That 0-2 Oneida football team from early in the season that did not appear ready for handling Class A competition is a different entity now.
With a confident Ryan Kramer under center, the Indians have now won three in a row, including last Friday’s 32-9 victory over Jordan-Elbridge in a non-league contest.
Kramer’s precision passing keyed a pair of scoring drives in the first quarter, but it was Oneida’s running game that provided the points as Steve Laureti had touchdown runs of 13 and six yards to put his team up 14-0.
J-E would make its stand in the second quarter, as Jake Bandera ran 54 yards for a TD and the Eagles’ defense forced a safety, slashing Oneida’s lead to 14-9 by the break.
But Kramer would dominate the second half. Twice, he found his favorite receiver, Ryan Mosack, on TD passes covering 19 and 30 yards. In between them, Kramer ran seven yards for another score.
For the night, Kramer threw 23 times, completing 14 of those passes for 191 yards. Half the time, those passes went to Mosack, who had 123 yards on seven catches.
As it stands right now, Oneida (3-2, 2-2 league) is tied for third place in Class A National with Nottingham. Whitesboro and New Hartford own the top two spots.
And the Indians have to deal with first-place Whitesboro (4-1, 4-0 league) on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Warriors’ lone loss was to unbeaten Rome Free Academy.
A night later, the Canastota Raiders celebrated its Homecoming with an emphatic 43-13 romp over Port Byron, improving to 4-1 on the season.
This sets up a monstrous game on Saturday, where the Raiders will visit Hannibal (5-0) with the Class C West league championship likely at stake. Game time is 1 p.m.