All the pieces were in place for the Chittenango football team to have a big celebration amid the cold, soaking rain on Friday night.
The Bears were coming off a huge Sept. 27 win where it went to Vernon Verona Sherrill and, with 21 fourth-quarter points, had knocked the Red Devils from the ranks of the unbeaten, 30-19.
Now Chittenango was home,facing defending Class B champion Oneida – a good team, but not yet the awesome force that produced a state Class B finals appearance in 2008.
Not only was it Homecoming in Bear Country, but Chittenango was inducting its second class of Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, so everyone in red and black was determined to provide the cap with another big win.
Alas, the Indians did not cooperate.
Oneida used two big pass plays in the second quarter to race out in front, then relied on its defense to hang on and produce a 16-13 victory over the Bears to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Fired up in front of the home crowd, Chittenango hit first, as if the VVS game was still in progress.
In 14 plays, the Bears went 63 yards, most of it runs from tailback Kyle Mills, who had 40 yards on the drive, including the last four for the touchdown. The march consumed seven minutes of clocks.
Oneida could not answer until the second quarter – but when it did, no long marches were required.
A 63-yard drive culminated with quarterback Jeremy Rodriguez going 30 yards to Shawn Ano, and Rodriguez ran for the two-point conversion, putting the Indians in front 8-6.
The next time it had the ball, Oneida started on its own six-yard line, but quickly moved out of trouble with Rodriguez throwing 14 yards to Evan Watson and Nate Mallinder reeling off an 18-yard run.
Then Rodrigueze issued a perfect play-action fake and threw deep, finding Eric Riley for a 42-yard touchdown strike. Mallinder’s two-point run made it 16-6 going into halftime. For the night, Rodriguez was eight-for-15 for 147 yards, not bad, given the soggy conditions.
Oneida only allowed one more first down the rest of the half after Chittenango’s initial drive, and continued to be stingy in the third quarter.
Still, the Indians gave up points after a muffed punt inside its own 10-yard line, which set up Chittenango quarterback Devin Christopher throwing a four-yard TD pass to Brendan Galek, which cut the margin to three.
All through the fourth quarter, the Bears tried to get one more drive going, but could not. Ano’s interception with 1:16 to play clinched Oneida’s win.
Oneida makes another tough road trip next Friday to Westhill, their first encounter since last year’s Class B final. The Warriors are 5-0 and its defense, led by Dan Ross and Nate Nigolian, have only allowed 31 points in those five wins.
Chittenango, meanwhile, takes its 2-3 record (1-1 league) to Phoenix Saturday for a noon kickoff. The Firebirds are 0-5 and coming off a 41-15 loss to South Jefferson, who is 2-0 in league play and atop the standings — for now.
