Though there was a small bit of early concern, the Skaneateles football team did put things together and gave new head coach Tim Green his first victory at the helm – but it may have come at a heavy price.
Unlike 2009, when it took two months for the Lakers to find the win column, the Lakers needed just two weeks to prevail this season, powering past Phoenix 34-14 in front of the home crowd on Friday night.
What quickly dimmed the good feelings surrounding this win was the sight of Laker quarterback Troy Green with a sling on his right arm. He left the game late in the third quarter with an elbow injury. The extent of that injury remains uncertain.
Before that, Green had pieced together a memorable night, throwing for 179 yards (on eight of 13 completions) and three touchdowns and running for 50 yards two other scores.
In the first quarter, Green connected with Brandon Barron on a 29-yard TD pass. Still, Skaneateles trailed, 7-6, because it missed the conversion. Phoenix got on the board first with Josh Morse’s one-yard plunge and Tyler Virkler’s extra point following an 11-play, 49-yard march.
A key turning point came on Phoenix’s next drive. It moved inside the Skaneateles 10-yard line, only to fumble and have the Lakers’ Luke Dranscak recover.
Fueled by that turnover, the Lakers moved ahead for good in the second period with two scoring drives, both of them culminating in Green running for touchdowns – first from 11 yards out, then on a one-yard sneak.
Leading 21-7 at the half, Skaneateles got the ball to start the third quarter – and on the first play, Green went deep and found an open Barron, who went 67 yards for six points.
Looking for more, the Lakers pulled off an onside kick that Barron pounced on at the Firebirds’ 40-yard line. Not wasting any time, Green went deep again – and hit Pat Roberts for his third TD pass of the night.
Not long after that, Green left, and Connor Herr took over, completing nine of 14 passes for 104 yards in his stint and knowing that he might have much more work ahead.
Barron, with 114 receiving yards on just four catches, led a receiving corps where Roberts earned five catches for 70 yards and Max Weiss had three catches for 40 yards.
Rory Callahan did a lot of work on the defensive side, leading the Lakers with 15 tackles, seven of them solo, including a sack. Chris Wise had a sack and seven tackles, while Ryan Sherman contributed five tackles. Dranscak and Kudik Abrams had five tackles apiece.
No matter if Green or Herr is under center, the Lakers will step into a bigger spotlight next Friday when it visits Solvay for a 7 p.m. kickoff in a game Time Warner Sports will televise. The Bearcats are 1-1, having beaten Hannibal 33-27 in its opener before falling to Homer 33-7.
