ONONDAGA COUNTY – All might be fine again for the Cicero-North Syracuse football team, even if its rivals from Liverpool now holds the inside track to the top seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs.
The Northstars emphatically shook off its Oct. 8 defeat to the Warriors by returning to Bragman Stadium Friday night and shutting out the Corcoran Cougars 34-0.
Liverpool, meanwhile, avoided a letdown against winless Rome Free Academy, giving up the game’s opening touchdown, but then pounding the Black Knights the rest of the way and prevailing 42-7.
Of the two games, C-NS’s battle with Corcoran carried more weight because the Cougars arrived with a four-game win streak and a chance to climb to the top of the league standings at the Northstars’ expense.
From the outset, though, it was the C-NS defense in full command, constantly shutting down whatever Corcoran tried to establish and gaining extra possessions as the Northstars, even if it was operating without head coach Dave Kline on the sidelines, methodically seized control.
All the points that were needed were gained when Jaxon Razmovski found Mason Ellis for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. A second-period drive led to Razmovski scoring on a one-yard sneak.
With a 14-0 halftime advantage, C-NS struck a bigger blow in the third quarter when Razmovski, from his own 40, scrambled past all the Cougars’ defenders and dashed to the end zone.
Two more scores followed in the final period, each on five-yard runs by fullback Farouk Ibrahim, and the Northstars, improving to 4-2 overall, will finish its regular season next Friday at RFA.
Those same Black Knights were at Liverpool and got the jump when it took the opening kickoff and drove right down to the Warriors’ 11-yard line before Evan Carlson-Stephenson found Kaiden McCastill in the end zone.
But any thought of the Warriors having a post-C-NS letdown started to dissipate when the Warriors, on its opening possession, also drove to a touchdown, Jah’Deuir Reese scoring from seven yards out.
Liverpool then took charge in the second period, again relying on its ground attack to wear RFA’s defense down. Quarterback Jalen Graham scored the go-ahead TD on a 14-yard run and, just 45 seconds before halftime, La’Quan Lemon converted on a five-yard dash.
A 21-point third quarter that included TD runs from Graham (two yards) and Dakari Mack (16 yards) was capped by the defense when lineman Bruce Wingate stepped in front of a Carlson-Stephenson pass at midfield and returned it 50 yards for the score.
Though both Liverpool and C-NS have one league loss, it’s the Warriors who will grab the playoff top seed if it wins at Corcoran next Friday.
