Once the Skaneateles football team made its last-second comeback to upend Solvay on Oct. 7, its regular-season run through the Class B West division was complete.
More importantly, with a 4-2 record, the Lakers were assured of a Section III Class B playoff berth. What wasn’t certain was where Skaneateles would land in the final Class B West division standings.
Depending on last Friday night’s results, the Lakers could even end up in a four-way tie atop the league with the other playoff-bound teams – Homer, Chittenango and Marcellus.
That didn’t happen. Homer beat Institute of Technology Central 34-6, and when Chittenango topped Marcellus 42-20, the Trojans grabbed the outright league title, with a three-way tie for second between the Lakers, Bears and Mustangs.
Since those three teams all went 1-1 against each other, the tie-breaker was first-half points. And since Chittenango and Marcellus were better in those spots, Skaneateles had to settle for fourth place in B West.
This means that, for its opening-round playoff assignment, Skaneateles will have to visit Cazenovia this Saturday at 2:30 at Buckley-Volo Field, where the defending state Class B champions won 52 consecutive games before a September home loss to Utica-Notre Dame.
Since then, Cazenovia has gone 4-0, rising back to the top of the B East division, and Skaneateles knows it’s a formidable challenge, with the winner set to face Mexico or Marcellus in next weekend’s sectional semifinals.
The Lakers warmed up for the playoffs by going to Susquehanna Valley last Saturday and staying close for a while before the Sabers pulled away in the second half, beating Sknaeateles 42-26.
These two sides traded scoring plays in the first quarter, which ended in a 7-7 tie. Though the Lakers got another touchdown in the second quarter, the Sabers moved in front, 21-14, going into intermission.
Then Suquehanna Valley gained a cushion with a pair of third-quarter TD’s as the Lakers were kept off the board until the final period when, trailing 35-14, it would find the end zone twice, but not catch up.
