webster Schroeder) finding the football off a botched pitch by the Hawks offense to give the Pioneers their sixth redzone try of the afternoon. Utica stalled quickly thereafter, settling for their first field goal of the afternoon, a 27-yard conversion to increase the tally to 36-6.
 
Not much action occurred between the two teams over the following few possessions as the score remained 36-6 into the fourth quarter.
 
Both teams mounted solid drives in the final period of play, but saw some penalties and costly errors push them out of scoring range as the fourth quarter ended with neither team notching a final strike as the Pioneers achieved a 36-6 victory over Hilbert.