Many times since 1998, the Liverpool football team has made trips to the Carrier Dome for various games. But they never took place in November. Now, at long last, the Warriors are back in the Dome just when it wants to be there, with a Section III Class AA championship at stake.
To get there, Liverpool had to survive a tense stalemate with long-time rival Baldwinsville in Saturday’s AA semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, needing a late touchdown and a superb all-around defensive effort to subdue the Bees 7-0.
And it brings the 9-0 Warriors to next Sunday’s AA title game at 5 p.m. against Henninger, also 9-0, who fought past Auburn 22-8 in the other semifinal. The Black Knights lost the sectional final to CBA a year ago.
In so many ways, the game that ended Liverpool’s 16-year exile from the sectional finals symbolized the wait to get there – missed chances and plenty of frustration until, at long last, a breakthrough.
Twice in the first quarter, the Warriors had glorious opportunities to score. A bad punt snap placed Liverpool inside B’ville’s 10, but on fourth-and-goal Jaydakis Scott got stopped by Cole Burchill at the two.
Then, on the Warriors’ next possession, Ricky Sisto had Matt Sala wide-open with no one within 10 yards of him for an easy touchdown pass, only to overthrow him.
At the same time, though, the Bees were making plenty of its own mistakes. Besides the botched punt snap, there were ill-timed penalties that halted possible drives throughout the afternoon.
Yet Liverpool’s defense had much to do with those troubles. Up front, the Warriors kept winning battles at the line of scrimmage, giving the likes of Charles Green, Bobby King and Joe Scro the chance to make tackles to keep B’ville’s runners from breaking loose.
Cameron Skipworth, the Bees’ top tailback, did get 158 yards, but it took 37 carries, and teammate Josh Smith (58 yards on 12 carries) only provided sporadic relief, unable to make any big runs himself.
They were 0-0 going into halftime, the Bees thwarted again just before the break when Tom Scarfino’s 40-yard field-goal attempt fell short after Scott had fumbled and B’ville’s Josh Greer fell on it.
The stalemate held through the third quarter, too. Long drives by both teams led to no points on the board and a growing sense that whoever did get on the board first would likely finish on top.
But late in that period, the Warriors, taking over on its own 32 following yet another big defensive stand, began the game’s decisive march, one that ate up nearly six minutes of clock.
Scott started to find some space and break some tackles, and when he didn’t run the ball, fellow back Audey Ashkar gained valuable yards up the middle.
The big play came on third-and-15 at the Bees’ 25. Following a holding penalty, Sisto sent a swing pass to Scott, who broke tackles on the right sideline and made it all the way to the seven for first-and-goal.
Two plays later, with 7:17 left in regulation, Scott, from the seven, powered in for the go-ahead touchdown. Liverpool’s excitement was tempered, though, when on the ensuing extra point two B’ville players, Sam Mahar and Sam Gosson, collided helmet-to-helmet, and both went down.
Mahar and Gosson required ambulances, so the game was halted for more than 20 minutes, with both teams heading to their respective locker rooms to stay warm on a chilly, windy afternoon. Taken for treatment, Mahar and Gosson were both released later in the day and are expected to make full recoveries.
When the game resumed, B’ville took over on its own 11. Gradually, it moved the ball past midfield, attempting to put in a tying score. But a big tackle for a loss on Smith by Green halted that momentum and, on fourth down, Madison Wolfanger’s pass fell incomplete with one minute left.
All that was left for the Warrriors was to take two knees, run out the clock and begin plans for Henninger, for as sweet as it was for Liverpool to finally return to the Dome, winning there would prove a whole lot sweeter.
