SYRACUSE – Few football teams in the history of the Section III championship games have ever achieved a title after dropping its first three games of the season.
Bishop Ludden/SAS had a chance to pull off this rare feat Friday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome against General Brown in the sectional Class C final.
But the Gaelic Knights had a nightmarish start where it was unable to recover three consecutive onside kicks, leading to a deficit it could not overcome in a 19-6 loss to the Lions.
Ludden/SAS had lots of momentum gained from its late-season and playoff surge. But GB had the advantage of big-game experience playing in its fourth consecutive sectional final.
They had also seen each other before this fall. When the two teams met Sept. 20, the Lions pulled out a wild 50-48 verdict by having four different players gain more than 100 rushing yards to overcome the Gaelic Knights’ big-play barrage.
Winning the coin toss, GB chose to defer its choice to the second half and kick off. It turned out to be the game’s pivotal decision, as Ludden/SAS was set to receive, only to give up 13 points before it even got to have a possession.
The first time around, the Lions surprised the Gaelic Knights, pouncing on the short opening kickoff near midfield. Five runs later, Hayden Moody had scored from 10 yards out.
Then another short Lions kickoff was mishandled and Brenden Lee fell on it. Again GB capitalized, moving it to the Ludden/SAS 10 before Jackson Ward found Carter Munson in the end zone to make it 13-0.
A third kickoff had the same result as the first two – short, bouncing high and with the Lions getting to it, only this time the drive stalled inside the 20 helped by a GB personal foul.
By then, though, nearly the entire first quarter had elapsed. Ludden/SAS countered when X’Zavion Streiff and Tom Cervantes connected on a 72-yard catch-and run, setting up a seven-yard scoring pass from Streiff to Jayden Mackool early in the second period.
T
he game settled down from there, defenses adjusting in a way they could not in the first meeting and keeping the game at 13-6 going into halftime.
Both teams drove into opposing territory in the third quarter and both got stopped. GB held it for more than six minutes, only to have Lucas Dupee miss a 29-yard field goal wide right, while Ludden/SAS saw Micah Baker get stuffed on fourth down by Brock McManaman at the Lions’ 32.
A 68-yard scoring drive followed for the Lions, all on the ground, with Hayden Moody going the final two yards for the TD with 8:25 left to restore GB’s two-score margin.
Penalties hurt the Gaelic Knights throughout the game, and it burned all three of its second-half time-outs with five minutes still to play. On fourth down at GB’s 20, Moody sacked Streiff, all but settling the outcome.
