McFarlane runs, passes Hills West to win

Half Hollow Hills West needed to ride a Colt to victory, and quarterback Devante McFarlane was only too happy to oblige.

The Syracuse-bound McFarlane proved to be a Wild West show all by himself, rushing 17 times for 277 and four touchdowns and throwing for another, in a 34-14 Hills West win at Smithtown West.

James Pannell carried 24 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns for Smithtown West.

"I was definitely ready for football," McFarlane said. "I didn't want to let my team down and they proved to me they wouldn't let me down either."

The Colts started with a meticulous 7-minute, 14-second drive ending with McFarlane finding sophomore Jarried Redwood in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown. But Smithtown West rebounded with Pannell's own 23-yard touchdown run less than three minutes later.

From then on it was all Hills West. McFarlane started the Colts' first drive of the second quarter by faking a handoff and running up the gut, quickly clearing defenders and zooming 60 yards for a score.

Hills West blocked Smithtown West's punt on its next possession and Aaron Gordon ran back the loose ball to Smithtown West's 21. McFarlane took the next four carries, finally breaking through by running right and slamming into a defender mid-leap at the goal line to get the ball past the pylon. He said he felt "like nobody can stop me. If my line does good, I told them, 'I got you.' "

SEE PHOTOSHills West 34, Smithtown West 14

Smithtown West drove to the Colts' 16 at the end of the second quarter, but Randy Davis intercepted with less than 30 seconds to go.

"High school football is a game of momentum, and that was a huge momentum swing for us," Hills West coach Kyle Madden said.

In the third quarter, McFarlane had consecutive runs of 20 and 47 yards, the last for the touchdown. His exclamation mark came on a 92-yard touchdown run with 7:54 to go.

"When the hole was there, he found it and he was gone," Madden said. "And that's the thing you cannot teach."