Someone was going to move to the top of the wide-open Class A American division when neighbors East Syracuse-Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt met up for their annual showdown Friday night. And it was the host Spartans warming up to that task, using its ground game to pound away at the Red Rams from start to finish on its way to a 41-0 victory. Both sides had gone through 0-2 starts, and each of them had lost to Indian River, who rose to the top of Class A’s National division by winning its sectional final rematch with Carthage 42-20 on the same night that J-D and ESM squared off. The Spartans figured that, to turn things around, it had to, besides take care of the ball (11 turnovers in those defeats to Indian River and Vestal) get basic, and that meant going to its ground attack early and often, something with which J-D could not cope. Quarterback Brandon Breen picked up 44 yards on three separate runs to spark ESM’s initial scoring drive, with RiQuelle Othman going the final 10 yards to the end zone for the only touchdown of the first quarter. Early in the second period, Breen scored to double that margin to 14-0, and when J-D fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the Spartans recovered and used the short field to drive to another TD, Othman racing to the corner of the end zone from seven yards out. J-D’s best chance to climb back into the game came late in the half, with a sustained drive to ESM’s seven-yard line. From there, though, Nate Shapiro’s pass to the end zone floated, and DeShaun Gorman picked it off, keeping it 21-0 at the half. Othman, who ran for 111 yards on 14 carries, added a third TD on an 18-yard scamper in the third quarter, with Fred Johnson joining by scoring on a 16-yard run and Gorman sprinting 78 yards for the night’s longest scoring play in the final period. Meanwhile, Bishop Grimes improved its mark to 2-1 for the season, making the long trip north to Turin to earn a 14-8 victory over South Lewis. After a scoreless first quarter, the Cobras, whose first two games (a win over New York Mills and a loss to Onondaga) had gone to overtime, seized a 6-0 lead with Jordan Newman’s scoring pass to Sean Gash. Up 6-0 at the break, Grimes maintained that edge until the early part of the fourth quarter, when Knox Wolaver barged into the end zone from five yards out, and the Cobras added a two-point conversion. Trying to fight back, the Falcons got its own TD and two-point conversion, but the Cobras’ defense shut down South Lewis the rest of the way. With that 2-1 mark, Grimes hosts Hannibal next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the team’s first home game of the fall. This comes after ESM pays a visit to Cortland on Friday and J-D hosts Carthage, fresh off that defeat to Indian River.