CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even more than when it won the state Class AA championship a season ago, the Christian Brothers Academy football team charges into the Section III playoffs with an aura to it which might prove difficult to stop.
The Brothers easily ran its win streak to 21 last Friday night at Elmira, recording its third shutout of the season while defeating the Express 40-0.
Again, most of the Brothers’ points were scored in the first half, allowing starters to rest in the late going and get set for what it hopes to be six post-season games leading to December’s state finals at the JMA Dome.
On the other end of a shutout was East Syracuse Minoa, kept out of the end zone by Corcroan in another game which ended with a 40-0 margin.
The Cougars, improving to 7-1, got away with 20 unanswered points in the second quarter, which included a 43-yard punt return by Tykeith Harness for a touchdown and a scoring run of 50 yards by Jeadi Higdon.
Shane Williams led Corcoran, scoring four times on runs ranging from seven to 48 yards as he gained 173 yards on 11 carries and Higdon added 195 yards on just six carries.
Jamesville-DeWitt turned things around against Westmoreland/Oriskany in a rare Wednesday-night game, the Red Rams ultimately earning a 42-32 victory.
It took a 21-point second quarter to erase an early 12-0 deficit, J-D seeing Anthony Guidone score one TD and throw a 21-yard scoring pass to Hussein Osman after Carter Phaneuf’s 50-yard run got the Rams on the board.
Up 21-18 at the break, J-D saw Westmoreland/Oriskany go back in front early in the third period only to answer it with Guidone’s five-yard TD pass to Ryan Walker.
Guidone still needed to throw a 50-yard scoring pass to Osman and Dae’Jeir Brooks had to run 20 yards for a score in the final minutes to help J-D seal the win.
For the night, Guidone was 11-for-14 for 216 yards as, defensively, Braeden Hennessy led with 13 tackles, Brooks adding 12 tackles and Bryce Dadey 10 tackles. Roman Spack, Carson Kim and Bryce Wheeler had nine tackles apiece.
Fayetteville-Manlius traveled to West Genesee on Friday and had a great opportunity to deny the Wildcats a sectional home playoff game, but could not quite pull it off, falling to the Wildcats 29-22.
The Hornets led for most of the first half, Jack Hearn scoring on a two-yard run and adding a conversion in the first quarter and the defense stepping up, too, keeping WG off the board. The Wildcats’ lone points of the half came when an F-M fumble was recovered in the end zone by Dontate Rufus.
When the Wildcats took a 14-8 lead in the third quarter the Hornets answered it, driving to WG’s 20 before Hearn threw to the end zone and somehow Sam Goepfert caught it, Hearn again scoring two points.
Yet the 16-14 lead did not hold, WG regaining the edge and then delivering what proved to be the winning points when Jack Wade threw a 68-yard TD pass to Brian Simmons.
Even Hearn’s nine-yard scoring pass to Chase Giammichele in the late going could not quite bring F-M back. Hearn, overall, was 12-for-15 for 117 yards and ran for 87 yards on 14 carres as Colin Clark had 21 carries for 111 yards and led the defense with 11 tackles, Nate Conley adding 5 ½ tackles.
Bishop Grimes had won five in a row in eight-man football but saw that win streak end Saturday at Morrisville-Eaton, humbled in a 44-12 defeat.
Held to just one touchdown in each half, the Cobras saw Andrew Wait and Avery Pankow combine for 73 passing yards. Kamari McMullen ran 11 times for 50 yards and a score, with Ryken Heffron catching the TD pass. Dario Nicotra had 14 tackles, just ahead of Dan Shaw’s 12 tackles and Gary Carter’s 11 tackles.
This weekend’s sectional playoff openers include CBA hosting Rome Free Academy Friday in Class AA and Grimes hosting Waterville Saturday at noon in eight-man, with F-M traveling to Cicero-North Syracuse in AA and ESM going to Auburn in Class A.
In the Class B Tier 2 four-team tournament J-D hosts Cortland in the semifinals Thursday with the winner to get South Jefferson or Mexico in the Nov. 7 finals.
