One thing was fairly certain – the Baldwinsville football team was in no mood for the same early exit from the Section III Class AA playoffs that it suffered through a season ago.
Accordingly, the top-seeded Bees unleashed an all-out attack on Central Square in Friday night’s opening-round game at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, and the end result was a 63-20 victory over the Red Hawks.
B’ville quickly seized control by sprinting to a 28-7 first-quarter lead, and before Central Square could fully regroup, the Bees put up 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to lock up the victory.
Tyler Rouse, in the last home appearance of his storied B’ville career, carried the ball 21 times for 262 yards and scored five touchdowns, putting his season totals at 2,496 yards and 39 TD’s.
Three of Rouse’s scores came in the first quarter, on runs of 59, 33 and seven yards, which helped the Bees shake off Malcolm Anderson’s 74-yard kick return for a TD that came in between.
When the Red Hawks crowded the line of scrimmage to stop Rouse, quarterback Josh Demoski threw over them and found Eric Anthony for a 34-yard scoring pass that made it 21-7 late in that opening period.
The wild first quarter ended with B’ville still in front 28-14, and both defenses would settle down in the second period, not allowing any points.
However, the Bees’ defense did get on the board with the game’s pivotal play. Central Square was driving deep in B’ville territory when Anthony stepped in front of a pass at the Bees’ 12-yard line and took off, getting good blocks as he traversed 88 yards for a pivotal touchdown.
Sparked by that, the Bees, with a 35-14 halftime edge, put it away early in the second half. Taking a Central Square punt on his 42, Shay Sargeant picked up blocks and sprinted 58 yards to the end zone, which made it 42-14.
Then Rouse returned for two more long TD runs, going 66 and 40 yards against a worn-out Red Hawks defense. As if that wasn’t enough, Ricky Sparks joined in during the fourth quarter and went 88 yards for his own TD, on his way to a career-best 120 yards on the ground. Tom Scarfino made all nine of the extra points he attempted.
In next Friday’s Class AA semifinal at Liverpool High School Stadium, the Bees face Fayetteville-Manlius, who mostly leaned on its defense to beat Henninger 17-6 in its opening-round game. Game time is 8 p.m.
F-M gave B’ville its only loss of the season, 34-25, amid a heavy rain at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium on Sept. 14. Should the Bees avenge that defeat, it would play CBA or West Genesee in the Carrier Dome Nov. 3 for the sectional championship.
