Brockport senior quarterback Kyle Palka scored one touchdown on the ground, threw for another and registered a pick-six for a third to lead the Blue Devils to a 23-7 victory over Greece Athena in the Connors and Ferris A1 semifinal.
After spotting the Trojans a 7-0 first quarter lead, Brockport rallied in the second stanza when Ashton Howlett blocked a punt and recovered the ball at the Trojan 35-yard line. Tyler Davies later converted a 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
The Blue Devils defense stymied the next Athena drive as junior Da Davis recovered a fumble at the three-yard line.
Brockport’s offense came alive in the second half as Palka found senior Jared Hardies on a 47-yard catch and run to give them their first lead 10-7.
Two possessions later Palka scampered into the end zone from two-yards out to cap a five-play 58-yard drive highlighted by a 26 yard catch by Hardies. That put them ahead 17-7.
The Trojans were in catch-up mode and throwing on almost every down offensively and the Brockport secondary knew it. Palka stepped in front of a pass attempt and ran the interception back 50-yards for the score to put his Blue Devils ahead 23-7.
“Our (offensive) line gets a push up front and it makes things easy,” Palka said. “On the interception I saw the back slide and knew the pass was coming.”
“We changed our shift coverage and started to do things we didn’t do in the first half,” Brockport head coach Scott Nugent said about the second half comeback. “We started executing better than the first half and making plays.”
Next up for the Blue Devils is Webster-Thomas on the road.
