Randolph’s Connor Braley fights off a Gowanda/Pine Valley tackler during Friday’s Class D quarterfinal at Raymond Van Wie Field. Photo by Mike Frame

RANDOLPH — Much like their playing style as a team, once the Randolph Cardinals got going Friday, it was all downhill running for the boys in red, who managed seven rushing touchdowns.

But the visiting Gowanda/Pine Valley Panthers sure put up a fight.

After No. 4 Randolph faced a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter, the Cardinals responded with 35 unanswered points in the middle two quarters to take a 35-14 lead to the fourth quarter.

Then, chaos broke out in the final frame and Randolph was tasked with hanging on.

Thanks to fourth-quarter touchdown runs by Connor Braley and Maverick Adams, followed by a pick-6 from Dom Clark, the Cardinals advanced with a 56-35 win in a Section VI Class D quarterfinal at Raymond Van Wie Field.

“From the beginning of the year, we set our goals to try to get a home playoff game, which we did, and then advance to the semifinal game,” Randolph head coach Brent Brown said.

Friday night checked that box.

The two teams met a week earlier, with Randolph earning the victory 42-26 at Hillis Field in Gowanda to earn the right to host the rematch. Each team only had one Class D victory during the regular season entering last week’s meeting, as they each defeated Cattaraugus-Little Valley in September.

After a 14-0 first quarter in favor of Randolph a week ago, it was the fifth-seeded Panthers who jumped ahead by two touchdowns Friday night.

“Obviously, you can’t do that,” Brown said. “… You’ve got to play better than that. That was not good.”

Evan Fort put Gowanda/Pine Valley on the board first with a 30-yard touchdown run up the middle on the Panthers’ second possession of the game. Fort then got the ball right back for his team with a fumble recovery near midfield.

“Evan Fort has battled back from a lot of injuries to get back on this field. He’s done every single thing to make himself a better player, and he executed today,” Gowanda/Pine Valley head coach Brett Ebling said. “We kind of had the reputation that we can’t really run the ball. (Fort) comes out and runs our inside zone, and he runs it for a touchdown. I’m so proud of him for that.”

With one minute remaining in the first quarter, Panthers sophomore quarterback Carter Capozzi delivered a throw to senior wide receiver Quentin Centner in the left corner of the end zone. Centner made the catch, despite tight coverage from the Cardinals defense, to double the Gowanda/Pine Valley lead.

“The kids came ready to play, right off the get-go,” Ebling said. “… I’m proud of those guys in the first quarter. They really started off fast and they executed.”

But in the second quarter, it was an entirely different game.

Randolph responded to the two-score deficit with three unanswered touchdowns on the ground in the second quarter. Braley got the Cardinals on the board on the second play of the period with a 35-yard run straight up the middle. Then, Kevin Herrington evened the score with an 11-yard rushing touchdown with 5:09 remaining before the break.

With less than a minute to go in the first half, Braley took a pitch on an option and turned upfield. With no defender in sight, Braley walked into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 35 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Panthers had a chance to respond after the break, as Connor Elliott recovered a fumble on the first play of the second half at the Gowanda/Pine Valley 36-yard line, but after an offensive pass interference call went against the Panthers, Randolph got the ball right back.

They made the most of it.

On Randolph’s next possession, Adams ran the ball right through the Gowanda/Pine Valley defense for a 21-yard touchdown. With 8:34 left in the third quarter, the Cardinals lead was extended to 28-14.

One possession later, the lead was extended to 35-14 on Braley’s third touchdown run of the contest, a 5-yard run with 5:17 left in the third quarter. At that point, the Cardinals had five unanswered touchdowns, turning a 14-0 hole to a three touchdown lead.

“Offensively, we were pretty good,” Brown said.

Then, a chaotic fourth quarter ensued.

“I tell my kids, no matter what, ‘You stay confident in yourself.’ Everyone believes in this thing called momentum, and I tell my kids, ‘Don’t believe in momentum.’ … They could have easily said (the Cardinals) have the momentum, and they could have quit and folded, and they didn’t,” Ebling said. “… We didn’t let something like a momentum swing affect us.”

Gowanda/Pine Valley got back in the game early in the fourth quarter, as Capozzi hit Jon Sheldon for a 31-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 14 points with 10:06 remaining in the game. The Panthers then forced a punt and got the ball back with 8:21 left to play at their own 21-yard line.

The Panthers seized the opportunity immediately, as Capozzi hit Winter Mentley-Peters deep down the Randolph sideline for a 57-yard gain. On the next play, Centner made a contested catch in the exact same spot of his earlier touchdown for his second score of the game, a 23-yarder. The connection made it 35-28 with 7:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Centner is one of the best receivers in Western New York. Honestly, I would take him over any receiver in Western New York,” Ebling said of the first-year receiver, who switched positions as a senior to allow Capozzi to take over as the starting quarterback.

Centner’s two touchdowns on Friday gave him 14 receiving touchdowns in eight games. “He’s done a heck of a job for this program. I’m so proud of him,” Ebling said.

On the ensuing drive, Randolph reached the goal line in less than three minutes, then handed the ball to Braley to finish off the drive with his fourth rushing touchdown of the night to extend the Randolph lead to 42-28.

Still, the Panthers wouldn’t go away. In fact, they answered even quicker.

Less than one minute later, Capozzi hit Mentley-Peters down the middle for a 41-yard touchdown. Capozzi’s fourth touchdown pass of the night cut the Randolph lead to 42-35 with 4:29 remaining.

Randolph’s fullback punched back. Adams scored his second touchdown of the night, the seventh rushing touchdown for Randolph, with a 56-yard run right through the heart of the Gowanda/Pine Valley defense.

“(Adams) is fast enough that he can break those long ones. A lot of times, you get a fullback that can pop one, but then, they catch him. (Adams) has got some speed to him. That was good to see,” Brown said.

With only three minutes remaining, the Randolph lead was back at two scores after a blocked extra point.

“Hats off to them. I have tried every single thing I could against them the past two weeks,” Ebling said. “I’ve run four different defensive fronts at them. I’ve done a little bit of everything on them, and hats off to those kids. Those kids worked their butts off. … Hats off to those kids to battle all the way through their season.”

Capozzi’s magic ran out in the final three minutes of the game, as the Cardinals defense made an adjustment that clearly paid off. Dom Clark picked off a pass near the Gowanda/Pine Valley 25-yard line and took it the distance to put an exclamation point on the victory. The Cardinals added another interception on the next drive and ran out the clock from there.

Despite the final few minutes in desperation, the Panthers appear to have a clear answer at the game’s most prominent position. Capozzi, a sophomore who had not played football for nearly two years prior to this season, led Section VI with 20 passing touchdowns in the regular season.

“He’s got to be about as good as I’ve seen,” Brown said. “… He’s going to be really good.”

Capozzi added four more passing touchdowns on Friday to extend his lead over all other quarterbacks, even with the Panthers missing a game this season due to a forfeit by St. Mary’s on Oct. 6.

“Carter (Capozzi) is a great athlete, a great competitor, and he’s a sponge. He’s extremely coachable,” Ebling said. “… He has a bright future in high school football, and I know he has a bright future at the next level. I can firmly say that for him, because he’s got it all. I’m so proud of him for everything this season.”

For the Panthers, although the year ends with back-to-back losses to Randolph, Ebling is proud of the year his team had. He said, “I’m so proud of my guys. It’s been a great season. It’s been a pleasure to coach this team and work with these kids.”

Randolph advances to face the undefeated Clymer/Sherman/Panama Wolfpack, the No. 1 seed in Class D, on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Clymer High School. The Wolfpack defeated the Cardinals 21-6 on Sept. 8 at Randolph High School.

“C/S/P is the team to beat. We’ve got nothing to lose,” Brown said. “We’ll get a good week of practice, pin our ears back and take a crack at them.”