Christian Brothers Academy’s football team waited nearly 11 months for another shot at the West Genesee side that dumped 57 points on them in last fall’s Section III Class AA final at the Carrier Dome.
The rematch, played Thursday night in Camillus, had a far different tone, as Deshawn Salter pounded away on the offensive side and the Brothers’ defense offered the rest of the punishment in a 35-20 victory over the Wildcats.
“We felt a little bit of revenge,” said senior linebacker Joey Pascarella, who led his side with four sacks. “We wanted to get back at them.”
CBA did so in multiple ways. Salter, just a sophomore, carried the ball 21 times for 184 yards, none of them more important than the 59 yards he galloped to the end zone on the game’s first play from scrimmage, which gave his side a 7-0 lead just 19 seconds into the contest.
Defensively, the state Class AA no. 13-ranked Brothers aimed its entire strategy at containing WG’s star tailback, Naesean Howard, who had burned CBA for 274 yards and four touchdowns in that sectional title game.
It worked, as Howard only had 92 yards. In fact, his biggest run was a 79-yard kick return for a TD in the fourth quarter, this after CBA had grown its lead to 35-13. He never had a run longer than 22 yards from scrimmage against the Brothers’ quick, aggressive front seven.
Salter, who played every snap on offense and defense, calls his team’s defensive approach “fast and furious”, and no one felt that fury more than WG quarterback Dan Ginestro, who never had much time to throw as Pascarella, Keegan O’Hern (who had two sacks) and the rest of the Brothers kept tearing into the backfield and getting to Ginestro.
“Our defense is very good,” said CBA head coach Joe Casamento. “We’ve got a lot of schemes, and we come from everywhere.”
One play late in the first half typified the night. Trailing 21-6, and trying to get something before going to the locker room, WG, who was missing top receiver Ted Glesener (out with a broken foot), took over on its own 32 with 1:49 to play.
On first down, Ginestro went back to throw. Unblocked, CBA’s Demetrius Brown blitzed and ran over Ginestro, halting any chance of the Wildcats getting closer.
Then, early in the third quarter, Cody Radziewicz made a bigger play on special teams. Already with a first-quarter interception that set up Salter’s second TD, Radziewicz took a punt on his own 30, broke a handful of tackles and streaked up the sideline, all the way to the end zone. Nolan Bower’s extra point made it 28-6.
WG never surrendered fully, putting together a 95-yard march late in the third quarter and cutting it to 28-12 on Ginestro’s 18-yard TD pass to Brett Colvin.
But J.R. Zazzara found Radziewicz on a 31-yard pass play early in the final period, leading to Salter’s third TD on a four-yard run. Howard answered with his long kick return, but two more sacks – one by Pascarella, the other by O’Hern – sealed the victory.
With the loss, WG fell to 1-3, 1-1 in the Class AA-2 division, as it turns toward next Friday’s game at Corcoran, just as the 4-0 Brothers return home to face Central Square.
