Sometimes this fall, the Cazenovia football team has waited to make its big move and put an opponent away.
Not on Saturday, though, as the Lakers turned the annual Homecoming game against Camden into a first-half clinic, doing most everything right before cruising to a 33-7 victory over the Blue Devils at Buckley-Volo Field.
The win further secured Cazenovia’s place atop the Class B East division, as it’s 3-0 in league play and 4-1 overall. Just as importantly, the focus and intensity for the Lakers was there from the opening kickoff.
Unlike the 31-13 victory over Cortland on Sept. 22, when the Lakers didn’t take control until late in the third quarter, Cazenovia’s opening march was quick and ruthless.
Jake Wilson took off on runs of 22 and 19 yards to set things up, and Andrew Vogl did the rest, speeding 30 yards for the touchdown in a drive that took just three plays and 65 seconds.
Cazenovia’s defense made its first big play minutes later, when defensive back Chad Warren stuffed Camden tailback Jeremy Zeitschel on fourth down near midfield.
Using that short field, quarterback Kevin Hopsicker threw a 31-yard pass to Ryan Cook, and on fourth-and-12 at the 15, Hopsicker went back to Cook in the end zone, and the senior wide receiver snared it in single coverage, extending the Lakers’ lead to 12-0.
A third Laker possession led to a third Laker touchdown early in the second quarter. Hopsicker used a 22-yard scramble and 21-yard pass to Carter Woodworth to set up Wilson’s 19-yard trip to the end zone on an option.
That, plus a two-point run by Wilson, made it 20-0, and Cazenovia essentially went into a lower gear for the rest of the afternoon, at least from an offensive standpoint.
Late in the half, another fourth-down Laker stop near midfield, made by Jack Malmsheimer, led to a back-breaking big play. Taking a short pass from Hopsicker at his own 45, Cook ran down the sideline, broke several tackles, and went the rest of the way for a 55-yard TD, which made it 26-0 at the break.
Early in the third quarter, long runs by Wilson and Vogl led to Wilson’s second TD, on a three-yard run, and the only suspense the rest of the game was seeing whether the Lakers, up 33-0, could maintain its shutout.
With Nick Tedesco, Cody Westfall, Jeff Dewan and Jordan Thoma on the front line, Billy Bigsby, Mike Nourse and Nick Bobbett at linebacker, and Warren, Cook, Malmsheimer and Joe Colligan in the secondary, the Lakers kept making stops until Zeitschel scored on a 54-yard run with 3:03 left, long after the game was settled.
Bobbett amassed 17 tackles by game’s end. Close behind him, Nourse put up 16 tackles and Bigsby earned 13 tackles. Hopsicker’s 124 passing yards complemented the 115 yards on the ground that Wilson produced.
Cazenovia heads on the road this Friday to meet Mexico for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
