Though the Skaneateles football team has taken enormous steps forward, it still hasn’t yet reached the top level in the Class B West division ranks.
Homer is still setting the pace, as the Lakers found out Friday night when it went south and fell victim to a big first half from the defending Section III champions, eventually taking a 45-14 defeat to the state Class B no. 7-ranked Trojans.
The game was billed as a showdown between Homer’s defense, which held Chittenango to 52 total yards the week before, and the high-flying Skaneateles passing attack anchored by quarterback Devin Callahan, who threw six touchdown passes at Solvay while the Trojans stifled the Bears.
But by the time Callahan had found Tommy Hagen on a nine-yard scoring pass in the second quarter, Homer was well on its way to a 35-point first half that featured a strong mix of runs and timely pass plays.
Ryan Wainwright put the Trojans on the board with a 24-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Minutes later, it was 14-0, Jacob Rivers throwing a 36-yard scoring pass to Dylan Williams-Bachman.
During the second quarter, Homer struck three more times. Williams-Bachman added a second and third TD with a 22-yard run and a 16-yard pass completion from Rivers, with Wainwright scoring on a two-yard plunge.
While all this was going on, the Trojans’ defense made sure that Callahan never got too comfortable. Only once did the Lakers’ big-play capability emerge, when Callahan found Hagen on a 70-yard TD pass in the third quarter, but those were the Lakers’ lone points of the second half.
Wainwright led Homer’s offense with 172 rushing yards on 28 carries, while Rivers completed seven of 12 passes for 133 yards. Callahan did complete 13 of 29 passes for 221 yards, most of it to Hagen, who had 143 receiving yards on seven completions.
With the loss, Skaneateles dropped to 3-2 on the season, tied for third in B West with Westhill, whom it beat on Sept 18. The Lakers are back home next Friday to face Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Centrtal (0-5) at 7 p.m., knowing a win locks up a sectional playoff berth and guarantees a winning regular-season mark, too.
