By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

BINGHAMTON _ Sidney quarterback Parker Umbra did a little more than run Sidney’s offense Saturday against Trumansburg.

He also made an big impact on defense.

Umbra finished off a key tackle to thwart a two-point conversion attempt, then deflected two passes on Trumansburg’s final drive as the Warriors held on for a 28-26 victory in a Section Four Class C semifinal at Binghamton Alumni Stadium.

The Blue Raiders pulled within 28-26 with 3 minutes, 21 seconds to play on Greg Addicott’s 2-yard run. Trumansburg then set up for a two-point conversion, but a delay-of-game penalty moved its attempt to tie it back 5 yards to the 8-yard line.

Running back Earl Brooks took a handoff and broke to the right side but ran into Sidney’s Kody Westcott around the 3-yard line. Umbra charged in to help stop Brooks short of the goal line.

"I don’t know if that was the play they called before the penalty, but that delay was a big penalty," said Sidney coach Jeff Matthews, whose team improved to 8-1 a season after winning the Class C state championship. "We were fortunate that they got that penalty. Kody made a nice hit, but Brooks kept moving his feet. Thank goodness Parker was there."

Trumansburg, which had a successful two-point conversion earlier in the game, also missed two extra-point kicks by Steven Moore.

"We put in the extra point a couple weeks ago," Trumansburg coach Julian Munoz said. "It’s not something that we normally do, but we figured at some point we were going to need field goals. You can see it. It’s something we haven’t done and it showed up." [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Sidney advanced to the Section Four Class C championship opposite Lansing (9-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Union-Endicott’s Ty Cobb Stadium. Lansing (9-0), which has given up 13 points this season, advanced with a 14-0 victory over Greene.

Sidney beat Delhi, 35-16, in last year’s final.

After Westcott and Umbra teamed up to stop Brooks’ two-point attempt, the Blue Raiders held Sidney to a three-and-out and forced a punt. Trumansburg took over at its 17 and, five plays later, reached Sidney’s 43 behind the passing of backup quarterback Shane Coats.

Coats took over for starter Ben Robertson with about four minutes to play. Sidney ended a 10-yard run by Robertson with a gang-tackle that sent the quarterback to the ground for about five minutes before he was helped off the field.

Coats went 0-for-4 on Trumansburg’s last four plays. Umbra nearly intercepted the first of those four chances but dropped the ball.

"It was definitely frustrating because I knew it should have been a caught ball," Umbra said. "I’m glad there were no results after that."

Anthony Mister broke up the second attempt, and Umbra reached over Andy Finnigan to knock away the third. Coats overthrew his target on fourth down.

"They are always well prepared," said Matthews, whose Warriors beat Trumansburg, 50-28, in a sectional semifinal last season. "I thought we had a good defensive scheme. A lot of times it works, but you have someone who is organized, they’re going to find their way to make some big plays, and they did that."

The Warriors took a 7-0 lead on a 13-play drive to open the game, culminating with Mike Burpoe’s 1-yard TD run. Sidney ran the ball 12 times during the drive.

"At that point, we felt great," said Sidney’s Jarred Mertz, who finished with 80 yards on 12 carries. "Our line was moving people, our backs were hitting the holes, and we knew we had a lot of heart because we wanted to win this game. After that first series, we knew we owned that line of scrimmage, and that never left our minds. That showed through every quarter."

After the Blue Raiders made it 7-6 on Tyler Gunningsmith’s 45-yard TD run with 1:34 to go in the first quarter, Chase Mott (seven carries, 94 yards) extended Sidney’s lead with a 1-yard scoring run. Umbra stopped Trumansburg’s next drive with an interception, which Mott followed with a 63-yard run through a wide hole up the middle for a 21-6 lead.

"Our O-line just made a hole and I ran," Mott said. "I actually hit a defender at first. I went off him and then it was wide-open for a touchdown."

The Blue Raiders made it 21-20 at the half by scoring twice in the final 2:29. Brooks scored on a 4-yard run and added a 2-yard TD run with 31.2 seconds left in the half following a blocked punt. Brooks finished with a team-high 73 yards on 11 carries. He also had four catches for 42 yards.

"I can think of two times right now that we had him stopped for a loss and he cut back and made big plays out of it," Matthews said. "You can’t teach the skills that kid has."

Sidney scored its final points with 3:56 to play in the third quarter _ on a 24-yard run by Mertz.

"We wanted their score to be a little lower because we focused a lot this week on defense," Mertz said. "We gave up a couple big pass plays and that one big running play and some penalties hurt us, but we were able to rebound from those. Our offense was still strong, and we ran plays and still came out on top."

Sidney 28, Trumansburg 26

SECTION FOUR CLASS C SEMIFINAL

at Binghamton Alumni Stadium

Trumansburg 6 14 0 6 _ 26

Sidney 7 14 7 0 _ 28

FIRST QUARTER

S _ Mike Burpoe 1 run (Andy Foote kick) 5:43

T _ Tyler Gunningsmith 45 run (kick failed) 1:34

SECOND QUARTER

S _ Chase Mott 1 run (Andy Foote kick) 10:22

S _ Chase Mott 63 run (Andy Foote kick) 6:56

T _ Earl Brooks 4 run (Ben Robertson run) 2:29

T _ Earl Brooks 2 run (kick failed) :31

THIRD QUARTER

S _ Jarred Mertz 24 run (Andy Foote kick) 3:56

FOURTH QUARTER

T _ Greg Addicott 2 run (run failed) 3:21

Trumansburg rushing: Ralph Lupo 6-19, Ben Robertson 9-16, Tyler Gunningsmith 5-57, Earl Brooks 11-73, Greg Addicott 3-9, Shane Coats 1-2.

Sidney rushing: Parker Umbra 6-20, Chase Mott 7-94, Mike Burpoe 13-47, Jarred Mertz 12-80, George Mister 5-8, Drew Fessenden 1-2, Hussain Abdu-Shahid 3-10.

Trumansburg passing: Ben Robertson 4-for-9, 79 yards, 2 int.; Shane Coats 3-for-8, 38 yards.

Sidney passing: Parker Umbra 2-for-9, 56 yards, int.

Trumansburg receiving: Earl Brooks 4-42, Andy Finnigan 2-47, Steven Moore 1-28.

Sidney receiving: Cody Rose 1-32, Chase Mott 1-24.

___

P.J. Harmer can be reached at mailto:pharmer@thedailystar.com">pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.