A combination of opening-night jitters and high-quality opposition led to a long, difficult Friday evening for the East Syracuse-Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt football teams.
The short-handed Spartans could not keep up with Section IV Vestal in a 47-13 defeat in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome, while the Red Rams, making the long trip to the north country, was contained for most of the game and fell to Indian River 37-21.
Considered the favorite in the Class A American division, ESM fully expected to match up well against Vestal, but it was not at full strength. Eyan Underwood, a standout wide receiver and defensive back, missed the game, taking away one of the Spartans’ most dangerous players.
Without Underwood, ESM still got on the board in the first quarter, moving to the Golden Bears’ one-yard line and seeing RiQuelle Othman pound in for the touchdown. Even with that, though, Vestal still battled its way to a 14-7 lead.
By halftime, the Spartans trailed 20-7, and the Golden Bears would put the game away in the third period, scoring a pair of defensive TD’s on a fumble recovery and interception return, part of 21 unanswered points.
Brandon Breen, starting at quarterback after three-year starter (and the school’s all-time passing leader) Sean Richardson graduated, could not solve a quick, aggressive Vestal defense, except in the fourth quarter, when he scored on a 19-yard run.
At least ESM earned first-quarter points. J-D, on the other hand, found itself shut out until the final period by an Indian River side that beat them in last fall’s Section III Class A semifinal and showed that it might be just as good this time around.
The Warriors bolted out to a 14-0 first-quarter edge with TD’s on both sides of the ball. Dustin Sharitt found the end zone on the 14-yard run, and when the Rams tried to answer, Connor Brown picked off Nate Shapiro’s pass and returned it 70 yards for another score.
Shaken by that play, J-D continued to struggle in the second period. Brown ran 44 yards for an offensive TD and that, combined with Sharritt’s three-yard scoring run and a pair of Densel Barnes two-point conversions, pushed IR to a 29-0 halftime lead.
And it was 37-0 before the Warriors pulled its starters in the fourth quarter. Finally, the Rams would score on Ernest Shaw’s 67-yard TD run, and J-D put together two more scoring drives in the final minutes.
Back home next Friday, J-D encounters Whitesboro, who has head coach Tom Schoen entering his 41st season at the helm. The Warriors rolled past Cortland 47-7 in its season opener. ESM, meanwhile, also returns home – to face Indian River.
