CENTRAL NEW YORK – No matter the circumstances or the opposition, 20 consecutive victories in football is an impressive achievement.
That’s what Christian Brothers Academy can boast as the Brothers, all the way up to no. 2 in the latest state Class AA rankings trailing only Iona Prep, achieved Friday night defeating West Genesee 53-21 at Alibrandi Stadium.
The Wildcats did manage to pull off a couple of big plays against the vaunted Brothers defense, starting when Jack Wade threw deep and found Evan Dufford on a 63-yard touchdown pass.
By itself, this, along with Wade finding Dufford again in the end zone from 22 yards out, was the most points CBA had allowed in a first half all season. And it was still a 25-14 lead for CBA at the break because the Brothers hurt the Wildcats with its own big-play capability, on both sides of the ball.
Zion Green’s 75-yard TD dash was just the start of it. Brayden Smith would, later in the first quarter, go 65 yards to Darien Williams after throwing a 14-yard scoring pass to Austin Ariola.
Though WG did keep the Brothers offense off the board in the second quarter, an errant Wade pass turned into a 45-yard Adrian Weather interception return for a TD.
Then, in the second half CBA turned to its ground game, its line wearing WG down and leading to TD runs from Lewis, Isaiah Coleman and Daunte Bacheyie after Smith’s third TD pass went 22 yards to Kigehlin Hicks.
Smith went 15-for-27 through the air for 253 yards, with Williams catching seven passes for 130 yards. Lewis gained 82 rushing yards on 12 carries as Coleman, returning to the lineup from injury, gained 63 yards on nine carries.
Fayetteville-Manlius had a far more modest two-game win streak broken up last Thursday when, despite a strong first half against Cicero-North Syracuse, it still lost to the Northstars 36-12.
The Hornets trailed 9-0 in the second quarter, but then put together a pair of scoring drives to briefly go in front before C-NS, leaning on the duo of Miy’Jon McDowell and Owen Ellis, took charge.
From the F-M 27, McDowell dashed to the end zone, giving the Northstars the lead for good. Then a quick defensive stop and long Ellis punt return led to McDowell’s third TD from 12 yards out.
Ellis struck for his own long TD run on a 41-yard sprint early in the fourth quarter, with McDowell going nine yards to score for a fourth time and seal the victory as the Hornets fell to 2-5.
Jamesville-DeWitt continued to display its vast improvement in Friday’s 46-20 victory over Oswego, breaking a tight game open with 26 second-quarter points.
Roman Spack’s 49-yard interception return for a TD got the Red Rams on the board, but the real fun started in the second period when Dae’Jier Brooks scored from 17 yards out.
Brooks retuned for a second TD on a nine-yard run, Carson Kim scored on a sneak and a second pick-six came from Carter Phaneuf covering 57yards right before halftime.
Carrying the ball 11 times for 142 yards, Brooks added a third TD on a 54-yard dash in the third quarter. Braeden Hennessy amassed 17 tackles on defense as Kevin Vigenault got 15 tackles, with Brooks earning 11 tackles. Phaneuf and Joe Falasco had 10 tackles apiece.
Bishop Grimes improved to 5-1 in eight-man football, a record only bettered by Frankfort-Schuyler as, with 32 points in the second quarter of Saturday’s game at New York Mills, the Cobras pounded the Marauders 64-6.
East Syracuse Minoa also has just two wins this season, but one of them came last Thursday in the form of 24-0 shutout of Fulton that went with a 42-6 win over Nottingham three weeks earlier.
