Typically, when a high school football program loses standouts like Kevin Hospicker, Andrew Vogl, Mike Nourse and Cody Westfall, it takes a while to find their successors, and the team might suffer on the field.
Suffice to say, the Cazenovia Lakers aren’t like most programs.
The defending Section III Class B champions signaled its high ambitions once more on a wet Saturday afternoon at Buckley-Volo Field, unleashing a three-pronged running attack and stifling defense that overwhelmed the visiting Camden Blue Devils and produced a 40-6 victory.
Even though Keaton Ackermann has settled into the starting quarterback role once occupied by Hopsicker, he was quite content to play a supporting role as the Lakers’ top backs – Dan Phillips, Jake Wozniak and T.J. Connellan – took turns picking Camden apart.
Before the game was two minutes old, Cazenovia owned a 7-0 lead, thanks to Wozniak, who on third-down-and-one took an option pitch from Ackermann and, picking up a key block from Jon Nannery downfield, used his sprinter’s speed to go 63 yards for the touchdown. Ackermann converted the extra point.
A poor Blue Devils punt led to another TD just 2:08 later. Connellan, in his first carry of the season, burst up the middle and sprinted 36 yards for six points, though this time the conversion was missed.
From there, it stayed quiet until the second quarter, but while it didn’t score points for a while, Cazenovia relied on its defense to earn better field position, forcing Camden back into its own end.
Phillips, who started a season ago when Vogl sat out with an injury, used his power runs to initiate the Lakers’ next scoring drive, but Ackermann finished it off, expertly running the no-huddle spread and going 27 yards on an option run to set up his own five-yard TD play and a 20-0 edge.
As the half wound down, Cazenovia, who had missed on two other opportunities prior to this drive, took advantage of a late-hit penalty and, on fourth-and-goal, made it 27-0 when Phillips plunged in on a one-yard run 5.6 seconds before the break.
Even though things were settled, the Lakers continued to add to its lead in the third quarter. The work of Cazenovia’s offensive line, anchored by Nannery, Reed Lucas, Ryan O’Herien, Brian Silfer and Dustin Hammond, was superb throughout the day, as they physically manhandled the Blue Devils’ front seven.
The lead grew to 33-0 on Phillips’ second TD, a 12-yard run in the third quarter, and Wozniak returned to get his second score from two yards out after the Lakers forced a turnover. Camden didn’t get on the board until the last minute of the fourth quarter, long after Cazenovia’s defensive starters exited.
Going for two in a row, the Lakers are home again next Saturday to face South Jefferson at 1:30. The Spartans opened with an impressive 35-20 road victory at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, so the winner here will have an early edge in the Class B East division race.
