Though excitement, and a few surprises, surrounded the opening night of the Section III football playoffs, Christian Brothers Academy wanted as little drama as possible.
To that end, the state Class AA no. 8-ranked Brothers went out Friday and, with calm dispatch and strong play on both sides of the ball, took care of Corcoran 34-6 in the AA quarterfinal at Alibrandi Stadium.
Corcoran, working under first-year head coach Tyrone Fisher, had recovered from an 0-2 start to win four consecutive games and secure a playoff spot. However, it had lost 42-6 to Fayetteville-Manlius the week before arriving at CBA.
Meanwhile, the Brothers were riding a four-game win streak and starting to return to the elite form it had showed earlier this season. That would not dissipate against the Cougars.
A diverse running attack helped CBA strike first in the opening period. From Corcoran’s 19-yard line, Mike Vavonese took off and found the end zone for his team-best 10th touchdown of the season.
Briefly, Corcoran would respond, getting on the board for the only time in the second quarter when Shaquille Breland scored on a seven-yard run.
A missed conversion kept CBA in front, 7-6, and soon enough it would have full command with back-to-back scoring drives. Deshawn Salter finished one of them with a 13-yard TD run, and the Brothers hit again on Joey Pascarella’s two-yard plunge to make it 20-6 at halftime.
All through the second half, the Brothers’ quick, aggressive defense stopped Corcoran at every turn, forcing punts and other mistakes that allowed CBA to take its time putting up points.
Quarterback Cam MacPherson, in his first-ever playoff start, was calm and efficient, and scored on a two-yard run in the third quarter to make it 27-6. Anyan Davis locked it up with a 32-yard TD sprint in the final period.
With that first test aside, CBA looks ahead to an exciting Class AA semifinal Saturday at 4 p.m. at Liverpool High School Stadium against F-M, a team it has not faced since the 2008 regular season, when the Brothers prevailed 26-16.
The Hornets needed Sean Bright’s one-yard TD run with 15 seconds let to edge past Liverpool 40-35, in its first-round game after blowing an early 26-0 lead. The winner here gets West Genesee or Utica Proctor Nov. 5 in the Carrier Dome for the AA championship.
