HOLLAND PATENT  - Sherburne-Earlville nearly dug itself out of a 14-0 halftime hole before falling to Holland Patent on Saturday night.

Winners of four straight coming in, the Marauders (5-2) grabbed their first lead of the game with four minutes remaining in the fourth after a Nick Hull 65-yard TD run.

Hull broke a tackle at midfield, and raced to paydirt giving S-E a short-lived 20-14 advantage.

However, Holland Patent (3-4) would match that TD in about a dozen seconds as Alex Hoole returned the ensuing S-E kickoff 73 yards for the touchdown-tying the score.

The Golden Knights piggy-backed that score with a successful – and decisive -- two-point conversion.

Hull figured heavily in the Marauders’ comeback scoring on a seven-yard run in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Ethan Shaw drew S-E to within two scoring on a three-yard scoring run.

The Marauders had the ball two times in the final four minutes after Holland Patent’s go-ahead score, but failed at securing the winning points.

Holland Patent mustered just 142 yards of total offense to S-E’s 301, but relied on two big plays to bookend its scoring, said S-E coach Steve Franklin.

Aside from the tying kickoff return, the Golden Knights hit on a big play in the opening quarter, again authored by Hoole. Hoole scored on an 80-yard TD pass from Aiden Rubas.

S-E Individual statistics

Rushing:  Nick Hull 11-145, Ethan Shaw 11-50, Landon Andrade 6-39, Justin Race 1-9, Darren Miles 1-2.

Passing:  Miles 7-20-2, 56 yards.

Receiving:  Hull 3-22, Shaw 2-24, Race 1-9, Aaron Key 1-1.