COOPERSTOWN — For the first time in three years, Cooperstown’s Hawkeyes have started their football season with two victories following Saturday’s 40-7 win over the Clinton Comets.
The Hawkeyes (2-0) have won five of their last six games, a stretch that started with a win at New York Mills last October after an 0-4 start that wrapped up a 16-game losing streak.
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“We have great senior leadership,” Cooperstown coach Dan Talbot said. “Those seniors have taken ownership of the season, and they are out there making plays.”
Cooperstown Hawkeye Caden Laymon runs for a touchdown against Clinton Saturday.
More: First year Magician scores three touchdowns in Herkimer’s first football win
Quarterback Brenin Dempsey, one of those seniors, threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score Saturday. A fourth-year varsity Hawkeye, Dempsey was injured in the 2023 season opener at Frankfort-Schuyler and missed the rest of that 0-8 season. He returned as a junior and helped Cooperstown turn Talbot’s first season around midway through.
“In past years, we had players who never really won at any level,” Dempsey said. “This group, since third grade, we’ve always won. We’re like family.”
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Dempsey threw touchdowns covering 46 and 49 yards to sophomore Parker McManus, and 19 and 11 yards to senior classmate Thomas Hellenthal.
Hellenthal, a year-round competitive swimmer, credited Dempsey for convincing him to give football a try for his senior year.
Cooperstown ball-carrier Sawyer McManus fends off Clinton defender El-Sahriajah Lugg (left) during the second half of Saturday’s game in Cooperstown.
“I thought I should be part of it,” Hellenthal said. “For my senior year, I wanted to try something new. It’s been really fun.”
The Hawkeyes led 19-0 at halftime on Dempsey’s first three touchdown passes. Clinton (1-1) got a long Eli Ollerenshaw-to-Jack Cavalier touchdown pass on the play following a Cooperstown fumble. The Hawkeyes countered with their second McManus touchdown.
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The Cooperstown defense had three takeaways in the fourth quarter, two interceptions by Sawyer Bridger and a fumble recovery by Caden Laymon, who stripped the ball from a Clinton player and followed that with a 19-yard touchdown run to complete the game’s scoring.
Clinton quarterback Eli Ollerenshaw sets up to throw a pass under pressure from the Cooperstown Hawkeyes Saturday.
Dempsey ran 20 yards on fourth down for his touchdown.
The Hawkeyes play on the road for the first time Thursday at South Lewis.
“We’re checking the boxes of things we’re proving we can do,” Talbot said. “Now we’ve got to show we can win on the road.”
Lowville Academy 42, Utica-Notre Dame 12
Lowville Academy’s Red Raiders were 42-12 winners over Notre Dame Saturday in a meeting of two of the additions to Section III’s Class D field for the 2025 season.
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Lowville Academy (2-0), down from Class C following a 5-4 season that started with wins in five of the Red Raiders’ first seven games, led 28-0 at halftime and 34-0 before Notre Dame scored in the third quarter.
Notre Dame Juggler Jonathan Jackson (left) breaks free of Lowville Academy tackler Nick Madore on a fourth quarter touchdown run Saturday.
Notre Dame’s Jugglers (0-2) are competing in Class D as a traditional 11-player squad this fall with additional players from the Utica Academy of Science after two seasons of eight-player competition.
The Jugglers scored on a quarterback sneak on their third try from the 1-yard line in the third quarter, and Jonathan Jackson ran for a touchdown in the fourth.
Weedsport, the other Section III program returning to 11-player competition from the eights, canceled its game at Mt. Markham on Friday due to a reported player shortage. The Wolverines (1-1) had beaten Pulaski to start the season.
Notre Dame Juggler Nick Adorino runs with the ball against Lowville Academy Saturday,
Elsewhere Saturday:
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Dryden 42, New York Mills 30
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Elmira Heights 8, Morrisville-Eaton 0
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Hannibal 47, Westmoreland/Oriskany 12
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Waterville 48, Elmira-Notre Dame 0
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Sept. 13 Mohawk Valley high school football roundup: Cooperstown wins
