Rain, wind, mud, gloom – one set of football Lakers loved the backdrop, and one did not.
It was Skaneateles that was unaccustomed to the mire, and Cazenovia comfortable in that same situation, as was quite evident in the 51-0 defeat the visiting Lakers suffered in last Saturday’s opening round of the Section III Class B playoffs at Buckley-Volo Field.
Skaneateles, the fourth-place finisher in the Class B West division, arrived at Cazenovia following a 4-3 regular season where it relied on underclassmen at many different spots on the field, including sophomore quarterback Pat Hackler, who led his side to last-minute home victories over the likes of Chittenango and Solvay.
All of that, though, was on clean Field Turf at Allyn Stadium. Following four-plus inches of rain, Cazenovia’s home grass at Buckley-Volo was quite different. It didn’t take too long for the two Lakers sides to get their uniforms dirty – and it also didn’t take long to decide the game, either.
Any chance Skaneateles had in this game rode on its defense making early stops. Instead, Cody Thorp ran right through them on Cazenovia’s opening drive, with a 43-yard dash setting up his own 10-yard touchdown run.
Less than two minutes later, it was 14-0, and Thorp was primarily responsible, intercepting Hackler’s pass at the Skaneateles 30 and then scoring a few plays later on a one-yard plunge.
Cazenovia’s defense wasn’t done hurting Hackler, as Anthony Vecchiarelli stepped in front of a sideline pass at midfield and returned it 50 yards for another TD that, with Thorp’s two-point run, extended the margin to 22-0 at the end of the first quarter.
A minute into the second period, Matt McLaughlin joined the fun with an 11-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion. But even with a 30-0 lead, Cazenovia wasn’t satisfied, Matt Regan recovering an onside kick that led to his own 31-yard dash to the end zone where no defender came close to touching him.
It got to 44-0 midway through the period when Regan scored for the second time from 14 yards out. While all this was going on, Cazenovia held Skaneateles to two first downs, never allowing any kind of sustained march.
After another Skaneateles turnover led to another Cazenovia TD on Austin Enders’ 16-yard run early in the third period, the starters went to the bench, though the reserves did manage to preserve the shutout.
So while Cazenovia advanced to a second straight sectional semifinal showdown with Clinton, Skaneateles would finish up its season and look forward to having most of its key players back for 2017.
