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Thrilling finish

Lake Shore rallies to defeat Dunkirk 36-32 in final minute

By Braden Carmen 5 min read

The high school football season could not have started with a more exciting game than the one witnessed by a packed Dunkirk home crowd on Friday night at Karl Hoeppner Field.

Sadly for the Marauders fanbase, the boys in maroon and white came out on the losing end of a game both sides will likely remember for decades.

The Lake Shore Eagles scored a game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds remaining in the contest to secure a 36-32 victory over Dunkirk in Class B2 action.

"Moments of opportunity show character," said Lake Shore head coach Dan Russell of his team's game-winning drive. "That was a moment of opportunity -- it wasn't a challenge, it was an opportunity to show what they were capable of -- and they did it. They came through."

New Marauders head coach Edwin Gomez wanted a full house to support his team, and the Dunkirk community responded. From hardly any open seats left in the bleachers to a crowd standing against the fence all the way down the Dunkirk sideline, the Marauders welcomed a crowd their program had not seen -- aside from the annual Dunkirk-Fredonia rivalry game -- in several years.

"It was nice to see the stands filled up again. That was big for these kids. They definitely felt the crowd, and the momentum, and the motivation behind it," Gomez said. "They want to play in front of a crowd, and I think they deserve that."

Despite the final result, the Marauders gave their fans plenty to cheer about Friday. Leading the way in crowd-erupting moments for Dunkirk was Mike Hanlon, who put his New York state finalist track speed to good use with a pair of touchdown runs of greater than 70 yards.

"He's a leader on this team and he knows it. He knows that the guys are going to look up to him on the sideline, they are going to look up to him on the field, and he wants to make this a successful season," Gomez said. "He's one of those guys that we're really going to rely on, to lean on, to lead the team on the field to moral victories as well, not only just making big plays."

Hanlon had over 300 yards from scrimmage on Friday, including 279 yards rushing on 23 carries, with three touchdowns. His scoring runs were from 81, 76 and 12 yards out.

"Mike Hanlon, 22, is a beast," Russell said.

Hanlon was far from the only one with highlight-reel plays for the Marauders. Needing the ball back for a chance to take the lead, Paul Trippy III came through with the Marauders' third takeaway of the game. With 5:50 left to play in the final period, the multi-sport athlete known as PT3 had the INT to spark the Marauders on a comeback attempt.

"I saw it coming down, I called it. I said he better get that ball," Gomez said. "He's one of those kids that you love to coach. He's very coachable, 'yes sir, no sir', learns from his mistakes, wants to get better every day. For him to have a big play like that really sparked the momentum going our way."

Shortly after Trippy's interception, Dunkirk quarterback Donny Jackson uncorked a deep ball down the Lake Shore sideline. Receiver Jareese Gaines dashed down the field to create separation from the Lake Shore cornerback and caught the ball in stride on his way to a 57-yard, go-ahead touchdown to put Dunkirk ahead 32-29 with just over four minutes remaining in the game.

"Jareese is that No. 1 receiver. You've got to get your No. 1 guy the ball," Gomez said. "Donny threw one hell of a ball and hit him right in stride."

But then came the heartbreak for the home side.

Lake Shore responded quickly on its final drive, as the Eagles took less than three minutes to get set up comfortably in Dunkirk territory. Under pressure, Lake Shore quarterback Rob Gillette lobbed a ball up for grabs into triple coverage that wound up in the hands of his 6-foot-5 receiver Troy Kennedy, which set Lake Shore up in the red zone with 1:33 remaining.

Then, with less than a minute left on the clock, Gillette was under pressure again as he let the ball go from near the Dunkirk sideline. The Marauders defenders left their assignments as Gillette was under duress, and the ball delicately fell into the arms of a wide-open Ben Maurer in the back right corner of the end zone for a 7-yard, go-ahead touchdown with just 29 seconds remaining.

"For us to do that against what I feel is a good opponent like that, it sets the tone for the rest of the season," Russell said.

Even after that crushing moment for the Marauders, however, Dunkirk did not quit until the very final seconds ticked off the clock. Jackson connected on a deep ball to Jaylen McMichael for 42 yards, with one second showing on the clock as Gomez sprinted downfield to call Dunkirk's final timeout. The final play was run from the Lake Shore 28-yard line, but the pass fell short of the end zone as Jackson was pressured as he let the ball go.

In the end, Dunkirk fell short in many ways -- one stop short; 29 seconds short; or even 28 yards short. But what else can be said about the Marauders is that even though the tally in the win column didn't return, the excitement surrounding the program that has been missing at times throughout recent years was as evident as Gomez could have ever hoped for.

"A lot of lessons were learned today. I'm proud of them. They played literally until the last second," Gomez said.

Next week, the Marauders host Albion on Friday at 7 p.m. Lake Shore takes on Maryvale at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at home.

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