With the unbeaten Westhill and winless Skaneateles football teams gathering together on Friday night, it was sure to be a lopsided affair, right?
Well, not really.
Aided in no small part by constant rain that turned the field to mud, the Lakers stayed within respectable distance of the Warriors all night, even though Westhill did prevail by a score of 20-7.
Again, the Warriors’ defense stood out. It blanked the Lakers until the fourth quarter and, in five games, have only allowed 31 total points as it has again taken control of the Class B West division.
Dan Ross, who recorded yet another interception in the backfield, put Westhill on the board in the first quarter by breaking through the Skaneateles secondary for a 65-yard touchdown run.
Then Nate Nigolian returned to the spotlight. Made a bit more famous by the ingenuity he showed picking up a blocked Westhill field goal and scoring a touchdown in the win over Homer Sept. 26, Nigolian scored in more conventional ways on this night.
Twice, Nigolian flashed open and caught TD passes from Warrior quarterback Jeff Law – a 14-yarder in the first quarter, then a 16-yard connection in the third quarter. Nigolian, overall, had 84 receiving yards on four completions.
Skaneateles did get on the board in the final period as quarterback Tom Schoener ran seven yards for the score, but it was still the Lakers’ fifth consecutive defeat as it visits Homer next Friday.
Westhill, meanwhile, gets a chance at payback when it hosts Oneida next Friday at 6:30 their first meeting since the 2008 Section III Class B final, won by the Indians on its way to the state title game.
Oneida lost all but a few starters from that team to graduation, but still has gone 4-1 this season and is coming off a big 16-13 road win at Chittenango.
