By Steve Franklin

Sports Correspondent

SHERBURNE – Will Slentz's fourth-quarter touchdown scamper and a late goal line stand helped Sherburne-Earlville secure its first victory of the season Saturday night, as the Marauders topped Clinton 12-7 in a showdown between Section III rivals.

"For us, we grew as a team tonight," said S-E coach Mike Jasper, who picked up his first win as head coach of the Marauders' program. "It was real good to see the kids bounce back from a disappointing defensive performance last week, and step up and get a huge win. If we want to make the postseason, we've got to win in our own division, and we showed we can do that (tonight)."

For the second week in a row, an errant punt snap put the Marauders behind in the first half. The miscue set the Warriors up inside the S-E redzone, and Clinton capitalized with a 16-yard scoring strike from Joe Gaetano to Jeff Ostrander to take a 7-0 lead into the half.

But unlike a week ago, this time Sherburne-Earlville responded.