No one on the Baldwinsville football team wanted Friday night’s regular-season finale against Cicero-North Syracuse to be the last appearance at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium this fall.

Yet the Bees were in danger of seeing that opportunity slip away in the fourth quarter, and required a pair of clutch defensive stops to hang on and beat the Northstars 21-20.

In the wake of its 26-14 defeat to Henninger on Oct. 10, the Bees fell to no. 22 in the state Class AA rankings, while the Black Knights rose all the way to no. 6.

Still, B’ville could finish no worse than second in the AA-2 division as long as it beat a C-NS team locked into its own playoff spot and awaiting a first-round game next weekend against Liverpool.

During a scoreless first quarter, C-NS forced a punt on B’ville’s lone possession and had the ball most of the way, counting on Nick Golembieski’s runs, especially on a long march that stretched into the early part of the second period after quarterback Connor Evans was injured, replaced by Connor Hayes.

The Northstars finished off that 21-play drive when Golembieski scored on a one-yard run early in the second period, but the extra point was missed, keeping it 6-0 in C-NS’s favor.

Late in the half, the Bees finally put together a drive of its own, anchored once more by Cameron Skipworth, who scored from five yards out with less than a minute to play. Tom Scarfino’s PAT was good, giving B’ville a 7-6 edge.

Without much time to work with, C-NS frantically moved the ball down the field in those remaining seconds, including Keegan Wright’s 27-yard run. But on the last play of the half, C-NS was stopped just short of the end zone by a Bees defense that still had more big moments ahead.

B’ville found its offensive rhythm in the third quarter, relying on Skipworth during a 60-yard march to open the period as he scored from two yards out, making it 14-6 with Scarfino’s conversion.

That was one of three drives the Bees put together in that period, and while C-NS stopped one of them at its own 25, it couldn’t keep Skipworth from earning his third TD on a 26-yard run.

Now trailing 21-6, C-NS promptly made its own surge. It started with an innocent screen pass from Hayes to Golembieski on the last play of the third quarter that the Northstars senior turned into a 65-yard TD rumble. The ensuing two-point conversion made it 21-14.

Rain began to come down at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium just as C-NS tried an onside kick to start the final period – and recovered it. Fired up by that, the Northstars quickly marched to the Bees’ end zone again, Matt Bitz making a sensational catch on a pass from Hayes with 10:01 left.

With the deficit down to a single point, C-NS tried for a go-ahead two-point conversion, but mishandled the snap. Still, it had plenty of time to go in front, and got another chance when the Bees fumbled at the Northstars’ 37 less than three minutes later.

Just when it was needed, though, the Bees made a stop, but when it couldn’t put together a drive to run out the clock, it had to punt again with 2:19 left.

Now, with the ball on its own 20, the Northstars used a long completion to get into Bees territory, only to stall one more time and, on fourth down with less than 40 seconds left, B’ville forced an incomplete pass and took over on downs to clinch it.

Overall, Calvin Tanguay led the Bees’ defense with nine tackles, seven of them solo efforts. Cole Burchill, with eight tackles, was close behind, while Sam Mahar managed seven tackles. Ethan Plouffe and Josh Greer had six tackles apiece.

Feeling a sense of relief, B’ville now waited to see what would happen to first-place Henninger in Saturday’s game against 5-1 Auburn at Sunnycrest Field. If the Maroons won, it would tie the Black Knights and Bees for first, scrambling the playoff order again.

But the Black Knights rolled to a 46-21 victory, which meant the Bees finished alone in second in the AA-2 division and will meet the third-place finisher from the AA-2 division – none other than defending sectional champion CBA – in next Friday’s opening round.

At one point this fall, the Brothers were 2-3, but it used late-season wins over West Genesee and Central Square to reach the post-season. Now B’ville and CBA will battle to see who advanced to the following weekend’s sectional semifinal against Liverpool or C-NS.