Sometime late in October or early in November, the Skaneateles football team might have to face Canastota with a lot at stake, perhaps even a Section III Class C championship.
If so, the Lakers have a good idea what to expect – a major challenge, similar to the one the Raiders provided Friday night at Hyatt Stadium, Skaneateles needing every bit of its skill and grit to pull out a 40-34 victory.
While the Lakers were winning big at defending sectional champion Holland Patent in its Sept. 6 opener, Canastota was doing the same, routing perennial power General Brown.
So the game had high expectations – and exceeded them, in terms of excitement, big plays and plenty of momentum shifts.
Just 2:31 into the game, the Lakers scored, a 10-play drive capped by James Musso’s touchdown pass to Nick Wamp. Canastota countered with Drew Marshall dashing 74 yards to set up his own one-yard scoring plunge.
The Raiders took a 14-7 lead in the last minute of the first quarter, Marshall scoring again after Ryan Fox intercepted Musso deep in Skaneateles territory. It stayed that way until a Lakers drive in the second period finished with Wamp taking a direct snap and going seven yards to the end zone.
More blows were traded before halftime, Canastota striking with Nick Weber scoring from 33 yards out, Skaneateles moving to the Raiders’ seven where, with one second left in the half, Musso threw to Wamp, who made a leaping catch in the corner of the end zone.
The 20-20 score at the break left everyone exhilarated and exhausted, but more drama was to follow.
Weber’s second TD, on a 17-yard run in the third quarter, gave Canastota its third lead at 26-20, but a missed conversion meant that, when Wamp scored for the third time, the extra point inched the Lakers in front.
Early in the final period, a three-yard TD pass from Musso to Wamp extended the Skaneateles margin to 34-26, but again the Raiders rallied, Devin Youker scoring on a 16-yard run with 8:16 left and Marshall running in for two points to secure the game’s fourth tie.
Quickly, the Lakers drove to the Raiders’ 15, where Musso found Nesbitt in the end zone for his fifth TD pass of the night and 11th of the season with 5:54 to play.
Attempting one more comeback, Canastota drove to midfield, where Marshall ran right and threw – right to Lakers linebacker Colin Cox for a clutch interception.
The Lakers were able to run out the remaining three minutes on the clock and improve to 2-0, Wamp finishing the night with 13 rushes for 104 yards and catching nine passes for 85 yards. Musso completed 15 of 37 passes for 153 yards in windy conditions.
On the other end of the spectrum in Class C West, Jordan-Elbridge sits at 0-2 in the wake of Friday night’s 20-8 defeat to Herkimer at John Howes Stadium.
All of it went wrong for the Eagles late in the first quarter, when the Magicians recorded a defensive safety and then returned the ensuing free kick for a touchdown, grabbing an 8-0 edge.
J-E’s defense was vastly improved from its season-opening defeat to Lowville, and that, combined with Alex Pond’s 61-yard TD pass to Erik Ryan and a two-point run from Trent Thomas, made the game close, 14-8, at halftime.
However, Herkimer’s defense took over in the second half, thwarting all of the Eagles’ attempts to catch up, and Jordan Lanaux put the game away when he scored on a 37-yard run in the fourth quarter.
