That is the beauty of the stakes attached to the Dunkirk-Fredonia rivalry. Two teams at the end of disappointing seasons had a trophy and community pride to play for Friday night, with the Central Connection Cup on the line.

A year after watching Dunkirk celebrate a rivalry win at Fredonia’s Orange Bowl, the Hillbillies repaid the favor. Fredonia outscored Dunkirk 16-0 in the second half to spoil homecoming and Senior Night with a 16-7 rivalry victory at Karl Hoeppner Field.

“Man, what a game,” Ayden Wronski said after the game. He scored both of Fredonia’s touchdowns in the victory.

The annual rivalry showdown between crosstown foes that dates back more than a century was as hard-fought as one would expect. It was a game that somebody had to win, but it was played with the intensity of a game where both sides felt they needed to win.

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Fredonia’s Ayden Wronski looks for room to run behind his offensive line during Friday night’s nonleague game against Dunkirk at Karl Hoeppner Field in Dunkirk.

“This rivalry means so much to so many people. I never had anything like this growing up, and even coaching,” Fredonia head coach Greg Sherlock said. “This is a big deal. I don’t have to say a whole lot to them. They know what it’s all about. They feel it.”

While both teams entered Friday’s regular-season finale with only one win on the season, they both had not won a game in over a month’s time. For the second straight season, Fredonia won the season opener, then lost every game to follow. Dunkirk dropped the season opener, but rebounded with a win in the home opener in Week 2. From there, Dunkirk suffered five straight losses.

Both sides knew that momentum would be a key to the win, and early on, it seemed like that momentum was in the hands of the hosts.

The game could not have had a more perfect start for the Marauders. On the opening kickoff, Javier Battle gathered a bouncing kick off the turf and broke through the Fredonia (2-6, 1-6) special teams unit. Battle took the kick back all the way for a 66-yard touchdown to send the packed Dunkirk crowd and the home sideline into a frenzy. Following the extra point, Dunkirk (1-7, 1-6) led 7-0 just nine seconds into the contest.

“You can’t write it better than that,” Dunkirk head coach Edwin Gomez said. “In a rivalry game, you want to come out swinging, and that’s how you put an exclamation point on the start of the game.”

From there, however, the first half was a whole lot of nothing. Neither team’s offense managed to score in the opening half. Following the opening kickoff, the debate on what the biggest highlight was prior to the second half commencing was between either Liam McQuiggan’s bone-crunching hit to dismantle a Fredonia drive near the end of the half, or McQuiggan being crowned homecoming king at halftime. There wasn’t much else worth cheering for through the halftime break.

In the second half, Fredonia’s offense finally got going. After starting with the ball near midfield, quarterback Donovan Dowdy led Fredonia into the red zone with an 11-yard run up the middle. The next play was a 20-yard touchdown run by Wronski to put the Hillbillies on the board. Dowdy floated a pass to Wronski on a 2-point conversion to give Fredonia the 8-7 lead.

“When we got in that locker room, the coaches gave us a good game plan, and we executed it. It’s as simple as that,” Wronski said.

Each team turned the ball over on its next drive, with a Dunkirk interception answered by a Fredonia fumble. Dunkirk followed with a turnover on downs at the Fredonia 22-yard line. Then, Fredonia started to move the ball again, starting with a big run by Wronski.

As the game advanced to the fourth quarter, Fredonia found itself in fourth-and-1 at the Dunkirk 20-yard line. Wronski converted with a 13-yard run behind the left side of the offensive line. He followed that conversion up with a 7-yard touchdown run, and after scoring, he and Lavonce Donaldson ran toward the Dunkirk sideline and held their hands to their ears directed at the Dunkirk crowd.

“I was hyped up. I’ve got to be better than that though,” Wronski said.

The touchdown put Fredonia ahead 14-7, but Wronski was penalized for taunting. Dunkirk had the option to enforce the penalty on the extra point attempt or on the kickoff, and Dunkirk chose the kickoff. Fredonia made Dunkirk pay by converting a 2-point conversion on a quick slant from Dowdy to Donaldson for a 16-7 advantage with 10:50 left to play.

Neither team scored over the final 10-plus minutes. Wronski had his second fumble of the half on Fredonia’s side, but Dunkirk had turnovers from quarterback Hayven Smith via fumble and an incompletion on fourth down that thwarted any hope for Dunkirk to come back in the game.

“Not only did they fumble and throw some interceptions, but our guys were in place. That was the first time probably in two years I felt that our defense really did their jobs, and were really committed and confident in what they were doing,” Sherlock said.

Dowdy converted a fourth-and-3 late in the game to bleed more time off the clock and put the game further out of reach for Dunkirk in its hopes to reverse course.

In the end, Fredonia kneeled out the final few seconds of a victory that served as a bookend for its season, ending the year as Fredonia began it.

“Fredonia has always had a very talented program. They are very well-coached, the kids were hungry, and they showed it today,” said Gomez.

For Dunkirk, it was another in a long list of contests where the Marauders were in the game, but did not do enough for the win.

Fredonia Mayor Mike Ferguson and Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz joined both teams on the field to present the Central Connection Cup trophy to Fredonia. Donations were also given by Firehouse Subs to both teams, in the amount of $500 to Fredonia as the winners and $250 to Dunkirk in defeat. The donations benefit each school’s football programs. Ferguson presented the trophy to Dowdy as the starting quarterback, and he raised the trophy in the air as his teammates surrounded him to celebrate.

“Shoutout to Firehouse Subs and the mayors. They have increased the intensity of this rivalry,” Sherlock said. “It meant a lot to both teams. Even with one win each, they brought it.”

The two teams will likely meet again to close the regular season next year, in Fredonia. Since the trophy was added to the rivalry a year ago, it is now one win apiece, with the visiting team winning each matchup.

“The rivalry is alive and well. They can enjoy it this year, but we’re taking it back next year,” Gomez said.