A wake-up call arrived for the Cazenovia football team when it made its first road trip of the season. It came in the form of 16 points from Central Valley Academy, who despite its 0-2 record was determined to turn Friday night’s lightly-regarded contest into a monumental upset. The Thunder’s dreams did not last long, though.
Roused into action, Cazenovia surged in front of CVA by halftime, and with a dominant ground game and a defense that shook off its initial struggles, the Lakers beat the Thunder 52-24. Two lopsided home victories over Camden and South Jefferson, by a combined 74-19 margin, plus its daunting reputation had lofted Cazenovia to the no. 3 spot in the first state Class B rankings, trailing only reigning state champion Maine-Endwell and Schalmont. CVA, who had lost to Mexico (42-14) and Oneida (42-22), cared little for the Lakers’ accolades, and got off to a start that stunned both sides. On its first possession, the Thunder moved to the Lakers’ 27-yard line, from where Landry Cook took it to the end zone, putting Cazenovia in its first deficit of the season. Then CVA made a defensive stop and moved right back down the field, getting to Cazenovia’s one-yard line. Again, Cook got the TD, and again the Thunder converted two points. Cazenovia was unaccustomed to someone else getting the jump on them, but it adjusted in a hurry, driving down the field late in the first quarter and getting on the board with Jake Wozniak’s eight-yard scoring run. During the second period, the Lakers’ defense began to assert itself, forcing the Thunder into a series of mistakes, leading to short drives and a 19-16 halftime lead, Wozniak and T.J. Connellan both scoring on one-yard runs. Gradually, Cazenovia’s running attack wore CVA down, and Wozniak scored twice in the third quarter, on runs of 32 and five yards, giving him four TD’s for the night as he gained 116 yards on 10 carries. Connellan led the Lakers with 133 yards on just seven carries, scoring his second TD of the game in the fourth quarter after Kevin Frega found the end zone on a 34-yard run. Anthony Rinaldo scored on a 15-yard run in the final period and quarterback Keaton Ackermann ran for 58 yards on four carries. Trying to catch up, the Thunder forced matters, and it led to five turnovers. Wozniak and Dan Phillips both intercepted passes from Cook, with Frega, Jon Nannery and Ryan O’Herien recovering fumbles. Frega, Ackermann and Sam Langan led the defense with 10 tackles apiece. Glad that it had escaped this early-season trap, Cazenovia is back home at Buckley-Volo Field next Saturday to face Holland Patent. Kickoff is at 1:30. That will come two days after Chittenango plays Homer, the Bears sporting a 1-2 mark in the wake of last Friday’s 45-0 loss to Marcellus, who like Cazenovia is 3-0 this fall. Having scored 67 combined points in the second half of wins over Solvay and Skaneateles to open the season, the Mustangs did not wait as long to get control against the Bears. It was 13-0 by the end of the first quarter, with Mike Keegan scoring on an 11-yard run and Ian McGloon sprinting 36 yards for the other TD. But the real back-breaker came when Marcellus, pinned on its own 16 early in the second quarter, gave it to McGloon again, and he tore 84 yards to the end zone. Not letting up, Marcellus made it 25-0 by halftime on Keegan’s 23-yard scoring pass to Tom Fiacchi. Then Will Coon caught long TD passes from Keegan (49 yards) and Fiacchi (55 yards) in the third quarter to put the game away. After all that, Chittenango’s defense has to turn around and, in a short week, get ready for a Homer side that, in lopsided wins over Phoenix, Cortland and Solvay, have outscored their opponents 192-26, averaging 62 points per game.