ONONDAGA COUNTY – When they left the turf at Bragman Stadium Sept. 20 after a fierce defensive battle, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse football teams were quite aware that their paths would likely cross once more.
And they will, with nothing less than a trip to the JMA Dome for the Section III Class AA championship game at stake – though getting to that semifinal showdown took some work in Friday’s opening round of the sectional playoffs.
This was especially true for the Warriors, who trailed late in the fourth quarter to Baldwinsville but, just in time, got the big plays it needed to edge the Bees 27-26.
The sequence of events in the final minutes would stay for a long time with fans of both sides.
Through most of the evening B’ville proved beyond any question just how much better it was in every phase of the game since Liverpool beat them 55-6 at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium back in September.
Early in the fourth quarter with the Warriors up 19-12, the Bees got a touchdown run from Dylan Garcia, went for two points and converted to go out in front 20-19.
When the Warriors were stopped B’ville got the ball back, again drove down the field and burned up time. Knowing that the Bees could run out the clock, Liverpool all but allowed B’ville to find the end zone, and Garcia did so for six points with 1:20 left.
With the margin 26-19, B’ville had a chance, if it again succeeded on the two-point try, to put the game out of reach, but the Warriors’ defense stopped it, having already forced four turnovers, including a pair of Jayden Devereaux interceptions.
Moments later, Liverpool’s Owen Brown picked up the ensuing kickoff, got some blocks and dashed down the left sideline all the way to the end zone, cutting the margin to 26-25.
Facing a choice to tie it with an extra point or go for two and the lead, the Warriors chose the latter and John Sindoni threw it, finding Christian Washington in the back of the end zone uncovered. The Bees were unable to answer it.
That it even was so exciting was a tribute to B’ville’s all-out effort. By the end of the first quarter the Bees had more points (13) than in the entire first meeting, both of them on Garcia TD runs.
Still, B’ville found it difficult to throw the ball even as it played superb run defense, limiting Liverpool to 82 yards on the ground. Sindoni, who lost wide receiver Antonio Rivera to a third-quarter injury, completed nine of 12 passes for 199 yards, but the Bees intercepted him twice.
Washington had four catches for 109 yards and a pair of TD’s. Dom Carroll again paced the defense, earning 12 tackles, while Isaiah Morris and Ty’Kere Jones got seven tackles apiece and Bailey O’Connor added six tackles.
Now the Warriors meet C-NS again after the Northstars prevailed 47-36 over Fayetteville-Manlius at Bragman Stadium in its sectional opener.
The score did not quite reflect how the game unfolded in its critical stages as, late in the first quarter, the Hornets held a 9-8 advantage thanks to a field goal and 10-yard TD pass from Jack Hearn to Sam Goepfert, but it didn’t last.
Anthony Johnson broke through the F-M defense on a 62-yard TD dash just before the period ended, his second score of the night, and the second quarter belonged to the Northstars, too.
Miy’Jon McDowell’s long punt return set up his own 14-yard scoring dash, and a Hornets fumble late in the half set up Johnson scoring again from four yards out, and what was a brief deficit had turned into a 27-9 lead at the break.
Any chance F-M had disappeared with three more C-NS touchdowns in the second half, McDowell going 49 yards for one score and Carson Kimmel 42 yards for another in the opening seconds of the final period.
Johnson capped off his night with a 58-yard TD dash that upped his game total to 232 yards on 15 carries as his season total neared 1,600 yards. Overall, C-NS gained 410 yards on the ground.
Defensively for the Northstars, Marcus Reed piled up 18 tackles and Kimmel 12 tackles. Connor Bednarski and Tai’Veyon Jones had seven tackles apiece.
