WHITESBORO, NY (WKTV) - In a great back-and-forth battle on Friday night, Whitesboro fell into a tie for first place in Class A National as defending champion Carthage held off the Warriors 28-21.

Tied 21-21 in the fourth quarter, Carthage went ahead with less than six minutes remaining on a 58-yard swing-pass touchdown from Clay Nutter to Sherman Nelson.  After trading three-and-outs, Whitesboro made a final drive that got it to the Comets' 20-yard line with just under a minute left, but a 12-yard sack on 3rd down forced 4th and 15 at the 32 with 35 seconds remaining.  The Warriors tried a trick play with a running back pass, but it was knocked away, sealing the victory for the visitors.

The result ties the two teams for first place in the league standings with 3-1 records, and allows Camden to tie for first, as well.  Whitesboro plays Camden at home in the regular season finale, while Carthage wraps up at home against winless Watertown.  Camden holds the head-to-head advantage over Carthage thanks to a 21-20 win.

The Comets opened the scoring in the first quarter, finding the end zone on their opening drive with a 2-yard run by Patrick Gibbons.  In the second quarter, Carthage made it 14-0 with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Nutter to Nelson, who finished with six catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns.  Whitesboro responded on the ensuing kickoff with an 80-yard touchdown return by Jordan Smith, cutting the score to 14-7 at the half.

In the third quarter, Whitesboro recovered a fumble at Carthage's 43-yard line, and two plays later quarterback Junior Woodard ran for a 41-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-all.  Carthage answered with a 12-yard touchdown run by Jolyon Davis on its ensuing drive for a 21-14 lead.  The Warriors' final score came on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Matt Tutino.

Whitesboro is now 3-3 overall; Carthage improves to 4-2 overall.