Almost as critical to the Liverpool football team as the 42 points it gave up in the second half of a 49-37 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius on Sept. 27 was the way the players would react to that result, for it could determine, to a large measure, just where this season would end up.
At least in the short term, the Warriors reacted quite well, venturing east to face Utica Proctor on Friday night and, with a mid-game offensive outburst, pulling away from the Raiders as it won by a score of 41-7.
With that win, Liverpool improved to 3-2, 2-1 in the Class AA-2 division, and could still earn a Section III home playoff game if it can knock off neighbor and rival Baldwinsville (4-1, 2-1 league) next Friday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
First, though, the Warriors had to handle Proctor, a team at 0-4 that was reeling from back-to-back one-point overtime defeats to Rome Free Academy (47-46) and Utica Proctor (22-21). Liverpool was not about to let it stay that close this time.
Starting the second quarter, the Warriors carried a modest 7-0 lead thanks to a nine-yard touchdown run from sophomore tailback Jadakis Scott, but it blew the game open by tagging the Raiders for 21 points before they reached halftime.
Brian Carr made it 14-0 by scoring from 20 yards out early in the period. J’Von Evans got Proctor on the board with a seven-yard TD run, but the Warriors quickly restored the margin through the air as Justin Capoto, from midfield, went deep and found Ben Terzini for a 51-yard scoring pass.
A real blow was offered just before halftime. Situated at the Raiders’ 27, the Warriors handed the ball to Caleb Taylor, who threw to Terzini for another TD that, with Trevor Monk’s fourth successful extra point, made it 28-7 going into the break.
In a complete contrast to the F-M debacle, Liverpool’s defense would record a second-half shutout, never letting Proctor move the ball with any regularity. Meanwhile, the Warriors tacked on two more TD’s, including a 26-yard run by Scott in the third quarter and an eight-yard scoring run by Jajuan Rentas in the final period.l
While that was going on, Cicero-North Syracuse, going for its second win in a row, instead ran into Henninger and lost, 34-6, to the Black Knights at Bragman Stadium to fall to 1-4 on the season.
Perhaps the Northstars’ best chance lay in a hope that Henninger was looking ahead to next week Class AA-1 division first-place showdown with CBA, but that was far from the case.
Instead, C-NS trailed 14-0 after one period as the Black Knights’ Romero Collier threw a 26-yard scoring pass to Justin McGann and ran four yards for another TD. That deficit grew to 20-0 at halftime as Keisean Scott scored from one yard out.
Collier, overall, was 14-for-21 for 228 yards through the air, most of it going to Scott, who had 152 yards on just eight receptions. The pair connected on a 12-yard scoring pass in the third quarter, and Collier capped off his big night with a 57-yard scoring sprint.
Not until the waning minutes, when reserve quarterback Dominic Forcione found James Soule on a 13-yard scoring pass, did the Northstars get on the board, but it was far too late. C-NS has one more home game in the regular season, meeting West Genesee (3-2, 2-1 league) next Friday at 7 p.m.
