On Friday night, the Fredonia Hillbillies and Dunkirk Marauders met for the 128th time. And similar to how it has gone the last several years, Fredonia got the better of its longtime rival again.

The Hillbillies entered the game with additional stakes, looking to cap off an undefeated season and they did so in commanding fashion, beating the Marauders 47-19 at Karl Hoeppner Field.

Though the teams played closely through the first half, Fredonia’s offense, led by senior Nick Whitfield’s five total touchdowns, scored in a flurry in the second half.

“Nick has great control of the offense,” said Fredonia coach Greg Sherlock. “He can read defenses a lot better now and the game has slowed down so much for him. You can see the results of that now.”

Dunkirk’s Quanteer Neallard (7) spots a gap on a run during the first quarter of Friday’s nonleague football game between Dunkirk and Fredonia. OBSERVER Photo by Justin Goetz

The Marauders got the ball to start the game and did what you have to do against a dominant offense: control the clock. Dunkirk ran 13 plays after the opening kick, running the ball 10 times and killing six minutes of the opening quarter, as it capped off the drive with a 5-yard keeper from quarterback Noah Sikes, taking a 7-0 lead.

Dunkirk coach Mark Benton was happy with his team’s execution in the early going.

“The focus was better tonight,” he said. “We stressed that if we could get 3 or 4 yards per carry and take our shots in the passing game when we could, that we could move the ball. We thought we could move it tonight and we did.”

On Fredonia’s opening drive, running back Matt Lotter had the ball punched out, giving Dunkirk the ball back. The Marauders then failed to advance the ball, giving the Fredonia a second life, down just seven. Four plays later, the game was tied.

On a second-and-10 from the Dunkirk 36, Whitfield scored the first of his five touchdowns on the day, bringing it all the way home on the ground for the 36-yard score, with Sal Tabone hitting the extra point to tie the game at seven each.

Dunkirk failed to move the ball again, and Fredonia looked like it would make the most of its third drive. Whitfield led the offense all the way down to the 1-yard line and the Hillbillies had three chances to punch it in. On those three chances, the Marauders defense held firm.

“We had a goal-line stand and caused a fumble early to turn the momentum,” Benton said. “I’m proud of the kids. We hung in there and we made it somewhat of a game. There’s a lot of talent over there right now. For a half, we played with one of the best teams in Western New York. This was a great learning experience for the younger guys.”

But Dunkirk would soon give the opportunity right back. Sikes threw an interception to Fredonia’s Ethan Fry deep in his own end, and this time Fredonia made no mistake. Four plays later, Whitfield used his blazing speed to turn the corner from 1 yard out and found the pylon to extend the lead to 14-7.

The seven-point deficit didn’t last long. On just one play, Dunkirk’s Teddy Roberts found the end zone from 69 yards out, but failed to make the extra point, cutting the game back to 14-13.

With just over a minute to go before the half, Whitfield had too much time to work. Four plays later, Whitfield hit Fry with a beautiful ball in the corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 21-13 heading into the half.

On the first play of the second half, Lotter took the ball 51 yards for Fredonia and on the next play, he carried the ball the extra 5 he needed to extend the lead even further to 28-13 in favor of Fredonia. On the next drive for Dunkirk, Lotter blew up a third-and-short run, then picked up a sack on fourth down to kill Dunkirk’s drive. Coach Sherlock said that Lotter’s effort is indicative of who he always is.

“Matt’s been a starter for three years and his motor is nonstop,” Sherlock said. “He does it in practice too. What you saw today is what he does in practice. How guys don’t get motivated just by watching him is beyond me.”

The Fredonia touchdowns kept rolling in. Whitfield would hit Simon Davis from 1 yard out again to push the score to 34-13. The Hillbillies would add on later in the third quarter, with Whitfield hitting Fry on a similar play to their first touchdown, this time from 18 yards out, to push the lead even further, 40-13.

At the start of the fourth, Dunkirk’s Quanteer Neallard found the end zone for the Marauders first score since right before the half, taking it all the way home from 49 yards out to cut the lead back to 40-19, but Whitfield led Fredonia right back down the field, with Micah Davis getting the carry this time and punching it in from 11 yards out to get the game to the final score of 47-19.

Whitfield finished the game 16 of 25 passing for 243 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while adding another 77 yards on the ground as well as two more scores. Lotter had nine carries for 105 yards and a touchdown. Fry had five catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns while Simon Davis had six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Neallard and Roberts each went over 100 yards on the ground, with Neallard going for 135 and Roberts going for 117.

The Marauders were playing behind the 8-ball on the day, as Sikes left the game in the third quarter after the sack by Lotter, and Dunkirk’s other quarterback Javi DeJesus left the game during the first series. This left them with their third quarterback, Alex Ahlstrom, who Benton was proud of given the circumstances.

“He joined the team late,” Benton said. “I was extremely proud of what he could do on the fly.”

Though this caps the regular season for both teams, it is not their final game. Dunkirk will play in a consolation game on its home turf next Friday night, while Fredonia will look to turn its undefeated regular season into playoff success. Sherlock said the team’s defensive line play needs to be cleaned up if his team is to succeed.

“If we don’t clean that up, it’s going to be a quick out,” Sherlock said. “We could outscore teams but I don’t like to get into that, so I think the defensive line is the biggest thing.”