Anticipation had built all season for Friday night’s football game at Sunnycrest Field between Baldwinsville and Henninger, two unbeaten, state-ranked teams atop the Class AA-2 division standings with eyes toward league and Section III championships down the road.
When they finally got together, the Bees were bent on stopping the Black Knights, but instead stopped itself too much with penalties, poor tackling and missed scoring opportunities, which led to a 26-14 defeat.
“We have no excuses,” said B’ville head coach Carl Sanfilippo. “We played a good team and they beat us. We have to take care of the things that cost us momentum.”
Some of that involved the Bees’ defenders having a difficult time slowing down Henninger running back Najee Everson, whose career-best 221 yards on 35 carries helped set up most of the Black Knights’ points.
B’ville still stayed within striking distance most of the night, constantly moving the ball into Henninger territory, but unable to get on the board until the third quarter, when it trailed 20-0.
Three times in the first half, the Bees moved past midfield, able to send Cameron Skipworth on outside runs that proved effective. Yet none of those drives led to points thanks to key stops from Henninger’s imposing defense.
By contrast, on the Black Knights’ first possession, it got to the end zone. Everson did most of the work on a nine-play, 73-yard march, his 33-yard run setting up a fourth-down 16-yard scoring pass from Romero Collier to Keisean Scott. Everson ran in for two points, and Henninger led 8-0.
B’ville looked to gain momentum when it stopped Henninger inside its own 10 early in the second quarter, but on its next possession another long Everson run, this one of 31 yards, led to another TD, Collier corralling a high snap and scrambling 10 yards for six points.
As the half wound down, B’ville moved all the way to the Black Knights’ 22, but again were thwarted, Tom Scarfino’s 39-yard field goal going wide, and the Bees trailed 14-0 at the break.
It heated up in the third quarter, when a scuffle broke out on Henninger’s second possession of the period. Shaking this off, along with a TD called back on a holding penalty, the Black Knights moved to the Bees’ 15, from where Collier found Scott again in the end zone.
Only now did the Bees break through. Skipworth again ran outside, and this time broke free on the left for a 54-yard TD run less than a minute after Scott’s score, and the extra point cut B’ville’s deficit to 20-7.
But of all the mistakes the Bees made, none loomed larger than a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a Henninger punt early in the fourth quarter.
Instead of getting the ball back, B’ville watched Everson again break loose on a long run, 40 yards, that led to Collier’s five-yard TD bootleg on fourth-and-goal with 8:04 to play.
Down 26-7, the Bees did put together a quick scoring drive, Skipworth (who finished with 171 yards on 26 carries) finishing it off on a one-yard plunge with 4:29 left. But the Black Knights recovered the ensuing onside kick and would run out the clock.
Calvin Tanguay paced the Bees’ defense with nine tackles. Cole Burchill, despite all kinds of attention from Henninger’s blockers, managed eight tackles, with Skipworth and Ethan Plouffe managing seven tackles apiece.
B’ville finishes the regular season next Friday by hosting Cicero-North Syracuse at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium. The Northstars (3-3) are assured of a playoff berth and are coming off a 48-22 win over Fowler.
The Bees could still finish second in the AA-2 division, and get a first-round Section III playoff game, with a win over C-NS and a Henninger win over Auburn Saturday at Sunnycrest.
