Whitesboro football falls in 1st round of states to Union-Endicott: ‘We got physically beat up’

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Whitesboro football team’s Friday night started in fine fashion when Connor McDonald returned an opening kickoff 73 yards for a touchdown.

That was as good as it got for the team, however, and very soon things turned much worse.

Section IV’s Union-Endicott stormed back from that quick deficit to score 32 unanswered points and breeze past Whitesboro 46-22 in a Class A state regional game at Vestal.

Robert Mabry bulled his way to four rushing touchdowns for the Tigers, of five, six, eight and three yards.

McDonald was a one-man offense for Whitesboro, also scoring on a two-yard TD run and a 29-yard TD catch. But he and his teammates were overmatched by a Tigers squad that dominated at both ends of the field until the game was no longer in doubt.

“I think we got physically beat up. They did to us what we usually do to other teams, and they played inspired football,” said Whitesboro coach Curtis Schmidt. “Not that we underestimated them at all, but they just looked like a different team than we saw on tape and they played inspired football and physical football and I felt like we got dominated on both sides of the ball.”

Whitesboro, which had been ranked No. 3 in the state, finishes 10-2. U-E (10-1) moves on to the state semis Friday at Cicero-North Syracuse.

The loss sours a sterling season for McDonald, a junior who put up 20 touchdowns rushing and 18 through the air. It also jolted a Whitesboro squad that had designs on taking the final step after losing to Section I’s Somers in each of the past two state finals.

Somers didn’t make it out of its sectional play, but as it turned out, Whitesboro had more than its hands full with U-E.

Mabry scored his first touchdown in the first quarter to bring the Tigers within 7-6 after 12 minutes.

U-E put up all 13 points of the second quarter, on a 15-yard run by quarterback Joseph Gennarelli Jr. and then a 33-yard scoring pass from Gennarelli to Chad Eldridge.

“Their quarterback is obviously a stud and they just did a really nice job and we had trouble stopping them,” Schmidt said. “And then on offense, you get down a couple of touchdowns and you start pressing and they just got us out of our rhythm and credit for them. They did a great job.”

Gennarelli opened the third-quarter scoring with a one-yard touchdown plunge, and Mabry then boosted his team’s edge to 32-7 with a six-yard run into the end zone.

The decisive loss was even more surprising considering how Whitesboro entered the contest. After a season-opening loss to Christian Brothers Academy, Whitesboro was riding a 10-game winning streak. None of those wins had been closer than two touchdowns and during that stretch, the team gave up just 114 points total.

“We prepared well, like we do every week. We practice great and like we had all year.” Schmidt said. “And people might say we went in as the favorite, but they got the best of us today. And that’s sports, and that hurts right now, but you move on. You learn from it, and make sure you send your seniors off with a good banquet because they’ve had a great career here.”

Whitesboro brings key players next year who should give the team optimism for another title run. Besides McDonald, quarterback Frank Zupancic and No. 2 running back Giovanni Lang also return.

“So we got a lot of our skill positions back. Secondary, linebackers, receivers, some tight ends and stuff like that. But we got to replace our line, and our line the past three years has been dominant, and that’s the most important thing in high school football,” Schmidt said. “So (they have to) work hard to develop kids and get them stronger. And some kids might have to move some positions for the betterment of the team, and I think they’ll do that. But we’ll be back.”