Absolutely nothing was going to deter Fayetteville-Manlius from the official celebration and dedication of its new artificial turf field – including a football game.
To describe the Hornets’ 75-6 win over Oswego Friday night as a game would not be accurate. Rather, it was a chance for F-M to showcase its entire roster, so that every player could participate on this historic evening – and that the starters could rest for next Friday’s big showdown with unbeaten West Genesee.
The competitive phase of this game ended quickly. F-M scored on its second and third plays from scrimmage, led 35-0 at the end of the first quarter and 63-0 by halftime. And the Hornets did all this without top running back Sean Bright, out with an injury.
Twice in the early minutes, junior quarterback Wolfgang Shafer threw touchdown passes to Austin Perez, covering 39 and 25 yards. Then Andrew Fletcher found the end zone from 15 yards out and, moments later, F-M blocked a punt that Hieu Dai returned for a score. Kyle Toscano got the last TD of the period on a two-yard run.
Conner Chen, the anchor of F-M’s fast-improving defense, scored a defensive TD in the second quarter. Ryan Smach, Ryan Greer and Patrick Mackintosh all had scoring runs, too, before halftime, as the reserves were already in the game.
Given much more playing time than they would expect, F-M’s second and third teams outscored Oswego 12-6 in the second half. Jason Rhee found the end zone from 17 yards out, and Peter Battan got a 39-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
While all this was going on, Christian Brothers Academy received a scare in its Homecoming game against Nottingham at Alibrandi Stadium, nearly squandering a 21-point second-half lead before recovering to beat the Bulldogs 35-21 and move to 2-0 in Class AA-1 division play (2-1 overall).
Just as in its league opener (a 27-0 shutout of Baldwinsville Sept. 2), the Brothers emphasized the ground game, only attempting eight passes.
Joey Pascarella, more known for his defensive contributions, went to the other side of the ball and had 19 carries for 145 yards, while fellow back Mike Vavonese had 73 yards on 13 carries.
It was Pascarella scoring the only TD of the first quarter on an 11-yard run. He added a four-yard TD plunge in the second period after Cam MacPherson scored from one yard out.
Early in the third quarter, when MacPherson hit Evan Adamo for a 25-yard scoring pass, the Brothers led 28-7. But Nottingham, vastly improved under first-year head coach (and 1996 graduate) Nick Patterson, would fight its way back, using a pair of scoring drives to close within 28-21 midway through the final period.
Only in the final minutes did CBA regroup, make a key defensive stop, and move the ball to the Bulldogs’ four, from where Pascarella earned this third TD of the night to put it away.
CBA visits Liverpool (1-2) next Friday night, but a much bigger game takes place in Camillus, where F-M and West Genesee will battle for first place in the AA-2 division. Kickoff is 6 p.m.
Like the Hornets, who have put up 181 points this season, the Wildcats have lit up the scoreboard, earning 161 points in wins over Oswego, Corcoran and Auburn. WG’s offense features senior quarterback Matt Naton and the brother tandem of Naesean and Sean Howard, who have combined for 15 touchdowns so far.
