In one evening – really, in just one half of football – Liverpool went from the prohibitive Section III Class AA favorite to someone who may have to prove itself all over again.
That was the effect of the Warriors’ 28-17 defeat to Christian Brothers Academy Friday night in a jam-packed LHS Stadium. Up by a field goal at halftime, Liverpool suddenly found itself short-handed on defense, and the Brothers, pounding away with a deep, versatile ground game, took full advantage.
Weeks of one-sided victories by both sides had created enormous expectations for this game, and the crowd started to fill the LHS Stadium stands more than an hour before kickoff, no doubt drawn also by Homecoming and Senior Night festivities. From a competitive and dramatic standpoint, they had plenty to witness.
During the first half, the two defenses mostly dictated the terms. Turnovers led to both of the touchdowns as Dan Damico’s recovered fumble set up the Brothers for a short scoring drive in the first quarter, capped by Jake Brotzki’s four-yard touchdown pass to Noah Jordan-Williams.
But the Warriors countered by pouncing on a CBA fumble minutes later. Jack Hogan’s recovery at the Brothers’ 23 led to Rashon Crenshaw’s two-yard TD sneak, tying it, 7-7, early in the second quarter.
Damico and the rest of CBA’s defenders never let Liverpool’s star tailback, Jaydakis Scott, put up a big run all night, and that made up for the offense’s first-half struggles, along with a botched fake punt that led to a Warriors 20-yard field goal by Patrick DelGobbo three seconds before halftime.
So with a 10-7 lead at the break, Liverpool felt good about its chances – until it found out that linebacker Joe Scro, arguably its most important defensive player and also a starting tight end, did not return after suffering a first-half injury.
Seeing this, CBA took the second-half kickoff and did little but run up the middle. Three different times, three different backs – Gavin Collins, Collin Recore and DeAndre Dowdell – converted fourth downs against the short-handed Warrior defense, and Collins finished it off with a four-yard TD run after the Brothers had consumed nearly nine minutes of clock.
It got worse for Liverpool when Sirvocea Dennis intercepted Crenshaw’s pass on the Warriors’ ensuing possession. Three plays later (all runs), Stevie Scott found the end zone from nine yards out, and CBA led 21-10.
Briefly, the Warriors rebounded when Crenshaw’s 27-yard run led to Jaydakis Scott’s lone TD of the night, a five-yard run 21 seconds into the fourth quarter. But the Brothers got the ball back and, after a big 19-yard pass from Brotzki to Lincoln McGarrity on third-and-long, struck the decisive blow.
Stevie Scott found a big hole up the middle and ran 54 yards to the end zone with 8:50 left for the game’s final points. Outgaining his more celebrated namesake on the Liverpool side, Stevie Scott finished with 195 yards on 22 carries.
Liverpool, now in second place in the Class AA-1 division standings behind CBA, gets a chance to rebound this Friday when it visits Nottingham. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
