Plenty of energy and fight was shown by the Baldwinsville football team Thursday night in the Carrier Dome as it put together a pair of scoring drives to cap off its game against Section V contender Victor in the Kickoff Classic.
But that was long after the matter was settled.
Utilizing a fast, multi-faceted running attack and timely passes to keep things off balance, the Blue Devils scored 20 points in a decisive second quarter and eventually defeated the Bees 34-13.
B’ville had all sorts of new faces in its lineup, and was still figuring out which players, on both sides, would fill the void left by the graduations of standouts Cameron Skipworth, Cole Burchill and Marcel Penfield.
Victor had far fewer questions about its lineup, but it got derailed by penalties in a scoreless first quarter, unable to take advantage of a bad punt snap that put the ball deep in B’ville territory.
At least the Blue Devils had chances, unlike the Bees, who only crossed midfield once in the entire half, this coming after Ryan Ingerson broke loose on a 21-yard run late in the opening period.
Stopped there, B’ville could only watch as, early in the second quarter, Victor used a series of power sweeps to upend defenders and eat up yards.
T.D. Ierlan, fittingly, scored the game’s first touchdown on an eight-yard run. Then, on the Blue Devils’ next possession, Dan Barrow’s 32-yard scamper on another sweep led to his own one-yard scoring plunge on fourth-down-and-goal.
Trailing 14-0, B’ville still had a chance to stay in it until a three-play sequence in the last minute of the half. Employing a rare gamble, the Bees went for it on fourth-and-one at its own 37, only to have Madison Wolfanger get stopped at the line of scrimmage.
Energized by this, the Blue Devils gave the ball to quarterback Jamie Trimboli, who threw a 29-yard strike to Zack Lefebvre, and before B’ville could regroup, Trimboli, from the eight, found Lefebvre in the end zone with 32.9 seconds left in the period.
Trailing 20-0 at the break, the Bees fumbled on its first possession of the third quarter, leading to another Trimboli TD strike, 10 yards to Mitchell Cain. Victor then made it 34-0 early in the final period when Clay Bleier broke loose on a 68-yard scoring run.
Only when Victor’s reserves entered the game did the Bees find some offensive traction. Ingerson’s 50-yard run led to Wolfanger scoring on a one-yard run one play after he flew to try and cross the goal line on another sneak.
Then, Ben Dwyer, who split time with Wolfanger under center in the second half, found a streaking, wide-open Steve Banuski that covered 47 yards and made the margin a bit closer.
B’ville returns to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium next Friday to host Section IV’s Union-Endicott. Kickoff is at 6:30.
