ONONDAGA COUNTY – Early in the third quarter of Friday night’s football showdown between Liverpool and Christian Brothers Academy, the two sides were on even terms, two strong defenses setting the terms of battle.
Then a single punt return changed it all, and ultimately sent the Brothers soaring to a 42-10 victory as Warriors players and fans were left to wonder how things may have turned had a whistle blown.
Forced to punt on its first possession of the second half, Liverpool saw John Sindoni kick it to the CBA 20-yard line, where Quentin Lewis was waiting.
What happened next depends on the perspective. Lewis lifted his hand up, as if to signal a fair catch, and the Warriors’ players on the field eased up as Lewis caught the ball. But no whistle blew and Lewis took off, ultimately outrunning everyone 80 yards to the other end zone.
Liverpool’s sideline was furious, arguing the call long after Tom Cooney’s extra point made it 14-7, but while the Warriors stewed the fired-up Brothers waited less than a minute to double that advantage.
On third down Sindoni, near his own end zone, attempted a throw to the sideline, but Tre Williams stepped in front of it and returned the interception 20 yards for another touchdown.
Having notched 14 points through means other than its offense, the Brothers then scored on its next possession, too, exclusively running the ball out of a no-huddle set until Lewis scored from three yards out.
All that Liverpool managed against a fast, aggressive CBA defense was a single drive leading to a 31-yard Amari Gunn field goal. CBA tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, each of them from Lewis on runs of 10 and 47 yards, adding to a 10-yard scoring run from Austin Ariola on the game’s opening possession.
Other than a 35-yard TD pass from Sindoni to Jayden Devereaux early in the second quarter, the Warriors found itself constantly thwarted, unable to run outside and seeing waves of Brothers defenders break through into the backfield leading to many sacks and tackles for losses.
John Sindoni completed 11 of 24 passes for 129 yards, rarely getting time to throw from the pocket. The Warriors were held to 150 total yards while, on defense, Dom Carroll again led the way with 17 tackles, with Isaiah Morris adding nine tackles and Antonio Rivera recording a first-quarter interception to go with his six tackles.
Over at Bragman Stadium Anthony Johnson put on quite a show for Cicero-North Syracuse with one of the best single-game performances in program history during the Northstars’ 58-36 victory over Corcoran.
Carrying the ball 26 times, Johnson amassed 410 yards and piled up seven touchdowns, and the Northstars needed them in a game where it nearly blew a 28-6 second-quarter lead before taking control in the late going.
Corning scored twice and added two-point conversions to make it 28-22 at the break. Another exchange of scoring drives followed before C-NS, up 36-30, would make three straight trips to the end zone, all of them on runs by Johnson.
C-NS goes for its third win in a row next Saturday at Utica Proctor after Liverpool has a Thursday-night visit to West Genesee.
