Red Dragons sink the Bucs in rivalry reignited
Fulton senior quarterback Aidan Halladay (2) gets set to pass during a varsity football game against Oswego Oct. 2 at G. Ray Bodley High School.
By JOSH ST. CROIX
FULTON — The first Fulton-Oswego varsity football matchup in four years proved to be worth the wait.
The Red Dragons scored back-to-back touchdowns in the second half and held on to complete the 30-22 comeback victory over the Buccaneers to celebrate homecoming in front of a lively crowd Friday night at G. Ray Bodley High School.
Fulton secured its fifth straight win over Oswego in the first clash between the neighboring Section III Class A American Division foes since 2022. It marked just the third matchup in the past decade for the Oswego County rivalry series, which was played on a mostly annual basis until 2017.
Fulton (1-4 overall, 1-3 league) basked in a well-earned celebration after snapping a 19-game losing streak dating back to the 2024 season.
“It’s our first win, no wins last year, so it’s an amazing feeling, especially against Oswego,” sophomore running back Connor McEwen said. “They’re our rivals, respect to them, they did amazing. It was a great game. All effort. This is just a great feeling to win. The first win of my high school career, and hopefully many more to come.”
Trailing late in the third quarter, senior quarterback Aidan Halladay ran in a five-yard touchdown, then the two-point conversion run by Rylee Emeterio pushed Fulton ahead 22-16.
Fulton sophomore Jett Drake came through with an interception on the ensuing Oswego drive as the Buccaneers were approaching the red zone.
The Red Dragons capitalized on the takeaway as Halladay punched it in from a yard out on the quarterback sneak. McEwen, who helped set up the scoring plunge with multiple long rushes, converted the two-point conversion run to extend the Fulton edge to 30-16 with 7:51 left.
“We talked all week about, stay the course,” Fulton coach Craig Halladay said. “It’s a football game. Bad things are going to happen, and if we stay the course and we rely on each other and trust in each other, we’re going to be OK.”
The Fulton defense delivered again on the next drive.
Oswego quarterback Lucas Wiedeman rolled out and threw a pass to senior leading receiver Luis Correa, and the ball tipped off his outstretched arms as he absorbed a hit from a defender. Fulton junior Collin Denson picked the ball out of the air for another interception.
“You can’t lose the energy that you had in the first half,” McEwen said. “We came out firing, and we kept that momentum going through the second half and that’s what led us to that win.”
Correa took a pitch and ran 68 yards for a touchdown to give the Buccaneers hope, cutting their deficit 30-22 with 1:25 left.
Fulton junior Elliott Dumouchel recovered the ensuing onside kick, however, prompting the long-awaited victory celebration after a pair of kneel-downs. Players hugged and appeared to soak up the moment in front of an appreciative home crowd.
“It sure feels a heck of a lot better than being on the other side of it,” Craig Halladay said. “It’s homecoming night, and homecoming isn’t nearly as fun for people when you don’t win the football game.”
He later added: “It was great to see. We watched it last week on the other side against Jamesville-DeWitt, and the first thing I said to them was: ‘That’s how we want to feel next week.’ We went to work (last) Saturday morning, and there’s the result.”
Correa also scored on a kick return in the first half for Oswego and appeared to run for a touchdown late in the second quarter, but that was called back for a holding penalty as Fulton maintained 14-8 advantage at halftime.
Wiedeman threw a long touchdown pass to junior tight end Kaiden Kent on the opening drive of the third quarter, then found junior Aiden Reynolds on the two-point conversion pass to give Oswego a brief 16-14 advantage.
“A loss like that is never easy,” Oswego coach Chris Pike said. “I’m proud of some of our kids for how they fought and didn’t give up and played 48 minutes of football, but we have to learn how handle adversity and respond when another team comes out and gets more physical and attacks us early.”
The Bucs fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the division. They suffered their second straight one-score loss following a 22-18 loss at Fowler the previous week.
“We have to grow from a loss like this,” Pike said. “Obviously it’s two tough losses in a row where they’re close, one-score games, but we have to adapt, we have to grow, and we have to find the right guys that we’re ready to go into a war with every single week.”
The frenzied atmosphere with enthusiastic fans for both teams felt like a callback to the rivalry’s heyday.
Craig Halladay, who has been with the program since 1998, said the teams used to designate their matchup for homecoming each year with alternating hosts. He is among the many involved who hope Friday served as a launching point for the next phase in the yearly feud with both teams now in Class A.
“We’re 10 minutes away from each other, and they got a good young team,” Halladay said. “They kept fighting. They didn’t quit either. I’d love to have that rivalry back year after year. ... Personally, I think it’s great for the communities. More-so than football, a rivalry like this is great for both communities.”
Fulton captured a 57-14 victory over Oswego in 2022 and won the 2017 matchup, which was their last as Class A divisional opponents until Friday. The Bucs’ last win in the series came in 2013.
“It’s a good feeling,” Pike said. “I wish obviously we came out on the other side, but it’s good to know this is going to be something moving forward down the road with us back in Class A football. But it’s one that I’ll be looking forward to next year to try to get back on the right side of.”
