Spartans Fall To Rochester in Season Finale

The Spartan football team hosted Rochester Community College in their season finale on Saturday.   The visiting team was able to pull away late in the 4th quarter to secure a 35-14 win.  The Yellow Jackets jumped out first as they connected on a 24 yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead.   They followed that up with two scores in the second quarter to extend their lead to 21-0.  The Spartans refused to quit and quarterback Payton Pruett connected with Lucas Maloney for a 46 yard touchdown.  The Spartans then recovered the surprise onside kick but were unable to generate any points off it.  

The third quarter was a defensive battle as neither team was able to put any points on the board.  Trailing 21-6 the Spartans found themselves with a 4th & 5 in own territory.  The Spartans gambled and faked the punt and Joel Dorjuste was able to gain 7 yards to get the first down.  The Spartans proceed to march down the field putting together a 13 play drive that ended with a 7 yards touchdown pass to Schanonn Spears Jr from Pruett.  RJ Hebron ran the ball in for the 2pt conversation to bring the Spartans within a score.  

The Yellow Jackets were able to answer with a touchdown to put the game out of reach.  The loss put the Spartans final record at 1- 6.

Offensively the Spartans had a season high of 224 yards of total offense.  Pruett threw for a season high 155 yards and two touchdowns.  His top targets were Walker Sheppard with 3 catches for 62 yards and Lucas Maloney with 4 catches for 61 yards.  Devon Salaam led the trojans in rushing with 38 yards on 8 carries.

Elijah Neal lead the Spartan defense.  He finished with 10 tackles and 1 TFL.  Andrew Nelson added 9 tackles, a sack, and recovered a fumble.  Moises Duran had two sacks and Milkaso Dedefo collected a sack for the Spartans as well.  Joel Dorjuste had the lone interception on the day.

Head Coach Cory Miller thoughts on the game were "You would of liked to been able to finish the season on a winning note but I was very encouraged by the fight this team put up.  I was extremely pleased with our effort on special teams.  This was our best football game of the season collectively and should provide us with some positive momentum going into the off-season.  We will miss the five sophomores who played their final game today.  I look forward to what the future holds for this program and expect to be playing meaningful football games this time next year!"