To most high school football programs in Central New York, a four-year span between Section III championship games is annoying, but tolerable.
Not at Christian Brothers Academy, where the wait to get back to a title game has proven agonizing as Auburn, West Genesee and Henninger took turns sharing the Class AA title the Brothers last won in 2005.
Now CBA is back at the foot of the summit, having held off defending champion Henninger 21-20 in Friday night’s AA semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
The Brothers can win it all if it can upend unbeaten Baldwinsville next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Bees rallied past Corcoran 22-15 in the other semifinal.
Before a perilous mid-season stretch where it lost three of four games, CBA had started 2-0, and that included a 35-6 win at Henninger on Sept. 12 that included a 28-point third-quarter eruption.
No one associated with the Brothers expected such a one-sided affair in the rematch. Henninger had won three straight games to get here, including its wild 40-36 upset of Liverpool in the opening round of the AA playoffs, and had more confidence than ever.
CBA felt good, too, after its rally to beat Auburn in the first round. But it had to play Henninger without three starters, out due to injury or suspension, and with a full slew of players pulled up from the JV ranks.
Henninger wasted little time getting in front. On its first possession, the Black Knights went right down the field. Three times, quarterback Shawn Bryant threw passes to Cole King, the last one a 27-yard touchdown play, and Henninger had a quick 6-0 edge.
Shrugging that off, the Brothers put together its own strong opening drive, going 67 yards in 14 plays, most of them on the ground. Quarterback Tyler Hamblin went the final three yards for the TD, and Yosh Karbowniczak’s extra point pushed CBA ahead 7-6.
With two closely matched teams, turnovers can matter even more than normal. Such was the case here as, in the second quarter, Dan Patane pounced on a Reggie Robinson fumble and, four plays later, Fajri Jackson scored on a five-yard run.
As a whole, the Brothers’ defense flourished, as backs Spencer Dunn and Tre Williams took turns following King, often double-teaming him to keep Bryant from throwing there.
Henninger’s offense never scored again in the half after that initial drive – but still pulled within 14-12 when King returned a punt 77 yards for a TD. CBA stopped the tying two-point conversion attempt, and kept that slim margin until halftime.
Taking the second-half kickoff, the Brothers went 65 yards, most of it on two long runs. Jackson went 26 yards on one of those plays, setting up Hamblin, who sprinted 21 yards to the end zone.
Aside from his running, Hamblin was 16-for-29 through the air for 155 yards. As a whole, the ground game flourished, especially in the second half, when Jackson and Jared DePalma both getting large chunks of yards. Jackson finished with 89 yards, DePalma 60 yards.
Now up 21-12, CBA saw more defensive domination. Twice in the third quarter, the Brothers used interceptions to thwart Henninger drives, with Macky MacPherson and Greg Thomson picking off Bryant passes.
Despite all this, the Black Knights made the Brothers sweat until the end. Bryant had a 16-yard TD run with 1:47 left, and also ran in for two points, slashing the margin to one.
So the whole game rode on the onside kick. It was hit too hard, though, and Karbowniczak fell on it, allowing CBA to run out the clock.
And now it’s back to the Dome – and another chance at Baldwinsville. The Bees, led by 2,000-yard rusher Malik Burks, won a 30-28 classic over CBA on Sept. 18 at Alibrandi Stadium, rallying from an early 14-0 deficit to do so.
B’ville has not won a sectional championship since 1989, a 20-year drought that makes CBA’s absence small, by comparison. So the only guarantee is that two very hungry teams will be pursuing a championship in the Dome.
