Four years ago, when the Skaneateles football team last ventured into the Class B portion of the Section III playoffs, Cazenovia awaited them in the opening round – and knocked them out.
Now the exact same scenario arises again, the two Lakers sides colliding on Saturday at Buckley-Volo Field after Cazenovia’s 64-18 win over Oneida gave the state no. 3-ranked defending champions first place in Class B East. Skaneateles had already locked up fourth place in B West.
As a way to test itself further, the Lakers would venture to Class A New Hartford in Friday’s regular-season finale, where it would take a 39-13 defeat to the Spartans.
Though Skaneateles would play quite well on the defensive side in the first quarter, it still left that frame with a 7-0 deficit because New Hartford’s Jeff Wagner blocked a Laker punt and returned it for a touchdown.
And the Spartans really took charge in the second quarter, scoring three times as Mike Nole got a pair of short TD runs and Adam Zogby, who also kicked extra points, threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Ryan Murray.
Amid it all, the Lakers did get on the board with its trusted passing combination of Griffin Lawson to Connor Hill offering up a 46-yard scoring strike. Still, Skaneateles trailed, 27-6, at the break.
New Hartford calmed down a bit in the second half, but despite Lawson’s second TD pass to Hill, covering 13 yards, plus a Tom Hagen extra point, the Spartans still pulled clear with one-yard scoring runs from Josh Fenton and Sean Nadeau.
