CENTRAL NEW YORK – All five area high school football teams found themselves going through Section III playoff games within a 48-hour stretch at the end of October and the start of November.
Earning its 22nd win in a row, Christian Brothers Academy cruised past Rome Free Academy 56-21 at Alibrandi Stadium as the Class AA playoffs got underway.
Wasting little time, the Brothers led 21-0 after one quarter, the big blow Brayden Smith’s 76-yard touchdown pass to Darien Williams in between scoring runs of 11 yards by Isaiah Coleman and 14 yards by Quentin Lewis.
Lewis scored again in the second period from 32 yards out, with Austin Ariola and Zion Green also finding the end zone as CBA’s margin grew to 42-0 by halftime.
Cruising from there, the Brothers saw Smith throw just five passes but complete four of them for 124 yards, with Williams getting three catches for 105 yards.
CBA draws Utica Proctor (who beat West Genesee 38-20) in next weekend’s sectional semifinal. The winner gets Liverpool or Cicero-North Syracuse in the Nov. 15 sectional final at the JMA Dome, with the Northstars advancing by way of defeating Fayetteville-Manlius 47-36 at Bragman Stadium.
This was the second game between F-M and C-NS in three weeks, the Hornets having lost 36-12 when these teams first met but finding some early success in the rematch.
In fact, F-M led 9-8 late in the first quarter on a field goal and a 10-yard TD pass from Jack Hearn and Sam Goepfert, but it would not 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.
Jamesville-DeWitt earned a shot at the Class B-2 championship against South Jefferson resulting from Thursday’s 43-6 semifinal victory over Cortland.
The turning point coming right before halftime. Tied 6-6 after Anthony Guidone’s 22-yard scoring pass to Hussein Osman, J-D took the lead when Braden Hennessy intercepted a Cortland pass and returned it 48 yards for six points.
Armed with all the momentum the Rams put up 29 unanswered points in the second half. Four different players found the end zone -Guidone, Roman Spack, Carter Phaneuf and Carson Kim, with Phaneuf’s 37-yard run the longest play.
J-D ran for 272 yards overall, led by Spack’s 92 yards on 10 carries. Hennessy, aside from his TD return, also got a team-best 13 tackles as Phaneuf and Spack had 10 tackles apiece. Kim had nine tackles and Bryce Dadey added seven tackles.
In eight-man football Bishop Grimes made it out of its sectional opening-round game Saturday against Waterville as the second quarter made the difference in a 46-33 victory.
Even with two TD runs from Gary Carter (the latter of them from 60 yards out) and two conversions, the Cobras only led 16-15 through one period.
Then, with Waterville pinned deep in its own end, David Shaw intercepted an Ian Carney pass and returned it 12 yards for a TD. Shortly after, Carter and Kamari McMullin scored on short runs and Grimes led 34-15 at the break.
Every attempt by Waterville to rally was answered, Carter going for his fourth TD and Avery Pankow throwing a 65-yard scoring pass to Dario Nicotra that all but sealed Grimes’ trip to the sectional semifinal against unbeaten top seed Frankfort-Schuyler, the winner to get Morrisville-Eaton or West Canada in the Nov. 14 sectional final.
East Syracuse Minoa hung close for a long time in its Class A opening-round game against Auburn at Holland Stadium before taking a 37-12 defeat to the Maroons.
Rob Clifford found Dwele Taylor on a 25-yard TD pass in the first quarter. And when Taylor returned to score on a six-yard run for the only points of the second period, the Spartans only trailed the Maroons 16-12 going to the break.
Not until Alex Chase scored on an 11-yard run late in the third period did Auburn start to draw clear, adding two more scores in the final quarter as Matt Smith led the Maroons with 10 carries for 178 yards.
