At least two Syracuse city high school football teams are going to the Section III playoffs – and a third is on the brink of getting there, too.
Corcoran was safe before rallying past West Genesee 30-28 Friday night in Camillus to improve to 5-1, but Henninger took a huge step toward a post-season defense of its Class AA title by beating Auburn 30-19 at Sunnycrest Field.
Nottingham clinched a Class A playoff berth at home by smashing Mexico 53-18, while Fowler saw its post-season hopes fizzle in a 42-16 loss to East Syracuse-Minoa.
Henninger put an end to Auburn’s four-game win streak by showing a tremendous amount of pride in response to its own bad loss at Fayetteville-Manlius seven days earlier.
In particular, the Black Knights’ defense did a tremendous job on Class AA’s leading rusher, Ahmad Brooks, holding the Auburn star to 164 yards on 22 carrries, a full 100 yards below Brooks’ season average.
Henninger also forced four turnovers, which helped them overcome an early 7-0 deficit. Shawn Bryant’s one-yard touchdown run (set up by an Auburn fumble) and Langston Lambert’s 23-yard jaunt to the end zone gave the Black Knights a 14-7 halftime edge.
Auburn closed the gap to 14-13 in the third quarter, but Henninger’s defense struck again when Nigel Gully returned another fumble 24 yards for a TD to make it 22-13.
Tevin Harris used a one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to clinch victory. Lambert had 99 yards on 17 carries, while Robinson earned 18 carries on 73 yards.
Corcoran’s trip to West Genesee proved to be exciting, as it came back three different times on this night to stay unbeaten in Class AA-2 division play – and partially avenge a 2008 first-round playoff loss to the Wildcats.
Down 6-0, the Cougars surged in front 14-6 as Travon Burke scored from one yard out and Anthony Heard got a 10-yard TD run 28 seconds before halftime.
Somehow, Corcoran kept cool after WG scored on the last play of the first half, a 12-yard TD pass from Connor Zeman to Matt Naton that made it 14-13.
Even with Riley Stroman’s 30-yard field goal and Burke going 16 yards for his second TD of the night, the Wildcats went in front 26-23 when Zeman threw a five-yard scoring pass to Tim Stagnitta with 4:43 left.
A big kick return by Corcoran led to one more lead change, as the Cougars drove to WG’s two-yard line before Burke scored his third touchdown with 2:37 to play. Corcoran conceded a safety in the final seconds, which cut the margin to two, but the Cougars would hang on.
There was no need for Nottingham to hang on – just add to its robust point total and keep Mexico winless as the Bulldogs improved to 3-3 on the season.
In the first quarter alone, Nottingham produced 21 points in three different ways, with a run (Antron Irby for 17 yards), a pass (Jawan Simmons to Josh Mims, 14 yards) and a defensive play – Antwan Green returning a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown.
By halftime, the Bulldogs led 40-12, as Mims threw a 60-yard TD strike to Mims and, off a trick play at midfield, Irby got to throw – and found Sean Adams open, the TD covering 51 yards.
When Shamar Williams scored from 12 yards out, the Bulldogs were safe. For the night, Simmons went 10-for-22 for 259 yards, hitting Mims a third time for a 24-yard TD strike in the fourth quarter. Adding a dimension on the ground, Brandon Burnham had a pair of TD runs, including a 22-yarder to round out the Bulldogs’ scoring.
Fowler had more difficulty at ESM, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter before Kelvin Amparo threw a 23-yard TD pass to Josh Cruz, putting the Falcons on the board.
Following that, ESM kept Fowler off the board until the final period, due to a safety and Amparo connecting with Cruz again, this time from 26 yards out. ESM’s star running back, Dustin Moss, had 165 yards and two touchdowns to lead the hosts to victory.
As Fowler’s regular season concludes Friday against Indian River, Nottingham plays ESM and, with a win, could earn a home playoff game next weekend.
Even more is at stake at Holland Stadium, where Corcoran visits Auburn with the AA-2 regular-season title at stake. Henninger hosts Utica Proctor on Saturday at Sunnycrest, but could have a playoff spot before it takes the field, should West Genesee beat Fayetteville-Manlius the night before.
