By no means did the Baldwinsville football team solve all of its issues in the week following its 34-13 defeat to Victor in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome.
But the Bees improved enough in Friday night’s home opener at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium to put away visiting Union-Endicott, from the Section IV ranks, in a tough 20-13 decision.
One issue that arose from the Dome experience was the way B’ville’s defense, so strong in 2014, had to find a way to reclaim some of that old bite, and it did against the Tigers at key moments. Having an extra day to rest from that Thursday opener helped a bit.
Though surrendering an early touchdown, the Bees did keep U-E off the board in the second quarter, during which time it went out in front with a pair of scoring drives.
Ryan Ingerson capped off one drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge, and another march reached the three-yard line before Ben Dwyer, taking over at quarterback for Madison Wolfanger, threw a three-yard pass to Mark Lannier in the end zone.
The two sides would trade third-quarter scoring plays, B’ville getting the eventual winning TD when Ingerson broke loose on a 23-yard dash to the end zone. Ingerson finished with 70 yards on 14 carries.
Again with a seven-point lead to protect, B’ville pulled it off and found that, in Brandon Schmid, it had a player who could dominate in the way Cole Burchill once did, finishing with 12 tackles, 10 of them solo, and adding a sack.
Schmid didn’t work alone, though. Thor Sutphen and Sam Mahar both recorded interceptions, with Mahar also recovering a fumble. Gabe Horan recorded a pair of sacks as John Petrelli managed six tackles and Ingerson added five tackles. And that defense was necessary, since the Bees only had 180 yards of total offense, 136 of them on the ground.
Now another short week of preparation awaits, for the Bees will meet Auburn next Thursday at 7 p.m. at Holland Stadium in a game that Time Warner Cable Sports will broadcast.
The Maroons, who reached the Section III Class AA semifinals a year ago before falling to eventual champion Henninger, is 0-2, having taken defeats to a pair of Section IV foes, Binghamton (42-20) and Horseheads (20-6).
