Perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that the Christian Brothers Academy football team gained a measure of payback in Friday night’s highly-anticipated season opener against Baldwinsville.
What was surprising was how the Brothers did it – and how lopsided it was, too.
From first play to last, there was never any question who was in charge. CBA, ferocious on defense and powerful on offense, blanked the Bees 27-0, establishing itself as the clear early favorite in the latest race for Section III Class AA glory.
“We came together as a team, and everyone was devoted to the effort,” said senior offensive lineman Ben Barrett. “When you’ve got that, you’re tough to beat.”
Even head coach Joe Casamento, who is quick to find errors regardless of the outcome, could find little wrong with his team’s effort.
“We played well, without a lot of mistakes,” said Casamento. “We were physical and relentless. We played fast and got after them.”
CBA had been waiting 10 months to get another crack at the Bees following last year’s dramatic Class AA final in the Carrier Dome, where B’ville prevailed 15-13 only when Riley Dixon’s possible game-winning field goal drifted wide right with 21 seconds left.
In particular, the Brothers’ defense was eager to get their hands on B’ville’s star junior tailback, Tyler Rouse, who gained nearly 2,000 yards in his sophomore campaign.
The tone was quickly set, as Rouse was dumped for a loss on the game’s first play and, moments later, defensive end Dan Predmore sacked Bees quarterback Augie Zona to force a punt. In fact, B’ville only had one first down in the entire opening period.
Seeing that it could shut B’ville down, the Brothers opted to keep things simple on offense. In fact, in his first varsity start, Cam MacPherson threw only four times. He didn’t need to, as CBA took out the Bees with its own physical ground attack.
It started out front, where Barrett, along with fellow linemen Jess Drazek, John Hillenbrand, Homer Davis and Christian Damico, flung open holes against a new-look B’ville defensive line. Only Damico is a new starter, and that edge in experience was a huge factor in CBA’s success.
The runners weren’t too bad, either. Whether it was Mike Vavonese fighting for tough yards, or Deshawn Salter and Anthony Bunn flying outside, or MacPherson himself taking off on a keeper, CBA put together long, patient drives that ate up the clock and wore B’ville down.
CBA finished with 278 yards on the ground, as Salter picked up 98 yards on 18 carries, Vavonese got 86 yards on 14 carries and Bunn managed 64 yards on eight carries.
On the Brothers’ first scoring drive, it twice converted fourth downs, MacPherson going the final yard for the touchdown. Then, early in the second period, Vavonese followed his blockers perfectly on a 21-yard sweep to the end zone to make it 14-0.
It may have been more lopsided. MacPherson threw an interception late in the half (Ben Paprocki got it) and sophomore Nolan Brower, Dixon’s replacement at kicker, missed a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Despite this, CBA pulled away in the late stages, Salters and Bunn adding short TD runs. The only question left was whether the Brothers could maintain the shutout.
From Predmore, Jon McGriff and Pat Mahar on the front line to Joey Pascarella, Anyan Davis and Dametrius Brown at linebacker to Bunn, Ben Capella and J.R. Zazzara in the secondary, they all took turns containing Rouse, holding him to a mere 23 yards on 15 carries. Evan Adamo added a second-quarter interception.
Neither team has much time to digest the outcome. CBA meets reigning Massachusetts state champion Mansfield next Friday in the Carrier Dome as part of the Kickoff Classic, while B’ville is again on the road, this time to face Nottingham, who surprised Rome Free Academy 27-9 in its opener.
