Tim Green’s stated intention when he took over the struggling Skaneateles football program was to turn it into a winner, and to do that as soon as possible.
First, though, the Lakers had to prove itself competitive against the rest of the Class B West division – which it did in Friday night’s season opener, even though it lost to the Homer Trojans by a score of 33-20.
With a large roster (twice the number the Lakers had when it went 1-7 a season ago) and a large, enthusiastic home crowd on hand, Skaneateles unleashed its new offense and found modest success in that realm.
New starting quarterback Troy Green threw the ball 38 times, completing 21 of those passes for 255 yards and rushing for a team-best 26 yards. Often, those throws went to basketball star Pat Roberts, who used his tall frame to pull down eight catches, adding up to 166 yards.
Yet it was Brandon Barron (four catches for 67 yards) who picked up the first points of the Skaneateles when he caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Green in the second quarter. Despite this, Homer still had a 13-7 lead going into halftime.
The Trojans would put things away by scoring 20 points in the third quarter. Cody Sandy was the primary culprit, getting a pair of TD’s, including a 60-yard run early in the period that made it 19-7.
Troy Green would find Roberts twice for scoring passes of 11 and four yards as Skaneateles battled to the end. On the defensive side, Rory Callahan proved quite busy, recording 15 tackles, including a sack, while Chris Wise earned seven tackles and Ryan Sherman picked up six tackles.
Skaneateles will be favored next Friday when it hosts Phoenix for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Firebirds lost its opener to Marcellus 38-0.