When the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill football team put away Oneida 33-7 in the regular-season finale Oct. 16 at Sheveron Field, it appeared that the Red Devils had secured bragging rights in this fierce neighborhood rivalry for another year. As it turned out, those bragging rights might not last two weeks.
Thanks to the Indians’ stunning 24-8 victory over defending Class B champion Westhill Friday night, and the Red Devils’ subsequent 35-20 victory over Homer Saturday at New Hartford High School, Oneida and VVS will meet again in Saturday’s Section III Class B semifinals at 6 p.m. at Chittenango High School, with the winner to get Cazenovia or Marcellus Nov. 7 in the title game in the Carrier Dome. Oneida had just six days to shake off the bad feelings about the VVS game before going to Westhill in a clash of the last two sectional champions. It appeared, on the surface, that the Indians’ stay would be short, for the Warriors came into the playoffs on a roll, having beaten its last two regular-season opponents (Phoenix and Skaneateles) by a combined 83-14. All the pre-game perceptions began to melt, though, when Oneida forced a turnover on the game’s third play, Eric Riley intercepting Mark McAnaney’s pass, then quickly moved into scoring position thanks to Matt Barlow’s 25-yard run. From the Warriors’ 37, Barlow broke loose and didn’t stop until he had reached the end zone, giving the Indians a lead it would not relinquish. After another defensive stop, Oneida got the ball back, it put together a long drive, using up most of the remaining first-quarter clock. A combination of Barlow’s runs, a key pass from Matt Mosack to Eric Riley and a roughing-the-passer penalty led to Barlow’s six-yard TD run, which doubled Oneida’s lead to 12-0. It stayed that way until the third quarter. Oneida’s defense continued to shut down Westhill at every turn, allowing Oneida to be patient when it had the ball. In other words, that meant giving the ball to Barlow, often. By game’s end, he would have 42 carries for a career-best 260 yards. Barlow’s runs keyed a third-quarter drive that led to the Warriors’ 17. Expecting another handoff, Westhill bought the fake – then watched Mosack scored on an 18-yard run to make it 18-0. Again, the conversion missed, but Oneida was in control. Mosack capped off Oneida’s masterful effort on the defensive side, intercepting Mark McAnaney’s pass and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown with 8:08 left. Though Nathan Nigolian would return a fumble 47 yards for a score, the Warriors would not get any closer, as Oneida recovered the enusing onside kick and finished things off. A day later, the victorious Indians ventured to New Hartford to watch VVS take on Homer. VVS had chosen on Friday to move the game out of Sheveron Field in order to insure good field conditions – even though the Trojans play home games on an artificial surface and are more accustomed it. Still, the Red Devils made sure that Homer did not avenge last year’s first-round playoff defeat, bolting out to a big early lead, then absorbing a fierce comeback from the Trojans before making a decisive late push. If Homer expected VVS to unleash the same kind of two-pronged rushing attack (featuring Collin Way and Dylan Guider) that had worked so well in the first Oneida game, then Tyler Mautner quickly changed their minds. He threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Matt Sliker, who made a juggling catch, to put the Red Devils ahead 7-0, then doubled the margin at the end of the first quarter by going 35 yards to Eli Cleveland for another score. Fully healed from the ankle injury suffered a month against Cazenovia, Mautner wasn’t done with first-half heroics. From Homer’s 45-yard line in the second quarter, he threw a screen pass to Sliker, who tore down the sideline all the way to the end zone for his second TD. Cole Barbano’s third successful extra point (he would go five-for-five on PAT’s) made it 21-0. Just before halftime, though, Homer began to stir, driving to the VVS 35-yard line before quarterback Ethan Forster hit Hunter Osborne in the end zone for the Trojans’ first points of the afternoon, culminating an eight-play, 70-yard march. A two-point pass attempt failed, leaving the Red Devils ahead 21-6 going into the break. Fired up by that score, the Trojans nearly caught up in the third quarter. Forster continued to find success through the air, going deep to find a wide-open Andy Parker for a 62-yard touchdown in the first minute of the half and hitting Sully Hartnett for two points. Minutes later, pinned at his own 15-yard line, Forster stunned the Red Devils with a trick play. He threw a lateral to Osborne, who winged it downfield and foudn Zach Hatfield, who finished off an 85-yard scoring play that slashed the VVS lead to a single point. Even though Homer missed on a possible go-ahead conversion, VVS had seen its big lead all but disappear, setting up a tense fourth quarter. But with 30 seniors on its roster, the Red Devils were not about to let things end now. Mautner, aided by a key third-down run by Sliker, drove his team to Homer’s 26, then found Tyler Curtis in the end zone for his fourth TD pass of the game with 9:34 left. After the VVS defense made another key stop, Sliker sealed matters by taking a handoff at midfield and going 50 yards for the clinching score. Enjoying a career effort, Sliker had seven catches for 137 yards and ran for 97 yards. Mautner, far more active than in his previous two games, threw 27 times, completing 18 of those passes for 278 yards. So now VVS and Oneida reunite. Both teams can run or pass the ball to their liking, and both can defend well – especially the Indians, as it showed by holding Westhill without a point. Whoever can execute well, and harness the inherent emotions this rivalry always produces, will get a trip to the Dome.