It was clear from the start of Friday's playoff game that the Whitesboro football team did not intend to let Auburn keep it close like when the teams met during the regular season two weeks ago.

"It's playoffs so it's a different atmosphere," said Whitesboro junior quarterback Kyle Meier after the team's 42-7 home win at Chiz Frye Field in the quarterfinals of the Section III Class A playoffs. Whitesboro won 49-26 at Auburn on Oct. 14.

"We had to give them our best fight," Meier added of the matchup between the second-seeded Warriors and the seventh-seeded Maroons. He produced another command performance for his season totals, rushing 10 times for 254 yards and four long scores. He also was 2-for-7 passing for 27 yards, one of which was a 25-yard TD strike.

"I'm fortunate for the guys I have up front," and for the blocking of the receivers on the outside, Meier said. Each of his four scoring runs were long plays, three of them bouncing to the outside. "I pride myself for being able to make the tough runs," but also, he said with a smile, at being able to show the speed.

In the first four minutes of the game, Meier put up 114 yards rushing on two plays, which were both touchdowns. He kept the ball on the first play of the game and ran left for a 59-yard score. On the next drive he went right up the middle for 55 yards to the house.

On the Warriors’ third drive, Meier hit Tony Dorozynski over the middle. The receiver spun out of trouble at the five-yard-line and took it the rest of the way for a score. They converted on their fourth drive as well, with Nicholas Polnak scoring on his second 22-yard run of the drive.

Polnak ended the game with five carries for 66 yards and the score.

Auburn got the final score of the first half, on a drive that started in Whitesboro territory after a long punt return by DeSean Strachan. Kemauri Perry capped off the drive with a two-yard plunge up the middle to make it 28-7 with three minutes left before halftime.

Meier added a 60-yard scoring run on the team's first play of the third quarter and a 45-yard TD run later that quarter where he weaved all over the field, running as many yards sideways as he did toward the goal line.

The Warriors' defense bent but did not break, forcing turnovers and making stops on fourth down all game. While Auburn quarterback Elijah Scott was 7-for-13 passing for 126 yards and added six carries for 25 yards, the Warriors intercepted him once and prevented the big play. Perry carried 23 times for 121 yards and the TD but he also fumbled the ball away once.

"Our goal is to play better defense," said Whitesboro head coach Curtis Schmidt. The unit, he said, was "much more physical" in this second meeting with Auburn. And the game plan to limit Strachan — an explosive receiver — worked, he noted, as they limited him to three catches and the long punt return. In the second half, the coach said, "we shut him down."

Whitesboro is now 7-2 and will take on third seed West Genesee (7-2) on Nov. 4, a game Whitesboro will host as the higher seed. the time of the game has yet to be announced. The game will be a rematch of the opening game for both teams, which Whitesboro won 27-26 at home.

"We're rolling but we have to fine tune what we do," Meier said. The defense has to tighten up and the offense has to come out fast, he said.

"We're pretty consistent right now," Schmidt said. "Kyle's been consistent all year," and makes play calling easy on him. He also complimented the "great physical (offensive) line. We're more balanced than we've been since I've been here. The kids bought in to what we want them to do," with players like linebackers Memphis Ferguson and Vincent Zajac showing the toughness the team needs.

But there's still more football games to win, said the fourth-year head coach who moved up from offensive coordinator in 2019. "These guys know the door is shutting," and the goal is to keep the season alive.

Spartans advance in Class A

On the other side of the Class A football playoff bracket, New Hartford advanced to the semifinals with a 21-12 win at home over Corcoran.

The fourth-seeded Spartans, now 6-3, opened the scoring with a one-yard run by quarterback Dominic Ambrose to take a 6-0 first quarter lead. Corcoran, the five seed, tied the game on a 25-yard pass in the second quarter (scoring details were unavailable for Corcoran). But Alex Collver secured the lead for good on a two-yard TD run before halftime, with a two-point conversion for a 14-6 lead at the break.

Though Corcoran got a short touchdown run in the third quarter to trim the lead to two, Cole Raux scored on a five-yard run later in the quarter.

Collver lead the team with 86 yards rushing and Raux had 79. Ambrose threw for 83 yards on 8-of-14 passing.

Defensively for the New Hartford, Tommy Vitagliano led the team with eight tackles. Logan Banek had six and Nick Perrotta, Wilkenson Joseph and Ethan Daley had five each.

The Spartans will play Nov. 4 against the winner of the game between top seed Fayetteville-Manlius (7-1) and eight-seed East Syracuse Minoa (1-7). The result of that quarterfinal game was not available at the time of publication. The higher seed will host the semifinal game at a time to be announced.

RFA falls in Class AA 

Evan Carlson-Stephenson had a touchdown run and connected on a score to Jack Lawless in the first half, but Baldwinsville built a big halftime lead Friday against Rome Free Academy in the Class AA quarterfinal.

No. 3 seed Baldwinsville earned a 58-20 victory to end No. 6 seed RFA's season. 

Brandon Levin finished with 202 yards rushing and four scores on 16 carries for Baldwinsville. Kaleb Young added 127 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. 

Ricky Fernandez also had a rushing touchdown in the second half for the Black Knights, who finish the season 1-8 overall. 

No stats were provided for RFA.

Class B

Quarterfinals

No. 5 Central Valley Academy 23, No. 4 Syracuse-ITC 7

No. 3 Camden 44, No. 6 Chittenango 21

No. 2 Homer 46, No. 7 Oneida 0

Class C

Quarterfinals

No. 5 Holland Patent 18, No. 4 Bishop Ludden 14

No. 1 Adirondack 60, No. 8 Marcellus 31

Class D

Quarterfinals

No. 5 Mt. Markham 33, No. 4 Sandy Creek 6

No. 3 Little Falls 20, No. 6 Cato-Meridian 0

No. 2 Beaver River 49, No. 7 Sherburne-Earlville 6

8-Man

Quarterfinals

No. 2 Frankfort-Schuyler 46, No. 7 Thousand Islands 26