Comets grind out win over Sycamore on Senior Night
Alana Amaya | Staff Writer
The Mason Comets continued their winning streak with a nail biting victory on Senior Night. In the “Battle of the Skies” Mason defeated Sycamore 21-13, which put the Comets at 4-0.
The game got off to a slow start with both teams struggling to move the ball offensively resutling in a scoreless first quarter.
The pace of the game eventually picked up in the second quarter after Sycamore missed a 47 yard field goal.
Junior quarterback Michael Molnar hit receiver Nick Molinari for a 24 yard gain and then Molnar did the rest, rushing for a touchdown to give the Comets a 7-0 lead late in the second quarter.
Molnar admitted that this momentum shift was something the Comets needed in order to spark the team.
“Gaining momentum is really important, and I mean [my first touchdown] just sparked it,” said Molnar. “We got the momentum and we ran with it.”
This first touchdown was soon followed by a one handed interception from Bryce Faulk, who took it the distance for another Comet touchdown.
After a Sycamore touchdown closed the gap to 14-7 at the half, head coach Brian Castner said the team needed to come out of the halftime locker room with the mindset that there was still a lot of work to be done.
“The goal [at halftime] was to come out 0-0, it was a new half. After we’ve trained hard, and we’ve done a lot of things really well in the off-season and they’ve earned this fourth quarter, they’ve earned this second half, and that’s when we feel we win a lot of games, so the mindset is we’re gonna win in the fourth,” Castner said.
In the third quarter with 5:30 left, a Sycamore possession ended with a pass from Andrew Fehr to William Ingle to score their second touchdown, but an errant extra point still left the Comets clinging to a one point lead,14-13.
Mason extended their lead late in the fourth quarter when senior Nolan McCormick powered his way behind the Mason offensive line for a 15 yard touchdown run.
Sycamore was unable to move the ball in their final possession and the Comets held on for the eight point victory.
“I thought as a team we played really well, of course there’s always things we can work on, but it’s coming out against our rivals with a win on Senior night that’s big for us,” McCormick said.
McCormick felt the big shift in the game came when Faulk cashed in on an interception early in the game.
“I think the first touchdown was big for us and then getting the big six from Bryce was huge,” McCormick said.
The win improves the Comets’ record to 4-0 with two games remaining. Mason must travel to Hamilton next Friday and could be in a position to play for a conference title in the season’s final regular season game against Lakota West.
Photo by The Chronicle Sports Staff