Now the Christian Brothers Academy football team is assured of one of the top two seeds for the Section III Class AA playoffs.
When the Brothers went to Mike Messere Field last Friday night and knocked off the West Genesee Wildcats 65-14, it passed an important hurdle in that, following a massive 28-17 win over Liverpool the week before, it didn’t suffer a letdown, nor did it look ahead to more important games down the road.
CBA, no. 17 in the state AA rankings, arrived in Camillus and put WG in immediate trouble when Stevie Scott broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. Minutes later, CBA was on the board again, this time through the air as Jake Brotzki connected with Collin Recore on a 32-yard scoring pass.
Briefly, the Wildcats inched closer with Brian VanBeveren’s one-yard TD plunge in the second quarter. But the Brothers continued to toy with WG’s defense with two more scoring drives, one that Scott finished off with a two-yard run and one that Gavin Collins converted from seven yards out.
Yet even with a 28-7 halftime advantage, CBA was far from content, especially when VanBeveren cut loose on a 60-yard scoring run in the third quarter that provided signs of life from the home side.
Scott, who finished with 194 yards on just 11 carries, had two more TD runs in the third quarter, including a 70-yard sprint. Then the reserves joined in the fun, from Jaden Mitchell’s 30-yard scoring run to Avion Oathman catching a one-yard scoring pass from Sirvocea Dennis and running 43 yards for another TD. Andrew Kolceski, who went eight-for-nine on extra points, added a 25-yard field goal.
As this went on, Fayetteville-Manlius, already assured of its own Class AA playoff berth, hosted Cicero-North Syracuse, and led for long stretches of the game before Drew Flack and the Northstars rallied to beat the Hornets 48-34.
Flack scorched the Hornets’ defense for 319 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries. Of those 319 yards, 203 of them came in the second half.
After trailing 27-14 with less than a minute remaining in the first half, Flack capped a quick drive with an eight-yard TD run to make it a six-point game, 27-21, heading into intermission. Having already established himself, Flack added a 58-yard rushing score in the third and a 54-yard touchdown run in the fourth to cap off a run of 34 unanswered points.
The Hornets got off to a quick start in the opening quarter – at Flack’s expense. Fumbling on his own 15-yard line, Flack watched as F-M’s Chase Randall returned it 15 yards for the first of the game’s many touchdowns.
C-NS freshman quarterback Conner Hayes hooked up with Landry Rogers for a 53-yard score to knot it at 7-7, but the tie only lasted until F-M’s Jared Shaw found the end zone from four yards out to start the second period.
Moving at will against the Northstars, F-M scored twice more in the period, as Matt Truman had a 17-yard touchdown run and Anthony Nucerino scored from one yard out to make it 27-14 with less than a minute left in the half.
Yet that was enough time for Flack to lead the Northstars back to the end zone, leading to a third quarter dominated by the visitors. It started when C-NS successfully recovered an onside kick, which led to Kyle Cody’s two-yard TD run seven plays later.
A Josh Ramirez interception added to C-NS’s momentum. Hayes, with a one-yard scoring plunge, gave the Northstars its first lead, 34-27, Flack’s first long run doubled that margin, and his second long run made it 48-27 before Nucerino added a late TD, part of a night where the F-M back had 172 yards on 23 carries
With the loss, F-M fell to 3-3, 2-2 in league play, but could still improve its playoff position if it can prevail Saturday at Utica Proctor (3-1 league, 5-1 overall), right after CBA concludes its regular season by hosting Central Square Friday at 6:30 at Alibrandi Stadium.
Bishop Grimes also played on Friday, taking a 42-8 defeat to Weedsport to fall to 0-6 on the season. Rafael Drummond’s five-yard TD run in the fourth quarter broke up the shutout, but from the moment Riley Spingler returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for six points, the Warriors never trailed. The Cobras play at Sandy Creek (5-1) this Friday.
