What makes the Baldwinsville football team so difficult to face is that, regardless of who’s up front or who is running the ball, the job gets done – and done quite well.
And by the early looks of it, the Bees just might have another top back in Cameron Skipworth, who gathered up 284 yards on just 24 carries in his team’s impressive 30-8 victory over Auburn in Friday night’s season opener at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Besides Skipworth’s contributions on the offensive side, he, along with the likes of Cole Burchill, anchored a vastly improved B’ville defense that could give opponents fits throughout the season, and nearly pitched a shutout on this night.
It only seemed fitting that, as Tyler Rouse scored a touchdown for Boston College in its game against Pittsburgh on Friday, Skipworth would get the Bees rolling with a big play.
Taking a handoff on his own 18-yard line in the first quarter, Skipworth, following the blocks of Marcel Penfield, Dan Bridge, Mike Spicer, Bo Emmi and Sam Gosson, tore through a big hole and then outran the Maroons’ defenders to the end zone, an 82-yard statement that, with Tom Scarfino’s extra point, gave the Bees a 7-0 edge.
It stayed that way until the second quarter. B’ville’s constant stops kept giving the ball back to the offense, and eventually it would produce another touchdown, this one from Sam Mahar, who went 19 yards to make it 14-0, where it stood at halftime.
Any concerns about the Bees letting such a lead out of its grasp vanished when Skipworth broke loose for his second long touchdown of the night, this one covering 68 yards, which made it 20-0 in the third quarter.
Later in that same period, Madison Wolfanger found the end zone from six yards out, but the most spectacular play of the half came from Scarfino, who drilled a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Only a TD from Auburn’s Seth Lewis kept the Bees from a shutout.
This sets up a marquee non-league contest at Pelcher-Arcaro on Friday, when the Bees face West Genesee. The Wildcats had its own impressive season-opening home win, drilling Central Square 43-14, and both sides would love to have a 2-0 start going into the heart of their respective league schedules.
