The Mustangs were superb on both sides of the ball in a 42-13 victory over Homer, from Will Fiacchi's five touchdowns to a full array of turnovers forced by the defense.
All the inspiration Marcellus needed on this night could be found in two letters, "JK", on a patch on the back of the players' helmets.
This was in memory of Jody Karla, a popular math teacher at Marcellus High School who passed away Sept. 25 at Community General Hospital. Karla was awaiting a lung transplant as she lost a long battle with cystic fibrosis.
Wanting to win one for Jody, the Mustangs (in special black jerseys) got off to a bit of a shaky start in a heavy rain, as Homer scored first on John Sciera's one-yard touchdown pass to Zach Hatfield.
But the Mustangs' offense sprung to life in a 21-point second quarter as the rain came to a temporary halt.
Fiacchi, his back healthy, proved he could provide a suitable encore to his 519-yard masterpiece at South Jefferson, the third-highest single-game passing yardage total in state history.
Twice, Fiacchi scored with his feet, on runs of five and one yard, after his passes to Zach Amidon and Chaz Hayes set up the Mustangs deep in Homer territory. Then Fiacchi threw his first TD pass of the night, 17 yards to Hayes, and the Mustangs led 21-13 at the half.
Now Marcellus took over on the defensive side, forcing Homer into a series of mistakes. All told, the Mustangs forced six turnovers - four fumble recoveries, plus a pair of interceptions.
Steve Raven, with an interception and fumble recovery, led this effort, as Steve Brissette also got an interception. Nick Huss, John Howard and Jason Howard all leaped on fumbles, too. Joe Felicia had two sacks as Jason Decker earned more than 10 tackles.
Meanwhile, Fiacchi kept adding to his numbers, launching Marcellus in the third quarter by going 75 yards to his favorite target, Dan Rudy, and also going to Rudy for a six-yard TD strike.
While getting nowhere near his gaudy South Jefferson numbers, Fiacchi was still 12-for-20 for 248 yards, most of it going to Rudy, as he had seven catches for 163 yards.
And the running game supplied some balance, too, as Ricky Alfreds earned 130 yards on 13 carries, and fellow back Kevin Daily offered an exclamation point to the night with a 33-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Brendan Carey hit on all six of his extra points.
Having won two straight, the Mustangs (3-2) host Solvay next Friday at 7 p.m. for Homecoming and Senior Night. Also, possession of the Tom Anthony Memorial Cup is on the line.
Solvay is 2-3, and coming off Saturday’s 32-6 loss to Vernon Verona Sherrill. The only points the Bearcats got came in the second quarter, when Paul Clisson intercepted Tyler Mautner’s pass and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown.
Otherwise, the Red Devils, coming off its only loss of the season to Chittenango, had full control, as Mautner threw three TD passes, two of them to Tyler Curtis. Colin Way scored on runs of 41 and 25 yards as VVS got away with 18 points in the fourth quarter.
