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Neuqua falls short in key game against Bartlett
Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: October 15, 2011 12:39AM
Neuqua Valley will have to wait another week to clinch an automatic playoff berth.
The Wildcats (5-3, 3-2 Upstate Eight Valley) fell to Bartlett (6-2, 5-0) in a 34-7 home loss Friday. Junior Joey Rhattigan (17 carries for 133 yards) opened the scoring with an 80-yard touchdown run for Neuqua Valley with 8 minutes, 7 seconds to play in the first quarter. That would be all the Wildcats would get.
“We didn’t come ready to play,” Rhattigan said afterward. “It didn’t go our way.”
Rhattigan now has 19 touchdowns for the year.
Hawks quarterback A.J. Bilyeu (5 of 15 passing for 140 yards), who came into play having thrown for 1,215 yards this season, burned Neuqua Valley with a 72-yard touchdown pass to Lorenzo Mitchell that helped Bartlett tie the game at 7-7. James Butler scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run with 4:26 to play in the second quarter.
Butler added a 58-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Ian Dobek kicked two field goals for the Hawks. Mike Partyka’s fourth-quarter fumble recovery capped the scoring.
“I felt like we’re as good as they are and you know what, that sounds kind of silly now after you get beat 34-7,” Wildcats coach Bryan Wells said. “We just didn’t continue to play with the intensity we needed to play with.”
With the win, the Hawks captured at least a share of the UEC Valley title and can win the title outright with a victory over East Aurora next week. Bartlett now has won at least a share of the league title in six of the past 12 seasons.
“We’re so proud of them that they come to play every night,” Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. “We’re lucky over at Bartlett that we have great kids, good parents and we’re just happy to really have everyone contributing as coaches. We’re really happy with our program.”
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